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Striker: a Versatile Vizsla by Becky White Our Vizsla, Striker (Barben’s Strike the Gold JH), has an excellent nose. She scents game of all type. When we walk at our friend’s cow pastures, she is the dog that finds the rabbits, tweety birds, mice, and yes, even deer. She usually points briefly, then flushes the animal and gives a short chase, but then she gets right back to scenting to see what she can find next. Unlike a really well trained bird dog though, she loves to put her nose to the ground instead of up into the wind. That is what gave Joseph the idea to train her for blood tracking work. Here is how it went: A couple of years ago when Joseph had his venison processed, he had the butcher save some meaty bones. The bones went into the freezer until Joseph was ready to use them. Whenever he wanted to work with Striker he let a bone thaw and get really juicy. Then he dragged the bone on the ground around the yard to leave a blood trail. He left the bone at the end of the trail. Next Joseph brought Striker out into the yard on a leash. He would take her to the point where he had started the trail and let her sniff around. She would find the trail and follow it. At the end of the trail she would get the bone as her reward. Of course, Joseph started with short, rather straight trails and worked up to longer, more complicated trails. He also lengthened the time between laying the trail and bringing Striker out to follow it. However, he did not do this work on a regular basis or even that often. It was just kind of fun to watch Striker figure out where the bone was hidden. This fall, Joseph had the opportunity to see if this work would pay off. He took Striker with him to deer camp one weekend. Joseph shot a doe. He knew it was a good shot, but the doe did not fall right away. So Joseph went back to camp and got Striker. As they walked up to the place where Joseph had first seen the doe, Striker went on point – she was pointing the blood trail of the doe! Joseph urged Striker forward and she went right to the blood trail; Joseph could see the blood on the ground there. Striker then continued to follow the blood trail through thickets and down into a swampy area. She stopped and pointed again. Joseph looked ahead and saw the doe on the ground. Striker found the dead deer without any problem. The deer had gone about 60 yards from where it was shot and Joseph would have found it without Striker’s help, but Joseph and Striker both enjoyed the opportunity to do a little real tracking.
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