Today's Tracking Class - Line Handling, Scent theory, Transitions

This post discusses both a beginners class, plus an advanced urban demo by Jet (scroll down if you are looking for urban info).

Today we met again for our tracking class in Olds, Alberta. There were four dogs - Teah the Rottie pup, Ziva the GSD - not quite 2 years old, Quila the Golden, a year and a half old and Ash the Canaan Dog who is nearly 3. Teah was at the first class two weeks ago. Michelle has been working with Ash on and off now over the summer (Ash is a full time working cattle dog); Ziva and Quila are newcomers! Thanks to Kristine and Brian for the Tim's break (coffee, for any American readers). It was very cold, and the coffee was appreciated!

On my list of things to do today - handling skills and some line handling lessons, more serpentine work, some talk about scent theory, a review of test rules and an introduction to urban transitions. We started at 9:30 and finished up at 1:30. Tracking is INTENSIVE! After each session with the dogs, we put them away to focus on some non-dog stuff, so the dogs could rest and think, then come out to play some more.

First of all, Kristine and Teah did a short serpentine so I could see where they are at. They have not found a place to practice regularly, but Teah bolted to the scentpad and was very eager to get going and buried her nose in the grass. She did such a nice serpentine I decided she needs to do longer ones now - for more satisfaction for Teah and so Kristine can get into the groove of handling her.

Kristine takes over handling Caden to get a feeling for line handling. Caden (my dog) just carried on - once a dog knows their job, they love to track and take charge. The pylons are from the dollar store. When the ground gets hard, these work!

I layed a short zig-zag for Caden with the plan that Kristine could handle him to get the feeling of tracking. If you read my earlier posts, you will recall I believe a lot of tracking is to get the right feeling when you work your dog.

This is an outline of the track I laid for Caden:

- Scent pad with 3 treats, and 8 steps with a treat in every step to get him going

- A treat about half-way

- At the turn, a treat in each footstep, which are closer together (4 treats)

- Footwork at the turn, just like in obedience on turns

- Another treat halfway

- Another turn with footwork and treats

- Another treat halfway

- A turn with no treats but with the footwork

- A leg with no treats

- Jackpot at the end

Everyone could see how my plan was to get him to focus (as he is always very excited), then give him two practice turns with treats. On the third turn, the goal was to see how he handled it, and help if necessary after giving him a moment to think it through.

I was so happy with how Caden worked with Kristine, and she did an awesome job! Later, when she handled Teah on a longer serpentine, she remembered to say 'yes' and 'good' to Teah at the right times.

My plan for Kristine was for her to feel how to keep line tension, to say 'yes' or 'good boy' at the right times to encourage him *(and once, I had to step in and tell him no - when he went off track - just a gentle 'no' to let him know he needed to focus). I also wanted Kristine to get the feeling of following in behind him on the turns and keep the line tension consistent so he knew we were with him.

Next we did what I call a "Glen Johnson Special" - I attended a seminar with him in Thunder Bay many years ago with NO DOGS where we worked on handling and plotting. Today, we took turns being handler and dog, so everyone could get more of that tracking feeling for line handling, and see how it is from the dog's point of view. This is Lynne, handling Lorrie.

We practiced line tension, keeping the tension and following through on turns, slacking the line and how it feels to the dog, and 'questioning the dog' with the line when it goes off track - and adding in verbal cues such as 'is that your track?' and 'where's your glove?' I love this exercise. Try it with your partner, or spouse, or a tolerant friend (!) The cones mark the track and where to turn, so everyone had the same pattern. It is very surprising to see how it feels at the dog's end of things.

 Next everyone laid serpentines and ran them one at a time. The dogs all did great!!

We planned our space. Then we laid the tracks. And we all walked out in a big loop.
When I say 'we' I mean 'they' because I took pictures!

Kristine and 5-month old Teah did a long serpentine. Teah is going out ahead consistently.
Sometimes she would try to look behind her, so we talked about preventing turning and keeping your dog moving forward by watching for your treats and re-directing to the next one. Really beautiful job.

This is Ziva. I was so excited to see a female GSD out tracking, having a soft spot for them to begin with - and Ziva had this family resemblance to River that was unmistakable. It turns out they share some bloodlines - it's a distant relative! So clearly Ziva will be a top notch tracking dog. It's just in the genes. I think that bitches are often more intense than dogs in tracking, and Ziva is an intense dog. She worked really hard and is also one of those dogs who will do anything for her owner, Lorrie. This is something that makes a great tracking dog, because you need a dog that will pull it out for you. I saw all of this in Ziva.

Quila (short for Tequila!) is a young Golden. She was very enthusiastic and is very food motivated. Today, some of her treats were hard to spot on the grass, so as Lynne and I looked for them, Quila found them most of the time without us. We talked about making sure you have treats the right size and colour that you can see them at this stage. Quila said "I caught on fast and found them on my own!" Very nice work!

Ash is ahead of the other dogs as she's been working longer. Michelle is working on letting Ash get out ahead and find her track as she fades herself out so Ash takes charge. In this picture, Michelle is standing straight (not bent) and looking ahead to make sure she knows where the track goes as Ash simply does it, calmly and methodically. I love this - by the time they do a TD (NEXT SPRING, HINT HINT), they should look this comfortable and confident. Later Michelle shared that she is starting to get 'that feeling' and also learning more about Ash's particular style, as they become a team.

Another break for the dogs in their cars, while I did an urban track with my Jet. This track was laid at 9:15 and we ran it at close to 1 PM. So it was well aged!

