Thread: Tracking too fast

Hi Carol, and welcome to the forum

I had a similar problem with my Malinois. I don’t train Schutzhund I train tracking through drive (more of Working Trials type tracking) which is supposed is faster and more so (considerably) if you're tracking a Mali. I soon realised that the speed was detracting from concentration, and like you, used more articles to reduce this; I don’t use food on the track and dispense with all food later on, but that’s because of the type of training I am used to. As well as tracking the dog on harder surfaces which required the dog to focus more, I placed an article after (about 10/12ft) each turn so that the dog was rewarded after taking the corner in the correct direction; placing them before would I consider prompt the dog of the approaching corner and defeat the object of the dog using its nose. It worked for me, but I still feel that I have more work to do to improve her concentration.

A method to improve focus is to lay 4 or 5 straight legs with an article or big food drop at the end of the leg random distances of 20 to 70 paces, no food at the pole (scent pad) or interim food drops. Leave 5 minutes between laying each track; run the tracks in reverse order. I think this might be a bit confusing, lay 5 single leg tracks each with a start pole and not connected to the previous track leaving 5 minutes between laying each track. Then run the 5 tracks in reverse order i.e. last one laid, first to run. Laying several tracks with time in between then tracking them in reverse order, the first track will be almost immediate, therefore will have no difficulty, and will be pure motivation for the dog. The second will be 15 minutes old still easy but requiring more focus; the third will be 30 minutes and because of the shortness of the legs, the food drop at the finish of each will leave the dog keen. The 4th track will probably be 45 minutes requiring more concentration and the final one over an hour should have the dog keen, determined, and tracking powerfully. I should add that this method was from a top working trials trainer and judge I know (won just about everything there is to win) in UK and is extremely effective for working trials dogs.

Hope this helps.


Peter

Thanks, I will give this a try today.

Hello,

I train my Malinois in Schutzhund. I had the pleasure of training with world champion Uta Bindle. She showed me a way to "slow" my Malinois during tracking.

Before you start your track you need to make sure your dog is the "right" mood.

1. Put food in every footstep.

(the size of the food should suit your dogs size and how fast he/she eats) You should NOT use wet food such as sausage as this releases a strong odour and will create the wrong drive. Try dry foods.

2. When your dog is tracking, only allow the dog to move forward when it has eaten the food from each footstep. To do this you need to "block" the dog, (use your lead to block the dog) When the dogs is eating the food you need to release the pressure from the lead. The dog must learn that to move forward i must check every footstep and there will be a bonus for the dog - food.

Continue to do this for about 1mth and you should see a difference. I would only have one article at the end of the track at this stage.

I have learnt the biggest mistake that we make is creating too much drive and not even realising how we do it. Putting continuous tension on the line will naturally make the dog pull, therefore the rushing behaviour.

I am definatly NOT an expert but i have tried several methods and found this to be an excellent method.

Good luck and i hope i have given you somthing that may help you.

Best for now

ALSO - i suggest that you leave your tracks down longer, the reason being that when you lay a track there is ans enormus amount of scent that is given off from the grass (gases) thus creating a larger "scent cloud" you want the scent cloud to be smaller, so that the dog will be more precise to track each footstep (not just the area) also having food in each footstep as mentioned before the is always a reward, i have found that having a pile of food at the end of the track the dog will learn very quickly that his/her reward is at the end, thus creating the dog to rush to the end of the track.

That is a similar method to what i use to train, and as the dog progresses in a postive way, i then space the food between footsteps. So every 2nd or 3rd once you have them at a pace that is suitable, then space the food out even further.
I also try and hide the reward food, not so that the dog has to kind of dig it out, but just so that they can not visually see it.

I have just started adding different surfaces in, started small like crossing a footpath and stuff like that.

Dont forget that when u start using this method it has to be perfect weather conditions...

