# Favorite Dogs for Increasing Hunt Drive?



## GSDElsa (Jul 22, 2009)

What are the dogs that people like to use or see in pedigrees to increase hunt drive?

I know that Mink is a favorite of Leerburg for this. What are yours?


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## BlackthornGSD (Feb 25, 2010)

Hmm. Good question. My working line dogs have produced a ton of hunt drive--but I'm not sure where it's coming down from. My Nike (Ike v Del U Haus--http://www.pedigreedatabase.com/german_shepherd_dog/pedigree/512075.html) produced it--and a bunch of puppies working/certified in SAR. 

And my bitch Frostbite v Pantara (G Frostbite von Pantara - German shepherd dog) had it and produced it--although she only ever had 2 puppies. I used to walk her offleash (in off hours) around these big fields used for lacrosse--she inevitably would bring me at least one ball during the course of the walk. In the few months I lived in that area, she brought me 17 lacrosse balls that she'd found in the tall grass.

I'm tempted to say that you'd find it in the Koerbelbach dogs--but I'd like to hear additional evidence of that.


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## vomlittlehaus (Aug 24, 2010)

Justine and Christine, Can you define Hunt drive for me? I am familiar with most of the terminology for the working line dogs, but have found not every one has the same definitions for words.


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## BlackthornGSD (Feb 25, 2010)

I use the definition as the search and rescue people I've spoken with use it--the drive to keep looking for something, basically.

For example, if I take a ball and throw it into a field of tall grass and it rolls down the hill... how long and how intensely will the dog keep looking? Will the dog keep going despite difficulties in the terrain or other distractions? Does the dog use his nose and pay attention to it?


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## GSDElsa (Jul 22, 2009)

Yes, Christine's using the same definition I would use for it.


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## G-burg (Nov 10, 2002)

I've heard that the U-litter Kirchental produced it.. (Uwe and Uran vom Kirchental) And I think Lord vom Gleisdreieck is another?

Both my Wildhaus dogs have high hunt drive and are excellent tracking dogs..


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## wolfstraum (May 2, 2003)

I agree with the Lord -just in my half siblings by Xito - Csabre and her littermates (2 SAR/Police K9 Narcotics) have it as did their mother, Kyra; the ball crazy male gives up too readily and comes back for me to throw a different ball....the Ufo dogs seems to have it as well...

Also, the Pike daughter I owned had the most tremendous hunt drive - she was phenomenal....where it came from in her pedigree ???? Would like to hear of others carrying Pike to see if it was him...

Lee


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## Smithie86 (Jan 9, 2001)

Lord, Yoschi, Troll/Fero.

Drigon (troll gs) would hunt forever......


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## holland (Jan 11, 2009)

My female has Fero/Mink and has hunt drive


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## vomlittlehaus (Aug 24, 2010)

Yoko has hunt drive. She does express that with her toys and her determination in following a scent on our walks. She loves going rabbit hunting with the beagles too. LOL


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## doggiedad (Dec 2, 2007)

training.



GSDElsa said:


> What are the dogs that people like to use or see in pedigrees to increase hunt drive?
> 
> I know that Mink is a favorite of Leerburg for this. What are yours?


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## GSDElsa (Jul 22, 2009)

doggiedad said:


> training.


Hu?  Not sure how many people would say that something like hunt drive can be "trained" into a dog. Certainly there are ways to bring certain drives out of a dog. I but don't think you can "train" drive into a dog that doesn't have it...


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## GSDElsa (Jul 22, 2009)

dawnandjr said:


> Yoko has hunt drive. She does express that with her toys and her determination in following a scent on our walks. She loves going rabbit hunting with the beagles too. LOL


Do you have any ideas as to where that came from in her pedigree? What about the hunt drives in her and Gino's puppies? Atarro is a dual purpose dog, right? Or is it just "security" work he's doing?


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## vomlittlehaus (Aug 24, 2010)

Justine, Taro was placed with a security company. I know he is doing scent work. I dont know about the protection aspect. Yoko is West German working lines. Someone mentioned Fero contributing to that. On Gino's dams side, you will see West German Lines too. It was mentioned that Lord has also contributed to hunt drive. These pups will have Lord on their sires side. I really think the combination of these lines will produce some great working dogs. We will see. 
To be honest, I am still researching how each dog in her pedigree can influence the traits she has. I had the advantage of having several people with years of breeding knowledge and bloodlines, help choose the male for this litter. 
There are the two other pups in the southern tier working in SchH. They are doing quite well. Did you look at Tara's bloodlines? She is also bringing West German lines in. That litter should produce some great working dogs too, and she is due the same time as Yoko.


