Blood Hound Control.

[SH4D0W]

Ok so a newish player to game and i have the basic Bloodhound commands down pat & the fast commands like looking at blood and she tracks instead of looking anywhere and she heels.

Problem im having not sure if its control issue, dogs skill or just not implemented.
- If im crawling my dog still runs around me in circles at times and never crawls or even tries to do a low slow walk (only way i can make dog less visible at all is to tell her to lay down manually,)
- I figured she would copy my stance if i go slow sneaking she dont run around like crazy spooking everything)
- Is it normal for the dog to be so demanding, if i dont pat,play,congratulate often as she gets upset (1 of 3 hearts)

Thanks Muchly.

[BJWyler]

The dog will not mimic your stance. It will continue to roam around unless you tell it to sit or lay down.

Animals cannot detect the dog so it really only becomes an issue when it habitually wanders in front of you just as you are taking your shot.

Yes, the dog is very needy, which is the primary reason I parked him in the kennel and have never let him back out.

[SH4D0W]

So Other animals cannot detect the dog ?
*Post the meme of john travolta looking around from pulp fiction"

[BJWyler]

Originally posted by SH4D0W:

So Other animals cannot detect the dog ?
*Post the meme of john travolta looking around from pulp fiction"

Not in Call of the Wild.

[Geronimo]

I think some people might be avoiding the obedience training and than wondering why the dog isn't being obedient.

I'm not sure about the actual programming, but as a IRL dog trainer I'd like to point out that it's possible the programming might involve keeping up the training-reward factors so as to mimic IRL.

I have no issues at all with my hound, and train and reward regularly. And when I'm in stalk or ambush mode, I just command the dog to stay, and he stays.

I would suggest that if your dog is not staying put, it might just need some further training-rewarding, and those are not mutually exclusive.

[SH4D0W]

@Geronimo
* Its Not they aint listening to orders
- Its The Walking ahead of player when meant to be "HEELING"
- Its The Running when player is crawling.
- Its The Fact The "Loving" Bar Goes Down in only 5 mins or so then down to 1 within 15mins. always have to praise, pat, play with or give treat like 3-4 times per REAL HOUR Gameplay.

[Geronimo]

Originally posted by SH4D0W:

@Geronimo
* Its Not they aint listening to orders
- Its The Walking ahead of player when meant to be "HEELING"
- Its The Running when player is crawling.
- Its The Fact The "Loving" Bar Goes Down in only 5 mins or so then down to 1 within 15mins. always have to praise, pat, play with or give treat like 3-4 times per REAL HOUR Gameplay.

So why are you using commands other than stay when you are crawling, or not wanting it to be ahead of you?

When I hunt, the dog is the n stay mode. As I get further away I call it to my position and than put it back in stay mode before I proceed.

If the dog won't stay put, than it needs further stay training and rewarding.

I don't understand why you would be trying to get it to heel when you're actually hunting. Or why it wouldn't be in stay mode when you're crawling.

[Buckshot]

The problem I have with the bloodhound is the noise it makes. I called my dog "bigfoot" because of the noise it makes when it moves around. As with the OP, I too am frustrated with the amount the dog moves around when Im either in crouch or prone position. Even standing still and just turning your head makes the dog move around if you dont command it to sit, stay or lay down. The noise the dog makes drowns out other footstep noises like prey. In real life, that bloodhound probably weighs only 40 pounds, but when it walks, it sounds like it weighs 300 pounds. A dog should be lighter on its feet and you should barely hear him when hes with you. For missions/quests, I just throw the darn dog in the kennel. I wish I wouldnt even have to take it with me on hunting trips except I really suck at following blood trails. I wish there was a fast and easy way to just throw the dog in the kennel when you dont need it and get it out of the kennel when you do need it. Sure you can use your tent, but that takes precious seconds when youre in the middle of a hunt.

[Buckshot]

Originally posted by Geronimo:

I think some people might be avoiding the obedience training and than wondering why the dog isn't being obedient.

I'm not sure about the actual programming, but as a IRL dog trainer I'd like to point out that it's possible the programming might involve keeping up the training-reward factors so as to mimic IRL.

I have no issues at all with my hound, and train and reward regularly. And when I'm in stalk or ambush mode, I just command the dog to stay, and he stays.

I would suggest that if your dog is not staying put, it might just need some further training-rewarding, and those are not mutually exclusive.