A GOOD scentpad is so important in urban work (in all work, but more so in urban). I made sure Jet laid down and stayed put for longer than I usually do, to ensure she took in scent. Olds is an Agriculture College and Jet could see horses in paddocks from here - so I also explained that I wanted Jet to be able to look over there, and get that out of her system too. Once, at this college, Jet stopped tracking and I am positive she smelled (or thought she smelled) SHEEP, which trump tracking in Jet's books!

I also talked about the lay of the land. See the slope on this lawn? I laid her first leg so it was on flat ground, not on the slope or too close to the building, which would affect scent flow and give her a shaky start. That first leg is so important! As Jet tracked, I talked as much as I could about how I handled the line, and what Jet was doing. Jet is used to it because I usually babble when I videotape my dogs. Thanks Michelle for taking the pictures!   

While we did serpentines, I watched an entire high school football team run over this first leg above. Does it look like it affected Jet?? No! Sometimes, it is better not to know what happens while your track is aging. She did a great job, wavering a bit, then locking on. I explained how we need to be patient and take our time.

Transition - here Jet shows how at the transition from grass to concrete (or any other surface) a dog will often go from side to side before going forward. Jet often goes on without doing this. Today at this transition, she checked it out before going ahead - I wonder if it is because of all of the bins around and if they may have affected how the scent was retained in this area.  By the way, that small green bin was my landmark for keeping the first leg straight.

Since we were working on transitions as our next exercise, Jet decided to show how dogs can react to them.
You can get transitions in urban, yes, but also on a field track. Wet to dry, long to short grass, thick cover to sparse, sun to shade, mossy to not mossy - these are all transitions too. If you dog can do an urban transition, it will have more success in the field. I believe in training this all early on, so you can go from TD to UTD.

Transition Reward - I placed a small treat beyond the little green bin to reward Jet for making this transition successfully. Treat placement can be as important as article placement in training. I knew it was there, and so tried to keep my line short to ensure she landed in on it 'accidentally.'

Landmarks and turns

I expected Jet to sniff the manhole but she didn't. Often they trap scent. I also showed how I use landmarks rather than flags as eventually you need to get away from flags. Here, Jet's turn went right, where the parking lot narrows at the driveway in. This is gravel which holds scent better than concrete or asphalt.

The turn - at Jet's level, I want to keep my body neutral until she makes her decision and turns. Here, I have a loose line while she works through it. As soon as she makes her turn, I follow in with line tension to let her know I am there (next photo, below).

Line tension when she is committed. I will put a treat after the turn, but far enough away that she has to decide first, and then finds it. For a more novice dog, you would do things differently - and sometimes I will change it up and make it easier for Jet too. I try not to fall into patterns with treats, but do try to use them both 'randomly' AND 'strategically.'

First article - after all this work, Jet is due an article. Article placement is so important. She has made the turn showing she has 'locked on' to the scent she is following. She's worked through a few surfaces and transitions. She ignored the livestock. And she will need a break - which is what the article can represent. At the article, you can have your dog down (teach that separately - as your indication). Here you can give them water, praise and let them rest for a moment and also, take in the scent of the article while it is on the ground, to refresh that scent in their memory. Dogs have amazing scent retention, but this is a good opportunity on an aged track.

Jet does a down and touches the article with her chin. I taught this in my kitchen with a clicker when she was a puppy.
In Schutzhund, the want the dog down but facing track direction. Jet turns to face me, because it was how I taught it. I am teaching Caden the SchH style. In CKC the indication is between you and your dog. Your dog can tilt an ear, and if you can read that, it is fine. However, I strongly recommend a nice solid down for the reasons I listed above in the text. Plus, it is a way for you to also think for a minute, and removes a lot of test nerves when you know you have this nice indication.

Well, my camera memory card was full at this point so it is the last picture! While Jet was in a down, I explained to everyone my theory of tracking. You can think in threes. Three scent pads. Three serpentines. Three L tracks strung together can make a TD. There are three articles in advanced tests, so the track up to each is like three small tracks. The down marks the end of part one to Jet's track.

She carried on to turn down a sidewalk, then cross over to a big parking lot where she did a very nice right hand turn to the end. Good girl Jet!

TRANSITIONS

After Jet was put away, everyone did one last short track that started on veg and went onto the parking lot. We used a lot with no curb so it was a nice flow out to the hard surface. We used the yellow parkign lines as a guide, but did not walk on them - as they paint scent can smell differently (so I am told by people who know). The dogs did really well, and so we ended on a high note! And young Canaan Dog Rook also did a short footstep track (no pictures of any of this, but someone did take video! Maybe we will get some to show everyone).

One thing I did point out is that transitions should always be approached straight on. Just as we try to avoid acute angles in plotting, we try to avoid acutes in hard surfaces by creating an acute angle with a curb or road. I WILL do this to see how my advanced dog handles it, because there is no rule about how you bissect hard surfaces, but in 99% of the cases you will always see an direct approach in a straight line because scent problems can be tough enough on these surfaces.

That, everyone, was today's tracking class! I will post separately another time about our discussion about tests and what to expect.
Tomorrow is Sunday - go practice! I am going tracking tomorrow with my friend Dan Waters, taking Caden and Ben. It will be so much fun.

Thanks to Michelle Harrington. Sufat Sheleg Canaan Dogs, for taking these photos! You can check her dog's tracking progress on her website. Check this link out to go straight to activities - and tracking on her website.

Also, thanks to Ayoka Bubar for her kind comments on her great blog - Rotten Dog Blog - which I will add to the blog list here... Ayoka tracks with her Rottie Bear in Brandon, MB.