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## lhczth (Apr 5, 2000)

I had a nice long post written and lost it. 

From my experience I think Christine is correct that the Körblebachs bring excellent to exceptional hunt drive though not always deep nosed trackers. They seem to mix well with Mink and Fero who bring in the deep noses. I also may throw Harro Lechrainstadt into that picture since my dogs with the highest amount of hunt drive had either Harro or Harro threw his son, Fado Karthago. My D litter is linebred on Fado (and Troll Körbelbach) and while most of the litter is excellent, two have so much hunt drive that I refer to them as walking noses.


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## JKlatsky (Apr 21, 2007)

Backing up Leerburg...My dogs have been linebred 5,5 - 5,5 on Mink and show excellent hunt drive. Out of 4 that I have- 3 are very deep nosed trackers by nature (teaching them to track has been a joy!). 1 not so much- but will search without giving up. http://www.pedigreedatabase.com/german_shepherd_dog/pedigree/302.html


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## Chris Wild (Dec 14, 2001)

I would agree on Mink 100%. I have owned and known many dogs going back on Mink and all have had incredible hunt drive. 

My own experience would add Karlo Peko Haus to that category as well. Incredible hunt drive in the Karlo son we had years ago, and our Karlo grandson, Kaiser as well as the littermates of Kaiser that I have known. Breeding these lines with several of our litters, those going back on Karlo (in some cases through Pike), or both Karlo and Mink, have all shown very strong hunt drive as well.

I think Greif Lahntal is quite possibly the root of this. Afterall, Greif was the grandsire of both Mink and Karlo, the lines where I have consistently seen a lot of hunt drive, and I have seen it in other dogs going back to Greif through other routes. 

I'm not so sure about the Korbelbach dogs. Definitely possible, but also one very often sees these lines combined with other more "drivey" lines, like Greif, in order to bring balance so more difficult to say where it is coming from. We have Korbelbach in our lines too, though a ways back in pedigrees now and combined with the Mink and Karlo stuff I mentioned so difficult to know where it is coming from. 

Our Kali went back relatively close in her pedigree to both King and Gildo Korbelbach, and she had tremendous hunt drive as well. But she was also a Greif g-granddaughter, and I think this is just as likely where it was coming from. I will say that the litter of ours that had the lowest hunt drive of all, still present but not what I'd call strong, was a litter linebred on Gildo.


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## Vandal (Dec 22, 2000)

Years ago, I bred my Enno v. Bielstein daughter to Bronko vom Joufne Keyleff who was an Uwe vom Kirschental son out of Ester v. Körbelbach . Ester's mother was Friga vom Allerswald who was a daughter of Quicke vom Itztal. Many of the dogs from Körbelbach go back to Quicke and her sister Nina. Nina is in Uwe's female line as well. When I did that breeding I got hunt drive out the wazzo and it is still in that line some generations later. So, if people are experiencing hunt drive thru that line, IMO, that is the source. I saw the result close up, not six generations down the line and I saw it immediately. The herding lines coming thru Enno and from Uwe certainly didn't hurt anything. 



> I'm not so sure about the Korbelbach dogs. Definitely possible, but also one very often sees these lines combined with other more "drivey" lines, like Greif, in order to bring balance so more difficult to say where it is coming from. We have Korbelbach in our lines too, though a ways back in pedigrees now and combined with the Mink and Karlo stuff I mentioned so difficult to know where it is coming from.


Karlo's maternal grandmother is Blanka vom Körbelbach who was inbred 2-2 on Quicke. Kasier has a few lines to Quicke/Nina.


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## Chris Wild (Dec 14, 2001)

Very interesting! Anne, thanks for sharing that first hand experience. It means so much more than trying to guess where something came from generations later. Nice that it seems to be something that has bred true in subsequent generations as well.



Vandal said:


> Karlo's maternal grandmother is Blanka vom Körbelbach who was inbred 2-2 on Quicke. Kasier has a few lines to Quicke/Nina.


And his sire, the aforementioned Karlo son who also had hunt drive out the wazoo, was linebred 5,5-5 on Quicke. Hummmmmm........


