Spiritdance Tracking - Your Tracking Coach

Alberta CKC Tracking Seminar - Your First Test!

2012-02-26T10:00:00.002-07:00

Your First Tracking Test!
April 14-15
Olds - Innisfail Area Fields

Barb and Jackson - PASS! A test I judged in Winnipeg 2011
Reaching that article is a magical moment... learn how to get there...

Day One
Theory and beginner's instruction
How do tracking tests work?
How do I prepare?
Handouts of CKC test information
Understanding the rules and regs, dos and don'ts
Observe dogs and handlers
Work with a CKC judge (me) to plot tracks for day two's Mock Test

Day Two
Lay tracks for the mock test
Draw for mock test track order
Mock test - walk with judge to observe each track
Discussion
Fun time for everyone to re-run tracks

Sign up for Summer Tracking Series!

Cost:

$300 for a working spot - dog and handler must be capable of a short zig zag track and actively training; will do some demo tracks for beginners to observe and receive handling tips; and be in the mock test on day two

$200 for a beginner spot - will work on basics on day one and have some 'fun time' after the test on day two

Cost includes lunch, handouts, goodies and BBQ for interested people on day one

Please contact me for a registration form - deadline to register is March 20
spiritdance@shaw.ca

***** current students do not need to register for this test, it is part of your class instruction

New Blog Title - Spiritdance Tracking presents...

2012-02-23T19:26:00.001-07:00

I am putting my old Spiritdance Blog to rest soon and moving all of my tracking information to this blog. That blog was created in 2005 for my tracking students, and it is time to freshen things up! You can read all about it here.

Since most people search for my tracking information by Googling 'Spiritdance' I incorporated it into this blog's title. But it is the same blog - I've simply separated my personal adventures from tracking instruction. Thanks for checking out the blog, and stay tuned for more regular updates!

Update on our Winter Tracking Class and yesterday's Urban lesson

2012-02-19T07:59:00.001-07:00

Pat with Fizz the Aussie. At first Fizz went to the right of that concrete stantion, and Pat held her ground for him to come back and go through exactly where she walked. This was excellent handling and he was a good boy, working very hard.

I desperately need to catch up on blogging and now that spring tests are around the corner, will be posting regularly. This winter's class has been working so hard and I have great photos to demonstrate our work. Today, I simply thought I'd share some photos of the class from yesterday's class. Our exercise was to group plot one long track, and break it into sections. Each person ran one section with their dog. It was an urban day. The idea was that the tracks were heavily laid. I chose an area where I felt the track configuation would create good 'flow' so the dogs would be set up for success.

As we had two people use each section, the handlers were not to leave the track. When we laid it, we went in single file. The people running the track were at the back of the line to put their food and articles. After it was run once, the next team re-laid it with their food and articles. The dogs did great! Some people are not used to urban tracking, as we have been focusing on 'snow" which = a veg type situation. I had to comment on the great things I saw. Basically, the more people have been practicing to get the right behaviour in their dogs, the better the dogs did at discovering the track. A lot of the flow was based on the dogs' curiousity to follow this interesting track, and that also pulled them along.

A good part of the exercise was handling, since the handlers could not leave the track. They had to use their line or verbal cues to keep the dogs true to the track, including 'no' (lightly and nicely), 'where's your track?' and 'good!' or 'yes' to mark being on track. As well, if the dogs had to work out problem areas, we talked about how to help them out - by either showing them the track, or using body pressure to move them forward if they moved forward. We also talked about problem areas being good teaching moments. Problem areas included change of surface, distractions or scent flow in urban areas, away from the track. We could see the dogs literally go "AHA!" a few times as they realized how they could track on these surfaces. We talked about transitions as there were lots. And we focused on reading our dogs - where were then on and when were they showing a loss of track, and how to work with this as a handler.

At the end of it all, we all casually walked the entire track with the dogs on a loose line, just letting them flow in a fun way through to the end. On this exercise, we "stringed" the three sections together into one long track - about 400 meters in total. And got a group shot at the end. It was great fun! I love the cameraderie of tracking and everyone is really helping each other too.

Urban can be challenging for people who are used to snow or veg tracking, as dogs will work it differently and it is important to understand that, and look for the positives. I like to introduce dogs to urban early on, as it will be a nice change for them, and enhance their tracking abilities in the field.

Before tracking, we met for breakfast and discussed how to plan for tests by working backwards from the test date - that will be a separate post.