Where is this obedience training you talk about. Is there some kind of dog obedience school within this game? The only thing I have found is different options you can choose as your dog levels up. None of it is regarding obedience training.

[Geronimo]

Originally posted by Buckshot:

The problem I have with the bloodhound is the noise it makes. I called my dog "bigfoot" because of the noise it makes when it moves around. As with the OP, I too am frustrated with the amount the dog moves around when Im either in crouch or prone position. Even standing still and just turning your head makes the dog move around if you dont command it to sit, stay or lay down. The noise the dog makes drowns out other footstep noises like prey. In real life, that bloodhound probably weighs only 40 pounds, but when it walks, it sounds like it weighs 300 pounds. A dog should be lighter on its feet and you should barely hear him when hes with you. For missions/quests, I just throw the darn dog in the kennel. I wish I wouldnt even have to take it with me on hunting trips except I really suck at following blood trails. I wish there was a fast and easy way to just throw the dog in the kennel when you dont need it and get it out of the kennel when you do need it. Sure you can use your tent, but that takes precious seconds when youre in the middle of a hunt.

Again I'm curious why you don't have your dog in stay when you're hunting. He wouldn't be noisy if it was laying still in one spot.

[Geronimo]

Originally posted by Buckshot:

Originally posted by Geronimo:

I think some people might be avoiding the obedience training and than wondering why the dog isn't being obedient.

I'm not sure about the actual programming, but as a IRL dog trainer I'd like to point out that it's possible the programming might involve keeping up the training-reward factors so as to mimic IRL.

I have no issues at all with my hound, and train and reward regularly. And when I'm in stalk or ambush mode, I just command the dog to stay, and he stays.

I would suggest that if your dog is not staying put, it might just need some further training-rewarding, and those are not mutually exclusive.

Where is this obedience training you talk about. Is there some kind of dog obedience school within this game? The only thing I have found is different options you can choose as your dog levels up. None of it is regarding obedience training.

Hi buckshot, the training is simply commanding it and than rewarding it. It might be the case that the more times you do that, the more obedient the dog will be, the longer it will stay, the better it will heel, etc.

Just like IRL.

[Ancient]

The only case that I have found where the dog can be detected by wildlife is when they are bleeding out. It seems that only then they are hyper-aware enough (as they are dying) to notice the dog. That is probably why the tooltips say that during blood tracking, you should be aware that there is an ideal time to heel the dog. About halfway through that chase is usally when I heel the dog or have him lie down.

For me, with most animals, I just have gotten used to how many potential blood tracks we're going to see based on the amount of blood loss and animal type, so I know that after the first initial (wound track) and second blood track onwards that mentions their blood loss level, about how long the tracking will be before we run into a trophy.

Give it a while if you still need to level the dog's tracking and let them track for the experience. Otherwise, just put them into lie down mode and track it normally by yourself because the bleed out phase seems to be the only time the bloodhound can spook prey and make them run further along their path, and it only applies to your tracked, wounded animal.

[SH4D0W]

@Geronimo
I Think you are missing the point if its not how it works then it should be how it works or updated.

1 - The whole point of HEELING is that they walk on your HEEL (hence the name)
Following Behind the player and not 2 or even 1 step ahead (regardless of my speed)
(Well thats how it should be like a real dog, now without a lead if my dog in real life gets ahead of me i just make a noise and she slows to then walk next to me or behind.
And thats just training for a normal dog house pet and not a highly trained hunting dog :D)

2 - Why can't the dog Copy the players stance like many dogs already do, even mine if i lay on ground she lays next to me, If i walk she dont run around in circles like a Hyperactive kitten,
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

@Ancient
]Big Difference in dog use for people who do Active Hunting or those who do Passive Hunting.
I only use the after i have shot an animal and mostly only then to add to atmosphere,
never lost tracks really as all animal when shot run away from you in a straight line over the total distance.
(So if you shoot animal and he run 090* Due east even if its flesh wound he will always be found to the east , Not South or North (if not further spooked further by player running after it, even after shooting a loud rifle you can only run about 15-20 seconds or risk spooking more animals.)

Just a Note i only have about 50 hours in COTW so far but about 6,500 Hours in Hunter Classic - Since it was first released.

[Geronimo]

@ Shadow, thanks for your effort to bring clarification. I do get what they are hoping for. I didn't really miss that point, but I just wanted to make sure they had the chance to still make use of their dog, as I am, and also be aware of the possible reasons they might be having problems in first place, such as not fully training their dog.