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## Vandal (Dec 22, 2000)

Gildo brings that line in as well but there are certainly other sources for hunt drive.

Also, about hunt drive. I think most people do not have an appreciation for what it really is. This is not just a case of a dog being willing to sniff around a few minutes for a toy. So much of it is related to perseverance, where the dog will just not quit looking, even in the face of extreme obstacles, distractions and time. Nerves are important because, IMO, a level of composure while the search is going on is required. Also, for me, there must be hardness in dogs who really excel at the kind of work where hunt drive is absolutely necessary. That level of toughness is necessary so the dog does not shut down when things get too difficult. I have not seen this in every line. I have one bloodline where I have seen it over and over but I have also refreshed that line with some of the same blood .
One of these recent combinations I did from that line showed this same outstanding hunt drive. From the get go, and as very young pups, they showed a level of determination that I have not seen to that degree in other lines.
After a heavy rain, one of my big pepper trees fell on my training field. For people who are not familiar with those trees, the leaves and branches are very dense and not easy to move through. I threw a toy into that fallen tree and it fell down underneath all the branches. I then let two sisters from that breeding loose to go get that toy. They were there for 20 minutes trying to find a way to get in and get it. They first pinpointed the location and then tried every route they could think of to get under all those branches to get it. They would push their way in, hit a dead end and come out and try again in a different spot. I sat down and watched without saying a word. Never encouraged them and they never looked at me. They were too busy to wonder what I was doing. Finally, after they exhausted every possible route from the bottom, they literally started climbing the tree. They got to the place where the toy was underneath and squeezed thru . One followed the other inside and while one got to it first, they both came out with an end of it the same way they went in. That is hunt drive.


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## BlackthornGSD (Feb 25, 2010)

Vandal said:


> That level of toughness is necessary so the dog does not shut down when things get too difficult. I have not seen this in every line. I have one bloodline where I have seen it over and over but I have also refreshed that line with some of the same blood .


You going to tell us which dogs are prominent in these bloodlines?  Pretty please!


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## GSDElsa (Jul 22, 2009)

All fascinating stuff! Thanks everyone for the input. Hopefully it will keep coming...maybe Cliff will give his two cents as well??  I am definitely finding these threads to be the most enjoyable and informative on the entire board these days.



Vandal said:


> Also, about hunt drive. I think most people do not have an appreciation for what it really is. This is not just a case of a dog being willing to sniff around a few minutes for a toy. So much of it is related to perseverance, where the dog will just not quit looking, even in the face of extreme obstacles, distractions and time. Nerves are important because, IMO, a level of composure while the search is going on is required. Also, for me, there must be hardness in dogs who really excel at the kind of work where hunt drive is absolutely necessary. That level of toughness is necessary so the dog does not shut down when things get too difficult. I have not seen this in every line.


I agree with you completely on this. True hunt drive is an obsession for these dogs (of course, with keeping a clear head and not going batty over it). I'm seeing this come out more and more in Elsa the farther into SAR we get. Of course, I have no idea where it is coming from with her...if I only knew! I've gotten to the point where I don't want to play ball with her anymore in the snow because if it gets thrown and she didn't see it come down...we will be out there all day until she finds it.


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## lhczth (Apr 5, 2000)

Well, that is why we call it hunt drive.


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## BlackthornGSD (Feb 25, 2010)

GSDElsa said:


> All fascinating stuff! Thanks everyone for the input. Hopefully it will keep coming...maybe Cliff will give his two cents as well??  I am definitely finding these threads to be the most enjoyable and informative on the entire board these days.
> 
> 
> 
> I agree with you completely on this. True hunt drive is an obsession for these dogs (of course, with keeping a clear head and not going batty over it). I'm seeing this come out more and more in Elsa the farther into SAR we get. Of course, I have no idea where it is coming from with her...if I only knew! I've gotten to the point where I don't want to play ball with her anymore in the snow because if it gets thrown and she didn't see it come down...we will be out there all day until she finds it.


Just don't throw a snowball for her...


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## GSDElsa (Jul 22, 2009)

BlackthornGSD said:


> Just don't throw a snowball for her...


Oh, I've learned that lesson. If she doesn't "catch" it in her mouth I have to drag her away from the "landing zone"....... :rofl:

They're supposed to be smart, right??? lol


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## Vandal (Dec 22, 2000)

Chistine,
It is the line I talked about a couple of posts ago. I still have it but it is a few generations later now.


