Within this series of articles I have been covering the beginning
work relative to raising a competitive working dog. The goal of our foundation
work is to raise a dog that is strong and confident, active in his drives
and highly motivated.
Beginning with this article we will leave the obedience phase behind and venture into the tracking phase. It should be stated that I am by no means a tracking guru. It would be a fair assessment to say that tracking has been the thorn in my side. But for every problem I've run into or created, I have found the solution. Since an ability to train is based on experience, depth of success and an ability to problem solve, I should be able to share information that you may find useful to you and your dog. When covering the subject of tracking I will keep the ultimate newbie in mind, the person who has never tracked, never seen a track. This will bore the experienced set but if you'll be patient you may find a new perspective that could be helpful.
Schutzhund tracking is very unique. Our dogs are required to indicate the primary scent only. Precision, intensity, confidence, self-reliance and drive are all required to score V tracks. When contemplating higher levels of competition, your tracking scores must be reliable. They hold up your scores from the other two phases. In essence, and in regards to places for point deductions, tracking is the easiest phase. Yet it can all go so wrong.
Just as in the other two phases, the core of tracking is obedience and drive. But just as important are the dog's abilities to solve problems, work independently and diligently. Those attributes are taught not bred. Right from the start you can begin your dog tracking with confidence or with confusion. It's the handler's choice.
Fundamentals
When I visualize a track I see a tightrope. The precise location of the footsteps is the primary scent. Secondary scent is what happens to primary scent when altered by wind, humidity, moisture, ground cover and the contours of the earth. If the footsteps are fairly close together they build a stronger tightrope. If the footsteps are far apart they create a frayed, threadbare tightrope. Which option would instill confidence in your dog?
What a dog scents when it tracks is not completely known. It is thought the dog picks up the odor of our shoes, the skin cells that slough off our bodies, the crushed or disturbed vegetation, the odors released by disturbed or opened earth. Popular theory states that most human scent dissipates after 45 minutes depending on conditions. True or not I have no idea. Important to teaching your dog to track? Partially. The ground cover, humidity and moisture content are important for the lessons you want your dog to learn. And knowing these aspects is vital to choosing proper tracking locations for those lessons. The longer a track ages the more the track changes. If it is humid and/or wet, an older track will be easier. The humidity and moisture expand the primary scent significantly. In such cases your dog may track off of your actual path but to his nose he will still be on primary scent. If it is dry and windy, a younger track will be easier for the converse reasons.
When you look at a field you must learn to read it as best as possible. The direction the cover is cut is called the grain. If dirt, the direction the field is tilled is the grain. Going with the grain is easier than against the grain. Ruts, trenches, tire tracks or depressions of any kind will steal the scent and funnel it away from your track. Distinct changes in cover will appear like a wall to your dog's nose. Certain vegetation has very strong odors, such as creeping charlie, mint and wild strawberries. Decayed vegetation and cover recently freed from long term snow depth is very difficult and in my opinion potentially dangerous to your dog due to the mold and spores freshly exposed to the air. Certain parts of the country harbor other dangers as well. You should familiarize yourself with what that might be in your neck of the woods. Foxtails, valley fever, blastomytocis, are all potentially lethal.
In addition, on grass you must consider when it was last mowed, as fresh cut grass is nearly impossible to track on. Attempt to avoid fields that have been sprayed with herbicides or fertilizers. The dog's nose is an extremely sensitive and acute organ as well as an opening to the body. It is your dog's prize possession and should be given due consideration.
Direction field is cut or plowed is the grain of the field
Time of day is another consideration before you go out tracking. In the early morning as the sun comes up so do the ground thermals. In the evening at sunset, the thermals sink back to the ground. This is clearly visible when the dew or fog comes down in the evening or when the fog lifts in the morning. Many people feel the ideal time to track is late evening near sunset, especially for young dogs. The conflict to this thought is the heat of the day. Morning is of course cooler than evening and at the height of summer it's just simply the best time to track physically for your dog. If you live in an area that gets frost, you must both lay and run your track before the frost burns off or wait until it's gone to lay your track. A track laid in frost and then run after it burns off is extremely difficult to negotiate if not nearly impossible.
Bait
The options are nearly endless. Dry dog food, hot dogs, dried liver, raw meat. You name it; someone is probably out there tracking with it. There are a couple hard fast rules to choice of bait. First the dog must really like it and want to find it. Second, it shouldn't be very smelly. In time the dog should track to find the food. Not air scent for the food. Ants, and specifically fire ants, is another implication to bait choice. Greasy bait attracts ants quicker than something dry, they love hot dogs. Some dogs don't mind the little black ants, some do. And everyone should avoid attracting fire ants if that's a regional concern. Bait in containers or frozen in ice cubes for summer is two methods used to deal with fire ants.
Your bait should be cut small to make the dog scent deeply for it and to avoid using their eyes to find it. For example, slice a hot dog thinly down its length, then slice those pieces in half. If the tracking is easy like turf, slice again into quarters.
Most dogs should be hungry before tracking. Most dogs are overweight. Tracking bait adds calories so cut his rations significantly to increase drive and prevent excess weight gain. Extremely food driven dogs sometimes should actually be fed before tracking. If the dog is so crazed for food, his work will be hectic and his mind will not allow any learning to occur.
Gear
To start all you need are a fursaver or buckle collar, six-foot leash, and some tracking flags. Begin accumulating articles. Articles can be just about anything. Shapes of leather, carpet and wood are standard. In addition various metal, plastic and other textile objects are good to have. Trial article size tends to be wallet size. Any good training collection of articles should have objects of all sizes, from small glove to tiny one-inch items. Within a short amount of time you'll also need a trial length tracking line. Made of either leather or nylon, the tracking line should be lightweight, dry easily and 33 feet in length. If you choose a leather line be aware that leather shrinks when it gets wet, so you will have to stretch it out periodically to maintain trial regulation length.
We will expand upon some of these points again in future issues. This quick overview for the very beginner is a necessary first step. We will get our dog in the next article.
examples of articles
