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Hey guys, my question is my dog has been getting alot of the scent while trailing about a 1'or 2' off the ground, branches, bushes and such, I have noticed this in the spring and summer for bear once in a while while coldtrailing a tuff track in tuff condions but never noticed it for cat in the snow before, is this a normal behavior for a dog when their is no snow or maybe tough conditions cuz it was before we got this rain and it was quite dry no burning allowed warnings.

thanks for any thoughts on this subject.

tell me if I am right on this your hounds nose is one or two inches above the ground while trailing? since this is how it trails bear it will also try and trail cat the same way. this is a general rule though if your hound has its nose two inches of the ground it is either picking up a low heavy scent pool close by. or it's a pretty good track and that hound should be moving out real well. now if it is cruising with it's nose at that level and sticking it's nose to specific tracks or brush etc. it could be a cool but runnable track with a outstanding hound. how ever i go with a warmer track since he's been running bear. how many cats has he caught? has he ever stuck his nose in the dirt a rooted for tracks and progressively worked it into a catch? or does it always run head up?

jeff wrote:Hey guys, my question is my dog has been getting alot of the scent while trailing about a 1'or 2' off the ground, branches, bushes and such, I have noticed this in the spring and summer for bear once in a while while coldtrailing a tuff track in tuff condions but never noticed it for cat in the snow before, is this a normal behavior for a dog when their is no snow or maybe tough conditions cuz it was before we got this rain and it was quite dry no burning allowed warnings.

thanks for any thoughts on this subject.

Im sorry pegleg, I probably should of put 1ft-2ft of the ground instead of the little marks that do look like inch marks sorry about that,

again I didnt explain vary well,
the scent up off the ground is something I noticed a time or two with another dog during trailing a bear track a time or two during dry conditions.

this young dog I am speaking of, I know vary little about and wasted a winter of training with her cuz she got bred and I was just getting her to open up on cat tracks while walking her down them, so she would hopfully know what I wanted her to chase, she can move a good track and is my fastest dog in my yard while trailing, she has been on two jumped cats by herself this spring with no catches, the one chase I seen the cat cross the blacktop, and the other.. well it sure acted like a cat and felt it was the same cat.

but this scent up high just got me baffled/curious and thought I would ask all of you if you have run across this at times, she is walking along with her nose on the ground saying vary little if anything and then she will come across a bush or a cedar thicket and she will let out a big bawl while sniffing up high on the side of the bush and continue with her nose on the ground and repeat it, like she is only getting a real good whiff up high.

Thankyou for your input on this subject pegleg.

The brush is holding the scent better than the ground is. Very common. Good dogs figure it out.

Where I used to live and hunt, I saw this frequently. In fact, it was one of the "phew, it's a cat" moments when I saw a young dog put its nose on a peice of brush instead of on the ground. I am not sure why, but I never saw a dog do this on coyote, or coon, and it came to be a sure sign of a bobcat for me. Then I learned there is also a certain tail wag that many dogs have on a cat. When I saw that nose on the brush and that tailwag, it was as sure as seeing a bobcat track in the snow, even when there was no snow and no visible track.

Maybe someone can verify this for me, but i have heard that cats have scent glands in their face: that when a domstic cat rubs it's face on you it is marking you. I guess a cat would probably avoid the brush with it's face, but it sure seems like they leave more scent on brush than they do on the ground. Maybe it is just because a bit of brush would actually slide along their whole body as they pass instead of a foot pad rubber stamped on the ground.

Well Mr. David, once again your knowledge of what a Bobcat does sure matches what Dad says.

About the bush carrying the Cats Scent, they do mark with rubbing their face and sometimes their whole bodies on SELECTED bushes (we have all seen our Housecats do this to a certain piece of furnature). This gentle rubbing leaves more scent than just passing by while traveling or feeding, but is still subtle enough to provoke only the Tail Wag and some excietment!

Now if it had been a Tom Cat marking his territory by squirting his Anal Gland on the Bush, you would just about be gauranteed a BARK. These spots as well as the "Cat Kicks" that we have talked about before evoke lots of Rig Strikes from our Hounds that never develope into trailable tracks as they may have been made days before.

Now as to the Hounds trailing "Heads UP" there can be lots of reasons for this....all revolving around that Ole "Scenting Condition" thing. When conditions are right and the Scent from a Varmit rising, Hounds can move it faster and with their heads further from the ground. If the Varmit has crossed some water, for a while its Scent will be stronger and Hounds can smell it easier...therefor their nose is higher.

In the original post Jeff states that as the track passed a different type of cover the scent seemed to rise, this could be due to minor temperature changes in the air due to the change in vegitation or even something as subtle as a change in the soil type. It boils down to just that...the Hound can smell the critter better for what ever reason!

With the delicate Scent that an undisturbed (not being persued by a Pack of screaming Hounds) Feeding or Traveling Bobcat leaves even the most minor changes in geological, atmospheric, or vegitative conditions will help or HURT your Hounds ability to Trail or run the Ole Shortail!

C. John Clay
Dads Dogboy

Not sure about bobcats but I reckon they are the same but an old lion has scent glands on his face, and he does a lot of marking with it and females do to. It seems to be a different scent up high and it holds pretty good, I have seen hounds in thick oak brush run a lion trail like they were tied to it but once it left the brush and went back to the bare ground they slowed to a snails pace. This is one of the reasons that I emphasize teaching pups to quickly go to the brush and rocks to get thru scent void areas. That is the reason for the upper roller on my scent stick that I use for cat training to mimick the brushing a cat does.

Thankyou gentlemen for your great feedback on this curiousity of mine, wow !! I just thought about it, curiousity is what killed the cat,lol

but anyhow, great responses and it all makes good sense to a greenhorn like me, thanks for your knowledge gents, I learn alot from you guys and we do all appreciate your passion you guys must have for the hounds/cats to share your experience with all of us day in and day out.

More comments are always welcome, thankyou again.

Jeff

No kidding, Its posts like these that make me feel like i owe you guys something for all the info and advice you give for free! It is greatly appricated and I can say that it is not over looked and is taken seriously. Thanks again.