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## cliffson1 (Sep 2, 2006)

Dogs descending from Frei/Enno/Drigon have been known to have good hunt drive. I owned an Enno son in the seventies that had great hunt drive. Saw many dogs from Enno and his sons and some were excellent in hunt drive. Many went to police deptments.


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## wolfstraum (May 2, 2003)

I think many are confusing hunt drive and tracking ability....

The Pike daughter I had was linebred on Grief - and had Karlo of course as Pike's sire....and my first Sch3 dog, Kyra, had Uran Kirschental and tremendous hunt drive and tracking ability ... my male, 3 generations from Fero did well tracking, but no where the hunt drive of Kyra and Fenja (and Csabre)

Lee


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## Emoore (Oct 9, 2002)

GSDElsa said:


> All fascinating stuff! Thanks everyone for the input. Hopefully it will keep coming...maybe Cliff will give his two cents as well??  I am definitely finding these threads to be the most enjoyable and informative on the entire board these days.


Me too.


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## G-burg (Nov 10, 2002)

I think that dogs who have good (high) hunt drive make good tracking dogs?


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## doggiedad (Dec 2, 2007)

that's what i mean, you can train and bring certain things out. 



GSDElsa said:


> Hu?  Not sure how many people would say that something like hunt drive can be "trained" into a dog. Certainly there are ways to bring certain drives out of a dog. I but don't think you can "train" drive into a dog that doesn't have it...


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## cliffson1 (Sep 2, 2006)

Right now I am assisting a Sheriff's dept. in picking out candidates from their dept to go to Explosive school. We are evaluating these dogs for hunt drive. All of the candidates have good noses, and will do police tracking....but hunt drive requires an element of persistence WHEN there is no tangible evidence of the item or scent, unlike tracking where the dog is motivated by the scent he is following.


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## G-burg (Nov 10, 2002)

> All of the candidates have good noses, and will do police tracking....*but hunt drive requires an element of persistence WHEN there is no tangible evidence of the item or scent *


I understand the persistence part.. But not sure about the no tangible evidence of item or scent? Can you please elaborate more?

Do you mean the dog is tested completely blind? 

Something needs to kick the drive in in the beginning, no? An item (toy) or a scent from the item? Or at least that's how I've seen in done when testing for police dogs that were being evaled for scent work.. Dog seen the toy, then the toy was tossed into something, heavy brush, pile of wood, then dog didn't see where toy was hidden, dog sent to search, etc.. with each search getting harder and harder.. 

And I do think good tracking dogs need persistence to keep moving forward and to stay on the task at hand.. 

I know this is off topic.. sorry..


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## BlackthornGSD (Feb 25, 2010)

A dog I have now (Musket) will hopefully be going to a SAR home (this weekend!), so I've been doing "blind" retrieves with him with the Chuck-It--I throw the ball, holding his collar and don't let him go until it's stopped moving. I've had fun watching him learn out to find the ball and have been fascinated to watch him find and use the scent where the ball bounced along the grass to help him zero in on the ball. 

I don't know whether my other dogs do this and I just haven't realized that's what they're doing or whether this is unusual.

At any rate, I think what Cliff is talking about is searching even without finding the scent. Imagine a bomb dog searching and finding an absence of bomb scent repeatedly. This is an important signal for us humans, but for the dogs I am sure it gets discouraging to be asked to check again and again and again--no bomb scent. But they have to keep checking, keep searching, even after a number of no-finds.


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## Samba (Apr 23, 2001)

When searching for drugs or dropped evidence, etc... the object may or may not be there. There may be no scent, but still they search.


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## cliffson1 (Sep 2, 2006)

No the dog is not tested completely blind....these are already trained PDs that also are police trained for tracking. We are evaluating the dogs that when called out to do a building search on a bomb alert and their is nothing there to find will the dog maintain a high intensity search for the odor trained for in spite of nothing being present for long periods. All dogs are started pretty much the same way in introducing a dog to the odor. Once the dog is fully trained he/she does not have to be prompted by the odor from the handler to work a mission. The dog is brought in to start and some dogs WITHOUT having the constant prompts and cues of toys and towels will not work for long because they don't have the hunt drive. The dogs we are seeking, once they understand the odor from the school training, will go out and work without needing the odor to be present first. More times than not in explosive work the dog never finds anything, if the dog does not have good hunt drive then working for long periods will require toys and towels to be constantly employed during the search for the dog to maintain interest. There are many problems with this. Therefore, they look for dogs with high hunt drive that will work long and hard without these training tools necessary. Of course depending on the call, a handler could bring a toy out, but we are looking for a special type of dog and drives, that will work without this being necessary.