Here are the great students from yesterday! Check Michelle's Canaan Dog blog for more pictures...
http://albertacanaandogcrew.blogspot.com/

Fizz and Pat

Lorrie and Zeevah

Shimar the Afghan with Lorrie

Alex the Lab with Deanna

Quila the Golden with Lynn

Ash the Canaan Dog with Michelle

Ben and me, following the track 'informally' which is great for fun and motivation

Ben at an article and jackpot

Group shot - missing Lynn and Quila
And Kristine our Rottie friend could not make it yesterday!

Snow tracking and the value of video

2012-01-26T12:29:00.002-07:00

Lovely winter day and perfect conditions for snow tracking

As you know, I am an advocate of snow tracking in the right conditions. Yesterday it was +3 C (above freezing) in Red Deer Alberta. The sun was out, and the snow was soft. This set perfect conditions to get out for some motivational, affirming tracks for the dogs. It also helps your handling to see your own tracks. There are many layers of bacteria trapped between layers of snow. Footsteps release this bacteria as scent, much like bacteria that is crushed on veg creates scent.

I don't age as much - a 20 minute old track at +3 C could compare to a more aged track in warm weather. As it gets colder - or hotter - it is more difficult for the dog. Finally, dogs are not visual like us. Just watch how Caden checks his corners. Is he using his eyes? No - he is using his nose. AND his mouth - his whole olfactory system is involved to determine direction.

On top of all of this, I video and watch later to see what happened - the mind can play tricks on you when you think you are observing what occurred. I saw something very interesting when I watched Caden's track in slow motion and captured stills to share it. I mentioned the whole olfactory system being used. At the second two corners I caught stills of Caden's mouth WIDE open as he determined direction. I am just fascinated by this. We scent-challenged humans can't begin to fathom what our dogs do for us to stay on the track. The second time he did this was as he compared my track to the nearby track of a fox or small dog.

The video is at the end for you to watch - see if you can see the wide open mouth in the video. Would you have caught this when following your dog? You can also see that Caden is doing very nice corners. His handler did a bad job at the first article though - fumbling for a treat. Bad handler!

First corner, Caden checks left

First corner, Caden checks right, and commits. I see my tracks, he is using his nose

Second corner - he begins to take it, but opens his mouth very wide and then decides to check the direction. I would have never seen this following, or at the normal video speed, but was looking at stills to see his corners.

Second corner - after opening his mouth, he dives to the left rather than commit to the right.

He immediately swings to the right after checking left. On the video this all happens very quickly.

Here he is reaching towards the footstep

And now, he is back into the track.

Third corner, nice and smooth. You can see small canine tracks paralleling my foosteps.

Again, Caden opens his mouth very wide to check those little footsteps (that is what it looks like to me). He then committed to the right track.

Second article - good boy! In SchH the dog must lie straight with the article between its paws. In CKC the indication is between the dog and handler, but I believe a down is very clear and gives both the dog and handler a moment to pause.

Here is the video of the track. See if you can see the wide open mouth in the video. Would you have caught this when following your dog? If you work with another person - please ask them to watch your dog, and you watch their dog - and share your observations about body language later.

You can also see that Caden is doing very nice corners. His handler did a bad job at the first article though - fumbling for a treat. Bad handler!

Ben Discovers the Glove - shaping article indications

2011-12-02T19:25:00.001-07:00

As I was typing this post, Ben was sleeping with his new prize
The glove is a great thing! Dreaming of tracking.

I was home sick today so decided I would play with Ben a little, teaching him about article indications. His 'down' command is good now, so I can start to ask for a 'down' at the glove. Ben has had gloves to play with and in his crate or pen since he was born. I know he will be a Tracking Champion, so I want him to be familiar with gloves - as the first article he will encounter in a TD is a leather glove - and the leather article is always the final article at every level in CKC tracking.

Articles are always taught separately from the track and are more of an obedience exercise. Never teach them on the track, as you can detract and demotivate from a good track. Add them in later and stick with jackpots early on. Dogs that love articles can start to rush to find them, as well, and we don't want that.

This post is about shaping indications at home. There are other things we do out on the field or away from home (article games) which start to build on this behaviour.

Playing with a glove, aged 7 weeks

So here is how I spent an hour or so this afternoon with Ben - in my basement.

First I played with the glove in two ways, to make it fun and get Ben thinking about fun things with the glove and with me. This didn't last long as he is only 4 months and can get bored fast. A bit of tug, and a bit of retrieve and we moved on...

