Thread: Tracking question for the tracking experts?

It really depends on what you ultimately want to use your dog for. . . . . sport, work, or just as an interest.

You say that she’s already a good tracker; in what respect? Has she been trained to track on a line (harness or collar)? Or does she free track. Does she ground track or wind/air scent already? Most hunting dogs will air scent to a great extent.

Tracking Through Drive is what most police dogs do. This isn’t as precise as Foot Print Tracking (which is what SchH sport dogs do) but it is faster and you have to be fitter. SchH tracking uses food in training (starting a new dog with food in each foot print); this keeps the dog very precise but is a much slower method. TTD is not as food focussed (use the ball drag method to train the dog initially) once the dog has the idea, so that the dog is more focused on the actual track (ground disturbance, scent left by shoes etc), the dog moves faster and at times you have to trot at a fast pace behind the dog. The idea is not to be precise, but to catch the criminal and find any articles along the way that the criminal may have discarded. With my young Mal I’ve had to slow her down by occasionally using some food. Initially her concentration was lacking because of her being high in prey drive, but with the help of more articles and a bit of food every so often she’s improved a100%. I no longer use food, but it did serve its purpose. It must be said that the GSDs I’ve had developed their concentration very quickly, and I never used food in their training. Mals are a bit on the manic side!

What age is your dog?
Is her nosework the result of training (specifically to track), or has she been brought up as a hunting dog (free tracking/scenting)?

Peter

TRACKING FOR SEARCH AND RESCUE DOGS: A PRACTICAL MANUAL FOR NOVICE AND ADVANCED HANDLERS

By Boguslaw Gorny





http://www.dogwise.com/itemdetails.cfm?ID=DGT231


This book is a good starting place for anybody wanting to start their dog tracking. It does provide an insight into the different tracking disciplines, but is mainly concerned with TTD. The RCMP has some of the best trackers and all are trained to track through drive. The writer is a member of the RCMP Civilian Search Dog Association.

There is basically no difference between a SAR dog and a police dog tracking, they are both trained to get to the end of the track as quickly as possible, indicate articles along the way, and find the missing person or ‘offender’. The difference is when they find the person they are tracking; the SAR dog indicates usually by barking, the police dog barks and detains the criminal if he tries to run away.

Peter