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## G-burg (Nov 10, 2002)

> No the dog is not tested completely blind....these are already trained PDs that also are police trained for tracking


Okay.. Already trained dogs.. I was thinking green dogs..  

I understand how the rest works in hunt drive!


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## cliffson1 (Sep 2, 2006)

Christine you are right on point.....training in law enforcement has different outcomes and variables than sport. I know it doesn't qualify one to speak on things like the sch gods, but it does expose you to many aspects of a dogs working ability.


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## cliffson1 (Sep 2, 2006)

G-burg, I am not inferring you are one of the Sch gods...lol.....but for some people if it isn't Sch training, it isn't real


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## Emoore (Oct 9, 2002)

BlackthornGSD said:


> A dog I have now (Musket) will hopefully be going to a SAR home (this weekend!), so I've been doing "blind" retrieves with him with the Chuck-It--I throw the ball, holding his collar and don't let him go until it's stopped moving. I've had fun watching him learn out to find the ball and have been fascinated to watch him find and use the scent where the ball bounced along the grass to help him zero in on the ball.


This is the same way the SAR people test our rescue dogs for hunt drive.


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## G-burg (Nov 10, 2002)

I wish I was the SchH god.. maybe things would be different!  

We have a couple K9 handlers that come out and train with us.. And now have some PSA people.. Plus I've been the lucky victim to FEMA and Wilderness dogs.. It's nice to see the difference..


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## GSDElsa (Jul 22, 2009)

cliffson1 said:


> No the dog is not tested completely blind....these are already trained PDs that also are police trained for tracking. We are evaluating the dogs that when called out to do a building search on a bomb alert and their is nothing there to find will the dog maintain a high intensity search for the odor trained for in spite of nothing being present for long periods. All dogs are started pretty much the same way in introducing a dog to the odor. Once the dog is fully trained he/she does not have to be prompted by the odor from the handler to work a mission. The dog is brought in to start and some dogs WITHOUT having the constant prompts and cues of toys and towels will not work for long because they don't have the hunt drive. The dogs we are seeking, once they understand the odor from the school training, will go out and work without needing the odor to be present first. More times than not in explosive work the dog never finds anything, if the dog does not have good hunt drive then working for long periods will require toys and towels to be constantly employed during the search for the dog to maintain interest. There are many problems with this. Therefore, they look for dogs with high hunt drive that will work long and hard without these training tools necessary. Of course depending on the call, a handler could bring a toy out, but we are looking for a special type of dog and drives, that will work without this being necessary.


And, same idea with SAR. There may or may not be a person there to find, but you have to be confident your dog is going to keep searching until you tell them to stop. More often than not you aren't going to be making a "find" considering the amount of area being searched and the number of teams (both K9 and human) participating. But, the dog must keep searching...but also must have the "tracking ability" that you're also confident he's not going to go within a foot and a half of a victim and totally pass them by.

I've actually found the practicing in the house for SAR on miserable days has been that with some of the most valuable learning experiences on how your dog's nose works and their 
perserverance to find their subject. Sometimes training in the relative open doesn't make you fully appreciate the lengths they will go to search every nook and cranny in a house.


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## carmspack (Feb 2, 2011)

well nice to see so many familiar names . Hi Anne -- here is my answer to you, uh huh, yup, uh huh .. right on . That's hunt drive for you. Pretty much do the same thing . Names I'd like to add are Ingo Rudingen, Jeff Flamingsand, Birko Wolfshohle. Although the are descendants , each one has been able to produce this hunt drive. In my pedigrees I have Ingo not going through Jeff, and Jeff not going through Birko . It comes through pretty strong. 
Had a pup out today at psd Mike's -- this one male is going to be so easy , evidence of obsessive hunt already observable , we just need to give him opportunity to employ it. 

U litter Kirschental -- yes . Had progeny through Uwe and Uran (Joe Kuhn's) --- this line still flows through my lines --- lots of narc / dual -- and new bomb dog Carmspack Silva -- Carmspack Silva - German shepherd dog

check out his maternal line coming through from Mokka , dam to multiple narcotic / police dogs - Carmspack Mokka Peters - German shepherd dog
here you will see the U litter Kirschentals , the Ingo Rudingens etc.

