Jäger the Tracker

I have been reading and watching everything I can find on tracking dogs and finally got a puppy last year. One of my buddies had a litter of labs and had a funny looking one....Both parents are pure bred and papered and the female is an inside dog that is leash walked so he was freaking out that she had a rottie looking pup lol. Anyways he knew I was looking for a pup so he offered him to me for a deal! After some research the black and tan labs are rare genetic mutation but really not that rare most breeders just don't advertise them since they can't be shown and might bring up questions to their line. Personally I liked the fact that he was different looking. Anyways Jäger was born right before the season started last year and I got him at 6 weeks so I could get him on blood as soon as possible. He was a natural and if anything trained me how to track. He was only put on one deer track last season he was about 12 weeks old, sadly the coyote had already gotten to it and it was strung all over a 100 yards square in pine rows. I put him on the first blood over the fence and he tracked about 75 yards and found the first place it bedded down before it was pushed and than found bits and pieces here and there where the coyote tore it up. It wasn't the kind of track I wanted to put him on for his first but he did what he is supposed to and found what was left of the deer. He will be 11 months old this Wednesday. Now for all the pics!

Day 1







Tired after his first mock 25yd track


First encounter with a deer


Skinning partner




Mock track with a doe hide


What you want this blanket?


100yard track reward

Nice! I like his build. He has a slender, athletic look about him. Was he having some ear problems or something? I noticed the thing around his neck in the one pic.

Nice looking dog - glad to see this post. I look forward to the updates.

He looks like a good buddy. Sam - what state are you from?

Crimson n' Camo said:

Nice! I like his build. He has a slender, athletic look about him. Was he having some ear problems or something? I noticed the thing around his neck in the one pic.

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Yes no matter how much we feed him he stay's slender. Vet has check everything and he has a clean bill of health but think because he is so active he burns any extra weight. The cone was for his manhood...his mother didn't want lab/dachshunds puppies running around the house so she had him fixed as soon as the vet would do it.

wbpdeer said:

Nice looking dog - glad to see this post. I look forward to the updates.

He looks like a good buddy. Sam - what state are you from?

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Florida Just updated my profile. I'm a member of the Florida Blood Trailing Network hopefully we will get to help out this year.

My female lab is built the same way. You might try switching up dog foods if you want more weight on him. Most trackers want a slender dog though from what I've seen. Most of the dog foods such as Taste of the Wild amd similar blends, have different formulations with different protein and fat levels. I actually had to drop down a notch on what I was feeding my male Kopov because he was staying to chunky no matter how active he was. I was feeding a 32/18 formulation and have since switched to a 25/15.

You've got a great looking dog! Looking forward to following your progress....welcome!

Crimson n' Camo said:

My female lab is built the same way. You might try switching up dog foods if you want more weight on him. Most trackers want a slender dog though from what I've seen. Most of the dog foods such as Taste of the Wild amd similar blends, have different formulations with different protein and fat levels. I actually had to drop down a notch on what I was feeding my male Kopov because he was staying to chunky no matter how active he was. I was feeding a 32/18 formulation and have since switched to a 25/15.

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He is on a 26/14 formula it's called Fromm large breed puppy similar to taste of the wild but our dachshund love it and they are really picky. I don't personally mind his weight but everyone comments how I'm starving him lol.

Yeah, I get that too with my lab. I just tell folks that they haven't ever seen a real lab before.

Anyone doing any last minute training tracks? This the wife wanted to see how Jager would do with her on a track in case i was out of town or in a tree. So i explained how to put down and track and let it sit a little while and how to just follow him and praise him a lot at the end. Well worked late two nights this week and she did three different trails with him and he did great. Hopefully i get to put him on a real on tomorrow as our bow season opens in the morning!

Keep us posted and good luck with him.

Well Jager found his first deer the weekend before thanksgiving. I shot a doe and she ran about 70yds and i heard her crash. Sent a text to the wife to bring the dog in a hour and got down and he followed it pretty well but didn't know what to do once he saw it 5yds away. My phone was dead and the wife didn't have hers so no pics but here are some after pics of his prize.


Awake up lets go to the woods

Congrats to Jager and handler. Success is a great motivator.

Jager is not like Elkie and possessive with the deer. Bet it felt great to see the dog work the track.

Once he got the leg he would give it up. But coming up to the deer he was a little unsure. Cant wait to get him on another track.

Shot a buck Thursday morning and couldn't find any blood were he was standing when i shot so it was a prefect time for the Jager to earn his keep. I put him on the tracks where he was standing when i shot him and told him to find the deer and off he went. Tracked about 75 yards and still no blood...now I’m getting worried did i pull the shot? Did i completely miss? Walked into a little clearing and jager starts circling like he has lost the trail, so i gave him some more line and started looking around for any sign of blood anything to help the dog. And there he is 15' from us laying between some palmettos. I pull jager back to the trail before the clearing and tell him again find the deer. He walks into the clearing and goes straight for the deer. For anyone that is thinking abt getting a dog stop thinking abt it and get one. Yes after 100yrds i found blood but there was only 10 FEET of blood. This is my biggest deer to date and i could have lost it and wasted the meat with out Jager. Great day to have a dog and even better to watch the dog work and do what i "trained" him to do...really they train you but its cool to think i had a hand in his training.

Shot placement? Was it a bow or gun kill? Good buck you have there.

Yes your dog is very valuable. His nose knows. Congrats to you and your tracking dog.

Thanks for sharing.

How old is Jager and how many deer tracks has he been on?

It was a rifle, shot wasnt terrible for the fact that the buck was quartering away. Jager is a little over a year old and this is the forth deer jager has track and he has found 3-4 the 4th ran to a main road and blood stopped at the road so we think something picked up the deer.

Good job guys!

congrats on the buck and congrats to Jager

Took Jager to the woods today to check camera and look for turkey sign.