How do you train a dog for shed hunting?

By Grant Woods,

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Question
I was watching some of your wife’s videos when she was shed hunting. I noticed the dog was helping to find the deer sheds as well. I am curious as to how you guys trained your dog to be able to help find sheds/whole skulls.
Thanks, Nick

Tracy and Crystal spend countless hours each year in the late winter and early spring hunting for shed antlers! Crystal (our shed dog) was selected because she displayed signs of having a high search instinct.  This is similar  to training a duck dog except you substitute antlers. She was started as a puppy chasing a ball with an antler tine stuck in it. As she grew she was put on larger and larger antlers.  They were thrown out in the yard so that they had a bit of a roll to them. Once her “desire” for antlers was firmed with lots of praise and reward, we moved to playing hide and seek games. You can easily find out more by searching online. Check out AntlerDogs.com or various other videos on youtube.  If you enjoy training dogs, this is a fun and rewarding project!