Play! I pulled out a new glove that he has not seen before to make it special

Retrieve! Ben brought it back a few times.
By the way - something I learned in Schutzhund - NEVER combine retrieve and tug!
If they retrieve - take it and make the game about fetch which is partnership
If they tug, let them win, or you win - the game is about building drive

After PLAY, I moved to SHOW. I showed Ben that there are cookies in the glove!

Ben was really impressed with finding a cookie in the glove

Wow, he says - look at that! A cookie in there!

Next, I tossed the glove down, with a treat in it. I let Ben Discover the cookie. Of course, he was all over this. He said "I just did this a minute ago - I am an expert cooke extractor now."

Next, I put a cookie in the glove and tossed it down - and let Ben Discover that the glove is pretty special - aside from playing - there is food inside! Way cool, he said. I let him figure out how to get the cookies out.
Funny, there was a petrified old treat in there, from a dog of days gone by. It was a bit funny to find it and wonder what dog it was put there for! It is a very old glove.

Next, I ASKED for a 'down' before he could get the cookie out. I say 'yes' softly. If you are a clicker person, you can click. But your dog should understand the click. This is the ONLY time we use clicker in tracking by the way, as articles are taught separately from the track.

Lie down was added. He knows this command and gets treats for it. So it was not much of a stretch to ask for a down to get the cookie out of the glove.

Lie down! I would like the glove to be between his paws. His mama Jet puts her chin on articles to 'show me' the article. I would not mind if he put a paw on it. He is a 'paw' dog - he uses his monkey paws on everything. So who knows?

This is a picture of Jet (Ben's mother) passing her UTD test. Thanks to Katie Jaremey for the photo.
I taught Jet to indicate like this in my kitchen with a glove and cookies.

Next - I began to simply wave the glove around then say 'Lie Down' and work it so that the glove is between his paws. The treat goes on the glove. Play is great, but for tracking it is better that the dog is calm and not grabbing articles with thoughts of tug games in mind.

I began to ask for a lie down, and the cookies are right ON the glove. Now he is associating the glove with treats.

I then went and got some hamburger to really up the ante. I did a little game of lie down for the treat, and videotaped it. PS I am annoyed that the title stayed for the whole thing. But too lazy to re-do it - and I think you can see everything!

Notice that I am always trying to position the glove between his front legs. As well, I try to do the down while he is in motion rather than stop him first. This is all building memory in his mind about where that glove is and how he treats it. And I try to stay calm as well. I probably talked a bit too much. If you use a clicker of course it eliminates a lot of your vocal tone. I just have trouble doing that many things at once (I admit it).

About an hour later, I noticed while working on my computer that Ben had pulled out a glove that has been lying around the basement for awhile. I tossed him a cookie. He was already lying down with it - to chew it. But I thought it was worth reinforcing.

Then, I got his new fun glove and put it beside the blue glove while he was busy doing some puppy thing and not paying attention. I went back to my computer and just waited with cookies in my hand.

Ben OFFERED a down on his own when he saw his new fun glove lying there. He was exploring the cuff for treats. I tossed some over so he was rewarded.

And as I was typing this - HOURS later - Ben gathered his gloves up and fell asleep on them

He's a little wet from playing outside in the snow

Future Tracker

Dreaming of tracking

Let the tracking begin

2011-11-28T21:51:00.002-07:00

I will post a bit about each dog last Sunday, in the order of their tracks. Each student did a track with no corner markers, making a map, counting steps, figuring out how to strategically use bait and work through the turns and around the trees. They did an awesome job!

It was loads of multi-tasking at this class. I gave everyone their start and end point, and left them alone - so that they had to help each other as a group to lay their little tracks... They all coached each other with number of steps, turns, bait reminders... I just loved watching! So when I followed, I couldn't tell them where they went - they had to work with their dog - and I watched their handling and teamwork. The tracks were about 75 meters each with 3 turns in the shape of the Big Dipper. Each track was about 20 minutes old.

Lorrie and Zeevah

Nice calm start with a down on the scent pad

Staying close to her girl, but letting her take the lead by a step or two - nice nose down posture

Look how much more ahead her dog is here! Gaining confidence. I believe that handlers impart conference to their dogs when they can see their footsteps. Beautiful turn here and nice handling.

Making their way along leg two - Zeevah looks great here

At the second corner, she overstepped the turn by ONE step and self-corrected. Beautiful work. We noticed that she is a real thinking dog - and would always check her turn and direction carefully before continuing. I don't mind a dog doing this, when they are thinking, trying and working - and in these moments it's just a matter of helping them to feel confident on the corners and getting that flow - more bait, gentler curves, and a 'yes' when they take it.