I learnt it back in 2007 at the nationals in Brisbane, cant remember the lovely judge who gave us all a demo.
(Havent had my coffee yet so the brain isnt functioning)

Let me preface this with the fact that I do not compete in Schutzhund and do not train for sport. The first thing I would ask is, has your dog mastered curves and shorter angles (ie. 45% angles, etc.) first? If so, the way we teach our dogs to master 90% turns is as follows:
First of all, we utilize a local sod (grass) farm because they have an irrigation system (sprinklers) set up in a grid pattern already. This works out great b/c both the track layer and the handler have a clear understanding as to exactly where the track is laid. If you don't have access to a sod farm or any other landmarks that will allow you to have a grid pattern, you can always take survey flags and set the area up a few days before you work the problem. Remember, since you are focusing on teaching the dog turns, these do not and should not be long tracks. The first few tracks shoud be started with the wind to your back so the dog will not cast as much and will have an easier time locating the turn. When the track layer approaches the first turn, he should begin to "trench" or dig out his track about 6 feet (er, as ya'll say, bout 2 meters) or so until he reaches the flag/pole, then make a 90% turn, and trench it out about the same distance and then return to a regular walk. This is repeated again until the end of the track. The result is a "z" like track, only with 90% turns. Again, since the focus is the turns at this point and not the set time or distance, the track should be run soon after being laid. Once the dog begins tracking and begins to approach the turn indicator (flag/pole/whatever), the handler needs to slow the dog down BEFORE he reaches the turn indicator. What should happen is by slowing the dog down, combined with the wind direction and additional scent "trench" left by the track layer, the dog should hit the turn beautifully. Once the dog does so, the handler should give light verbal praise ("good boy"), then allow the dog to speed up a little until the team approaches the next turn, then the process is repeated. Obviously, the dog should be showered with praise/reward at the end. Once thd dog has mastered this, you can begin lessening (yeah, I know that's probably not a word) the "trenching", extending the distances, numbers of turns, wind direction, etc. until your dog is nailing everything you throw at him. I realize that this is difficult to explain and I might have you confused by now, but if you send me an email, I'd be happy to send you a diagram I put together for this exercise along with others (such as introducing contaminated tracks) from our agency's training manual I put together. Good luck.

-Scott

Usual training tracks are an hour old, but we also run ones with older set times as well as shorter ones. It all depends on what we are trying to accomplish that day regarding training. We have run tracks up to six hours old in training. With most tracking deployments (real tracks), we are able to get a dog on the ground within an hour of the incident occuring (which is why we use the hour set time as a normal training track set time.) Hope this helps, if not, you know how to reach me.

Both, really. When we set up our training tracks, we try to make them as realilistic as possible. Our tracking teams consist not just of the dog and handler, but also cover personnel and sign-cutting (also called hand tracking, indian tracking, visual tracking) personnel. Each person has a specific job when deployed. As we track, the handler reads the dog's behavior and any negative or positive indicators the dog throws, the cover officers protect the team, and the sign-cutting officers track as well behind the dog and assist if the dog loses the trail or we come to a choke point that the dog cannot figure out on his own. Everyone is cross-trained in each skill (except for the dog handling- done by the dog handler alone). We believe that all too often, people forget that it is a K9 TEAM or UNIT, meaning the handler and dog have to work together and it is a mistake to believe that you can merely hold a lead, tell the dog to track, and follow blindly. It is the handler's job to know when the dog is on the track and off of it, and it is his job to put the dog in a productive area once/if he has lost it. If we come to a problem area, the cover officers move up and cover the team while the sign-cutters fan out and locate the track so the handler can put the dog back into a productive area and the dog picks it back up. Being certified sign-cutting experts has also won us court cases where for whatever reason the dog takes us only so far (after all, they are animals and every now and then they lose a track though rarely and can only take us so far and not finish the track) and we are able to fisnish the track on our own. This should be noted that this is very rare, but has happened. It is all about working as a team, and through my years of experience, this system works the best. Combine that with a good perimeter, and you will experience success. We train for both surfaces, but it is extremely rare in our environment that we will have a straight hard surface track. I can send you some of our training material if you want, or you can always call me if need be. Take care.