Yes, I agree, if the dog is programmed to heel, than we should be able to have it heel. BUT the onus remains that maybe the dog requires a certain degree of training PLUS rewarding in order to achieve a point where the dog works flawlessly.

And again I want to emphasize both the training lessons, and their reinforcement with rewards.

In obedience training, regular basic, routine lessons, over and over, are crucial to achieving secured and reliable obedience. Any dog trainer will affirm this. And it's possible the Devs, knowing this, programmed a specific number of actual command/perform/reward procedures to be practiced and accomplished before the dog actually reaches a point of recurring reliability.

IOW, if player does not go through the required lesson processes, than they will not see this reliability in their dog. And with 'proper training' combined with continued train/ reward, over time the dog both gains in experience and becomes more reliable/ obedient.

This is seen clearly in Hunter Classic as well.

[Geronimo]

@ Ancient, regarding trailing a still- living wounded animal, the need to bring the dog under control involves immediate obedience to the Come command firstly. This is what calls the dog off of its instinctive activity, and is probably the most difficult to enforce. So reward here is more crucial than ever. Don't think that those doggie bones are just random treats. They are a vital aspect of any successful training program. And likewise, are those sit, stay, come, heel, etc., commands. The player should be working their dog just like they would a real dog in their back yard running it through these simple basics over and over, never forgetting the reward.

If the Devs did their research, this very well could be exactly what they expect from us. How many of those treats have you given your pet? How many come, sit and stay lessons did you run your pet through before you put it on a blood trail expecting complete obedience?

And so, when 'hot on the trail', IF our dog is absolutely obedient because we have done the proper training, than we can deploy all the various command options, such as Heel.

However, in the case that our dog requires more training and experience, than forego the Heel command and utilize only the Come and Stay commands, releasing the dog as you see fit.

Players who don't want to bother with a strict training regiment will likely find that focusing on teaching those Come and Stay commands will bring them at least some appreciation of their pet.

My advice to achieving a well rounded dog is to allow for the puppy basic training before expecting it to perform well in actual hunting situations.

IRL, pups are fervently trained with feathered wings, weighted dummies, shallow wading opportunities, gunshots at a distance, progressively getting closer over time, timed/associated with a reward, the smell of carcasses and live bird locating/flushing, etc. before ever taking them on an actual hunt.

And the reason for such pre-trials is that, as many unfortunate hunters learn the hard way, the most important training aspect is in making sure the dog never has the chance to pick up/learn any bad habits. Those can be extremely difficult to undo, and can actually result in a ruined dog that you will never be able to utilize.

Among the worst of these, as an example, would be a dog that becomes 'gun-shy' due to being exposed to a loud noise by owners who didn't know better. Or teaching to fetch using items they might be later scolded for chewing on, like an old sneaker. Don't expect a pup to distinguish between old and new footwear, lol. And you certainly don't want it being scolded by the wife everytime it retrieved her best high heels. It confuses the dog and it's training. I have been paid good money to try to undo bad habits, and I always take such contracts with no guarantees.

You would be surprised how many great dogs were ruined by inexperienced teachers, and being allowed to learn bad habits from which they could not be broken.

So for all you who want perfection without effort, I ask you to picture yourself sitting in a duck blind, in pitch black darkness, and freezing your toes off as the tide rises up over your boots, with the deafening honking of hundreds of geese splashing the water just yards ahead of you, that you cannot yet see, while you sit alongside your retriever trying to keep it calm, waiting frantically for that first hint of daylight, which upon appearing you finally get ready to pick out your targets, only to be thwarted of your reward as your dog bursts through the brush of your blind and begins scaring all your geese into the air and instantly out of your range.

Yes, been there, done that! But only once as a very young and humbled man. A crucial lesson learned the hard way.

[James]

My dog Sigge is fully trained (max perks). I use him for tracking down wounded animals (not instantly dropped), picking up droppings we come across (without me seeing it) and for warning me as we get into spooking range of any type of game.

The heel command is a bit off since the dog does not walk behind you. You can counter this by have him/her sit tight in stints. A benefit of having him/her walk alongside with you is that he/she can warn you about close by animals. If the dog would walk behind you, you as a hunter would spook the game before the dog can warn you... makes sense?

Just a few thoughts :)

I should mention, I play CoTW with no visual clues, nada. My dog gives me my clues.