Training an Elkhound

 Hunting, Hunting  1 Response »
May 112011
 

In Sporting Life on the Norwegian Fjeds, Diana was a bitch, suggested to be related to a setter named Pan owned by Jens Andreas Friis. He went into great details about how he trained his dogs, and Diana was especially coveted as the finest hunting companion he worked with. What is striking though, is the process of training a “reindeer-hound,” in which Friis already established her grouse-pointing abilities, and the struggles he had.

“Reindeer-hounds” were usually employed with a harness and a cord to guide the hunter to the game. Noawdays, Norwegians call these dogs “bandhunds.” In a related manner, guide dogs for the blind usually wear vests. The reason why the blind gets nervous when security asks to remove a dog’s vest is because the removal in itself is a signal the dog is off-duty. Similarly here, like a modern service dog needing to know when to be on-duty and off-duty, Diana must distinguish the difference between tracking reindeer and hunting for grouse:

Just as we reached that part of the moor where I considered it advisable to leave Hans the other boy and Diana the latter who was fast to a cord came across fresh ryper spor and stood set It was plain enough there were ryper lying close by but I had something else to do before I should have time to see after them When I tugged at the cord to pull the dog back to me she would not obey She was certain in her own mind there were ryper close to and consequently could not understand why I disregarded her intimation of the fact No Diana I remarked I have positively no time to shoot ryper come now But Diana who had not seen the reindeer could not conceive why I wanted to leave the spot She looked at me wagged her tail and then turned her head again in the direction where she well knew the birds to be saying as plainly as possible Here lies a whole covey right before my nose please let me loose and you shall see It cannot be helped I said I see plainly enough what you mean but I have no time now I will come back by and bye come now Diana finally laid herself flat down on the ground and would not quit the spot until I by threats and main strength dragged her up on to her feet again and then she with the greatest reluctance only took one step backward looking very crestfallen and shook herself as though she would say "Yes now you can have it so I cast all the blame from me it is wholly and solely your own fault even if it should happen that we go the whole day without finding another ryper."

Of course later on, after Friis and Diana returned to the same spot of the encountered birds, the bitch picked up where she left off:

In the meantime I went back to the moor under Hestknappen, accompanied by the little boy and Diana. When we arrived near to the place where Diana had found ryper in the morning, she apparently remembered the spot, and started off direct to it. When we came up, she had again found ryper there, and was set. As soon as she saw me she wagged her tail a little, advanced a short distance and again stood set, unwilling to go nearer to the birds. I then went closer, and up flew a covey of ten ryper. Two fell down again instantly. Later on I found another and larger covey, and out of these two, I in one hour shot twelve ryper, all that year's birds. With these, I and the little boy returned down to the sseter, where we arrived before Halvor. In a short time he also re

See, dogs don’t really act like chameleons accordingly to what we want them to behave. They are associative learners. A dog can easily be trained to know the difference between scenting for spoors on a harness, and nosing for birds in the absence of. With time, Diana will learn what Jens desires from his dog.

Reindeer Dogs

 Hunting, Hunting  2 Responses »
May 042011
 

via google.com [Image: "Gamle Norge.": Rambles and scrambles in Norway by Robert Taylor Pritchett, 1879]

In Sporting Life on the Norwegian Fjeds, published in 1878, there are numerous references to “bear-hounds,” “reindeer-hounds,” “deer-hounds” and “elk-hounds” for conventional purposes. The dogs doesn’t seem to be defined by their breed or type, but rather the function they are used for.  In fact, they even mention how dogs are employed to find a “ryper” [trans: "grouse"].

The people in the book did not specify what kind of dogs were used nor were there any hints whether the dogs mentioned are either Elkhounds, Lapphunds, Finnish Spitzes, Norbottenspets, Karelian Bear Dogs, Huskies, English Setters, Finnish Hounds and so on. It is neither clear if the dogs were imported from Britain or Germany. Nevermind the type, what’s important is how the methodology of hunting which still persists today continuing from a hundred and thirty years ago.  The account of hunting in Scandinavia is quite enjoyable read about how the English, Norwegians and Finns use their dogs.

In a particular segment about “reindeer hounds,” Jans Andreas Friis mentioned prick-eared dogs, small in stature, with noses that come to a point; who could also be used to hunt birds. Here is an excerpt on how to use a “bandhund” [trans: "leashed dog"] to trail games:

Reindeer hounds are of course always led by a leash or cord This is better not attached to a common dog collar as the dog in its eagerness to follow up the spoor is apt to nearly choke himself but should be fastened to a kind of harness in such a manner as to leave the throat and head free The smallest specimens of the race are preferred as they are not so strong and can therefore be more easily guided by the cord It is no doubt very pleasant when climbing upwards to be assisted by the dogpulling at the leash but the reverse is the case when going over difficult and dangerous ground such as over loose pieces of stone or when descending precipitous mountain slopes where the assistance of both hands and feet are necessary to proceed in safety A sudden unexpected tug at the line then by a strong eager dog might easily cause the sportsman to lose his footing and his life Accordingly the dogs in general use are small ones with sharp noses and upright pointed ears of the same breed as those used by the Fins to guard their herds of tame reindeer These dogs are also used for hunting bears and elk Usually a dog specially trained as an elkhound can be used for reindeer as they will follow the spoor of one animal as readily as that of the other These dogs could of course be trained to follow at heel until such time as there is a probability of finding reindeer when they could be attached to a leash and told to search for spoor instead of as now tuggingat the leash as soon as the sportsman sets out in a way that renders it difficult to hold them There is no hope of this improvement however so long as the present system of training is in vogue amongst the peasant hunters who are the principal trainers of deerhounds An ordinary sporting dog will readily follow rein spoor when encouraged to do so while young and probably could be trained both to follow reindeer spoor led in a leash and to go at liberty and search for winged gameFrom the text, it sounds like the Finns are referring to the Lapinkoira [trans: "Lappish dogs"] landrace: either the Lapphund (Suomenlapinkoira) or the Lapponian Herders (Lapinporokoira). However given even Norwegian Elkhounds have innate herding abilities, and there were numerous village strains of dogs prior to the standardizations set forward by kennel owners, it is probably wise to be consistent with the original text: classify dogs based on their tasks.

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...