How to Train a Doberman to Hunt Deer

True to the Doberman breed, your Leo is obedient, loyal, energetic, and fairly large. He's eagerly waiting for you at the bottom of the stairs each morning for breakfast and leaps up and down as soon as you reach for the leash. It’s fair to say Leo is part of the family and that you love his upbeat nature. You’ve also had quite a lot of success in training him basic commands, from ‘down’ to ‘wait’. But when you started training your Doberman you were thinking long-term. In fact, you were planning to develop him into a hunting companion, capable of tracking down deer.

Training your Doberman to hunt deer comes with a long list of benefits. Firstly, you’ll have a fantastic way to exercise and stimulate them. Secondly, the obedience training required will transform them into a highly trained dog. Finally and perhaps most importantly, you may have much more success when you go out on hunting trips.

Training a Doberman to hunt deer is straightforward, but requires hard work and persistence, on both your parts. You will, of course, need to get your dog familiar with their future prey. You will also need to develop the hunting skills they will need to be effective. All of this will require the right motivation. Unsurprisingly, like most dogs, Dobermans will do pretty much anything for food and a favorite toy. So both will be used throughout training.

If your Doberman is just a puppy then you should have the perfect, receptive student. You could then see results in just a month. But if your dog is older and their listening days are in the past, then it may take several months to whip them into shape. Get training right and you’ll have company on those early morning hunting trips. Not to mention, you’ll have an obedient and switched-on dog.

Before you start training, you will need to gather a few bits. You will need some training decoys and scent spray. A favorite toy or two, plus a decent supply of tasty treats will be needed. If you don’t want to use treats, you can break your dog's favorite food into small pieces.

The other main requirement is time. Set aside at least 10 minutes each day for training. You can work in a yard to start with, but then you will need to move on to local fields and natural hunting ground.

Once you have all those boxes ticked, just bring perseverance and enthusiasm, then work can begin!