dirtyboots
Observer
Mal mal mal mal mal mine mine mine mine mine mine mine. The absolutely hands down no questions asked most completely obssessed working dog there is. Having said that in it's pure form it is a good thing. Of course you didn't ask what anyone thought about what is the best working dog. For SAR tracking spaniels are hard to beat.
They are not giganticus, have alot of endurance, obey, and are very social. Unless you are going to drop some serious bread on for realsies pure breed, complete with all of the proper socialization performed by a propper breeder (they have imprinting behavoirs dialed in to the day now for developing pups, and if you are going to buy a pup for work and the breeder isn't doing it by day / or doesn't know how for your particular interest / vocation to tailor the imprint, check somewhere that does)
And, now that I've rambled from least realistic (mals) to semi realistic (purebred mega cash dog) lets cover mutts. First, I'll give you the benefit of the doubt, and say that the dog you have is not going to work. IF there is anything that will overpower your dogs desire to find a person while on a track (say a game odor, lets say, rabbit) you have a training issue, it is not a drive issue. The dog is simply rewarding itself and gaffing you off. It's what dogs do. I am sure you have some great experienced trainers, just throwing that out there, take it for what it's worth.
Okay, anyway, the dog won't work. check rescues, and pounds. Bloodhounds although huge and messy would surely suit your needs. I will not say who, but there are vendors for large agencies that sell mutts from the pound for good amounts of cash. How do they do what they do? Ball drive. Insano ball drive. If you can find a dog that has a high prey / ball drive, higher than food, you can pretty much "teach" them to do anything. They are not often but definitely out there waiting to be adopted.
If nothing else is agreeable just take your time looking, and learning. It is not a breed issue as much as it is finding the right dog to suit your needs. There are selection tests and opinions on what makes a good tracking / trailing dog out the wazoo. Look for a dog whos nose hits the deck when it gets outside, and will take a ball over food. From there you have the beginnings of something workable. Hope that helps, and above all have fun.
They are not giganticus, have alot of endurance, obey, and are very social. Unless you are going to drop some serious bread on for realsies pure breed, complete with all of the proper socialization performed by a propper breeder (they have imprinting behavoirs dialed in to the day now for developing pups, and if you are going to buy a pup for work and the breeder isn't doing it by day / or doesn't know how for your particular interest / vocation to tailor the imprint, check somewhere that does)
And, now that I've rambled from least realistic (mals) to semi realistic (purebred mega cash dog) lets cover mutts. First, I'll give you the benefit of the doubt, and say that the dog you have is not going to work. IF there is anything that will overpower your dogs desire to find a person while on a track (say a game odor, lets say, rabbit) you have a training issue, it is not a drive issue. The dog is simply rewarding itself and gaffing you off. It's what dogs do. I am sure you have some great experienced trainers, just throwing that out there, take it for what it's worth.
Okay, anyway, the dog won't work. check rescues, and pounds. Bloodhounds although huge and messy would surely suit your needs. I will not say who, but there are vendors for large agencies that sell mutts from the pound for good amounts of cash. How do they do what they do? Ball drive. Insano ball drive. If you can find a dog that has a high prey / ball drive, higher than food, you can pretty much "teach" them to do anything. They are not often but definitely out there waiting to be adopted.
If nothing else is agreeable just take your time looking, and learning. It is not a breed issue as much as it is finding the right dog to suit your needs. There are selection tests and opinions on what makes a good tracking / trailing dog out the wazoo. Look for a dog whos nose hits the deck when it gets outside, and will take a ball over food. From there you have the beginnings of something workable. Hope that helps, and above all have fun.
