Why is gundog scent training easier on some days?

Gundog training
PETER BLATCH
Welcome to the mysteries of scent! Nobody will ever truly get to the bottom of what makes for a good – or bad – scenting day because so many variables are concerned.

All I can say is that, in my experience, extreme weather conditions tend to produce the worst days for scent, and this will affect a ‘live’ day or your gundog training.

For instance, dry, bitterly cold freezing days of the sort we endured last season fall into this category.

And the same goes for very hot, dry, weather.

The best days are those when there’s a bit of moisture on the ground and in the air because game scent clings to microscopic droplets of water making it much easier for a dog to follow a trail and therefore find its retrieve.

And then there’s wind.

Wind plays a huge part in determining how much scent is available for a dog to work with – too much and what scent is out there will be thinned very quickly or blown all over the place; too little and scent will be confined to a small area.

To get a better understanding of scent it pays to watch your dog carefully, see how he copes and make a mental note of wind and weather conditions at the time.

By paying close attention you will soon develop a ‘feel’ for the day and what it likely means for dog work.