Asko Schloss Zweibruggen -- had great success with that combination incorporated into the old family line.

strong herding dogs exist in the same pedigrees. 

I remember one test that I wrote about on another list. Young dog being tested for service. We drove to the back of a huge beer/spirits distributing building . At the back there was a "mountain" of broken down boxes which would be put into containers for removal. This was a very hot summer . The dog was about 4 months . Some small item was flipped onto this mound . The dog sent . The waxy cardboard had been sitting out in the sun and was hot to the touch. As the dog searched the "terrain" kept changing because the cardboard kept shifting and spilling . We stood by the side and let him do his thing -- which he did without any need for input , till he got it. His reward was wild honest (you can not fool a dog ) praise -- uninhibited crazy praise.

good thread


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## cliffson1 (Sep 2, 2006)

Yesterday we (Sheriff's dept. K9) we tested four perspective handlers for one of my dogs that is going to explosive school in April. We went into a big open 4H building with a giant open area and slippery tile floor and other rooms and kitchen area. We had towels soaked in nitrates odor and had each handler come in alone and engage the door for 3 straight minutes with two towels of odor and observed their ability to stay actively engaged with the dog. After all four candidates had gone through this we then set up problems for the dog in different parts of the building, in closets, cabinets, up high, under articles, in trash, etc. This work was done without the towels or prompts and after the dog has been strenuosly engaged for 12 minutes. The dog still had the drive to find each of the hidden articles though he was tired and the floor very challenging. This dog is out of lines to Asko vom Lutter, DDR dog Zorro vom Lager-Wall that goes back to Artus v Westhohle(sp), and Sirk vom Belchen. This dog has hunt drive and the DDR element in the dog is brings a lot of the hunt drive, imo.


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## carmspack (Feb 2, 2011)

well look at that , we just had a dog thoroughly tested and approved who will begin training this coming week.
his pedigree is also Asko Lutter , Ingo Rudingen, U litter Kirschental , and through Cliff Geiersnest Joker and Peggy Korbelbach. Carmspack Silva - German shepherd dog

latest litter for which I have high expectations for hunt/search - and already observable comes from the same sire Griswald, who I should have pointed out also goes back to Enno Beilstein through Winni , and Perry Beilstein through Enzo AND has Mink AND Gildo on the his dam Bora Herringsmoor.
Silva is a rep of his first litter. The entire litter has very high hunt search. There is Bella who is a narc dog , and Amis in human remains and now Silva as explosives. The others were easy breezy tracking dogs and had strong hunt drive.

So Griswald Griswald van Xazziam - German shepherd dog
was bred to "Avery" who has another dog that should have been mentioned Tino Felsenschloss (Birko Wolfshohle and Golf Ritterberg) , and Birko again AND Zorro Laagerwall , AND double Lord Gleisdreieck through Ila . For your interest Cliff and you may already know this there is also Bac Weissenholz who I was told by Joe Kuhn was tough tough tough -- and he had all that and then some . Lord again through Alf brother to Alk Airdrie Hill vom Schmetterling - German shepherd dog

I would say that there is a lot of potential here.


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## psdontario (Feb 2, 2011)

BlackthornGSD said:


> A dog I have now (Musket) will hopefully be going to a SAR home (this weekend!), so I've been doing "blind" retrieves with him with the Chuck-It--I throw the ball, holding his collar and don't let him go until it's stopped moving. I've had fun watching him learn out to find the ball and have been fascinated to watch him find and use the scent where the ball bounced along the grass to help him zero in on the ball.
> 
> I don't know whether my other dogs do this and I just haven't realized that's what they're doing or whether this is unusual.
> 
> At any rate, I think what Cliff is talking about is searching even without finding the scent. Imagine a bomb dog searching and finding an absence of bomb scent repeatedly. This is an important signal for us humans, but for the dogs I am sure it gets discouraging to be asked to check again and again and again--no bomb scent. But they have to keep checking, keep searching, even after a number of no-finds.


I perform a similar exercise with my 16 week old puppies (and older of course), but, as the ball is about to hit the ground, I spin them around, 180 - 360º and let them go... and do not direct, do not even face in the direction of the ball. Next step, a light to dark find, something I have realized has been lacking in my program, something I will fix for the upcoming recruits for PSD.

Cheers, 
Mike


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