View Full Version : Tracking
Has anyone else trained for this? How did you do it? I took Cash out for the first time yesterday and he really seem to enjoy it and did really well. I started small with a 25 step track with a treat in every step and one bend in it. He never went off the track and kept his nose down the whole way. I am going to be doing this more and just wanted to find out if anyone else tracking also.
Howardpit1
12-07-2009, 09:35 AM
Hi,
I start all my dogs out pretty young, and I usually start with "Boxtracking". Then I progress to footsteps. Here is a link to a site where I posted a video, and info tracking.
http://www.gopitbull.com/schutzhund/14150-foot-step-tracking.html
One nice thing about tracking, is you can do almost all the beginner work on your own. I would keep the tracks straight until, he has a few more tracks though.
Also, here is another link to Box tracking which Is how I start my pups. it teaches the dog to go with the "crushed vegetation" and the meaning of the command.
http://www.gopitbull.com/schutzhund/12913-box-tracking.html
Dansgrizz
12-07-2009, 11:14 AM
Geeeeze Howard be sympathetic to those who can't view gopitbull lol.
Dansgrizz
12-07-2009, 11:15 AM
Has anyone else trained for this? How did you do it? I took Cash out for the first time yesterday and he really seem to enjoy it and did really well. I started small with a 25 step track with a treat in every step and one bend in it. He never went off the track and kept his nose down the whole way. I am going to be doing this more and just wanted to find out if anyone else tracking also.
I can't wait for update on this it sounds awesome!!!
Howardpit1
12-07-2009, 11:57 AM
Oh, Ok. I thought everyone could view Gopitbull without being a member, just not post. I didn't know. Here is a link(Ithink) to my utube channel. The videos you want to look at are the tracking with shogun (footstep and boxtracking)
http://www.youtube.com/user/howardpit1
Plans are to increase to a 50 step in a straight line with a treat in everystep. I put the bend in his first one becouse of an obstruction. Can you explain the "box tracking"?
Howardpit1
12-07-2009, 08:04 PM
When I have young pup or an adult that I want to imprint in tracking and don't have a lot of time, I box track them. I put 4 markers in a square, about 4x4 foot. I stomp down all the grass, and put food in it. Such as little hotdog pieces or soaked kibble. I spread it out evenly. I put the dog on a leash in that area and let them find the food. I keep saying find it and point to the food, until the dog learns to keep it's head down. They soon learn to stay inside the box, and only search the crushed vegetation. They learn that no reward is out side the square. I do this until the dog seems to really know what to do. Then I start the line tracks or footstep tracks. If you have a low motivated dog, it may get it's whole meal in there, devided up a couple of times a day.
Oh, Ok. I thought everyone could view Gopitbull without being a member, just not post. I didn't know. Here is a link(Ithink) to my utube channel. The videos you want to look at are the tracking with shogun (footstep and boxtracking)
http://www.youtube.com/user/howardpit1
no about half of us are banned from that umm site for life
Interesting...
I am using cut up pieces of the duck and potato formula Natural Balance logs. I stop out a scent pad with mulitpal treats on it then make my path from there placing a treat in every step. At the end I place mulitpal treats agin.
I use a piece of pvc pice as a tunnel for the treats insted of bending down to put treats in each step.
I tracked both days this weekend.
First day I went to the same field as before and placed 2 difernt tracks.
First one was a simple 50 pace track in tall wet grass. It is an easy surface to track on becouse of how it holds on to the scent. Cash went right through it with no issue.
Second track was 75 paces on broken up dirt. This is a little harder due to the fact that the scent breaks up and pools differentlly making it a little harder to follow. I had to re-scent Cash once at the begining but after that he went right through.
Second day.
I took Cash to the parking lot of a Sams club that shut down recentlly. Asphalt is one of the hardest surfaces to track on due to the fact that there really isnt anthing for the scent to hold on to. I set a 100 pace track with food in every step. After the set up I did all the same prep so Cash gets The idea that when we do this its time to track. In that time some fucking birds came in and ate the middle out of the track. I started him on the track and he did well till we got to th portion were the birds ate.
Fuckin hate birds.
chris mercer
12-14-2009, 04:22 PM
I tried my hand with laying these kind of tracks this summer after reading some articles on it. I heard how difficult it was to track on pavement. Being the skeptic I am ,I figured the dog could see the food and follow it, I tied my dog off and laid the track. A short thirty five footer. I went by the instructions I had read. Before I could get my dog an eight month old shepherd mix came along and followed the track like she was on a rail,never looking up or veering left or right. Never did the dog look at the food ahead but kept her nose to the ground. Just like the judges like to see. I feel your pain, if it wasn't this dog it was the fire ants. Chris Mercer
Yea, the food is to teach them form, like you said they want them to keep thir head down and really use their nose. Are you still tacking?
Howardpit1
12-15-2009, 04:24 PM
One thing that I forgot to mention, is to "age" your tracks. Start with letting them sit about 30 minutes, then go to 45 min, and than an hour, hour and half, and finally up to two hours. Some people I know even age their tracks 4 hours, once a dog has really gotten it.
Right now I have been letting them age for 20 min.
chris mercer
12-16-2009, 08:36 PM
I had a hard time excepting the use of food at first, but some of the most successful local trackers in Shutzund explained that in fact it wasn't a normal way for dogs to track but it was to condition them to have their noses buried in the ground as if they were grubbing out the scent. Rather than argue about form over function I have just excepted that is the way it is. I know there are arguments both pro and con on this but having tried it for awhile it does work. Some dogs do track this way naturally and others run off the track catching air born scent or scent that has settled off where the vegetation. I have hunting coon hounds and to me the best dogs are the ones that can move the track fast with their heads up but will get down and grubb out when the track gets cold. No matter what it's great to see a dog on a long line working a track with many turns and a cross wind and get it right. Good luck. Chris Mercer
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