She did a nice body snap turn here.

Along this leg (below), she worked really, really hard - it was her hardest leg... but Lorrie worked through it with her. In part it was because of distractions on the road they were heading for.

She was distracted by the people (other members of the class) and other dogs across the road. I actually wish I had done more to prevent that kind of distraction because she had been doing so beautifully.

But, look below! Suddenly she decided to go back to work and did a very nice turn. Good girl! Also great handling by Lorrie who has been working really hard and knew Zeevah could do it if she worked out that one leg.

She takes her turn and carries on.

For me, in these early stages, people begin to get a feel for teamwork, and for the kind of things their dogs will pull out - so you get a sense of the dog you will have down the road...

Jackpot! Great work. I just LOVE teaching and seeing these moments.

Great job Lorrie and Zeevah! That's tracking!

Derek Nicholls, Retired CKC Judge, Comments on his puppy video below

2011-11-08T21:47:00.000-07:00

Derek speaks to the BC Legislature about SAR with one of his Goldens at his feet

I asked Derek for permission to share what he wrote about training his Flat-Coated Retriever puppy Nugget. He said to share away! I love to be able to share these insights from someone with so much experience, who is willing to help others. You can read a long post about Derek's SAR work from mySpiritdance blog here. By the way, Derek was the judge of the test in BC that saw Canada's first Tracking Champion pass her UTDX - Susan Highton and Murphy.

Here is what Derek wrote - see the video below and others on his YouTube site:

Nugget was born August 14 so he has just turned 12 weeks. I am not out in the bush although it looks like it - that is my back yard - part of our five acres.... Since Nugget hasn't had all of his shots I am confining him to our property. I am laying the tracks along the various winding paths where I have spread bark mulch along them. I have various routes I can take for variety with corners for him to negotiate. I don't like to use food drops because I find it "interrupts the flow" of the dog working. Rather I put micro-waved wiener in a sock, and drag it along the ground to create the initial scent-path. (I have since ceased doing that as he has progressed to the point of just following the footsteps) I also put wiener in the cuff of the glove which makes him have to go down to get at it. He has of course already been schooled in sits/downs/stands/stays etc etc. I prefer not to teach such things on the actual track. You will see in one of the clips he didn't automatically go down on two occasions. I did remedial training for this away from the track environment. I can't wait for Nugget to get his final shots so we can go into town and start our Urban training on the non-vegitative surfaces. The rest of his SAR training is also making satisfactory progress. He is keeping ME busy!!

Derek with his Golden 'Tyson'

Derek also shared that he has helped a local Border Collie to certify for Search and Rescue. He writes:

For the moment our training is confined to solidifying what we have done to-date before moving on to new challenges. Good luck with your BC. BTW I helped a friend train his BC for SAR work and once they were validated they had five "finds" in almost as many months - quite an amazing start to their SAR career! I am very proud of their accomplishments. I like your Tracking Coach site - Good luck with it!!

Thank YOU Derek for sharing! We will keep an eye on Nugget's progress.

Wonderful puppy tracking videos

2011-11-06T21:17:00.000-07:00

Derek Nicholls is a retired CKC tracking judge who also does Search and Rescue on Vancouver Island. He's also a Field judge. So his dogs are well-rounded! He has always had Golden Retrievers, but has a new Flat-Coated Retriever puppy. He has been video-taping his puppy's progress. It is well worth the watch - and go to his YouTube channel to watch what he has been doing with his puppy over the weeks his pup has been developing.

I adore Derek - he is really knowledgeable and passionate about his dogs and scentwork. I hoped to apprentice with him, but there was a snowstorm, and I had the flu and could not get over the Rocky Mountains to the test he was judging - back when I was apprenticing. However, I did have the pleasure of informally accompanying him as he judged a TD / TDX test two years ago. What a great experience.

I hope that when I am retired I am still out slogging in the bush like this training a puppy to track! Notice his puppy doing article indications already. This has me so intrigued, I am going to talk to Derek about it (I've already sent him a note - and will report back).

Progressing beyond the Serpentine, and introducing a harness and line

2011-11-04T21:55:00.002-06:00

Last Sunday I met with Michelle and her Canaan Dog Ash. They have been working on serpentines and footstep tracking and Ash is really a dedicated tracker. When I saw them in the Saturday class the week before, I knew they were ready to move ono to 90 degree corners - because Ash is so 'track sure' with her nose in every footstep, calm and focused.

Below is a picture essay of Michelle and Ash's lesson on doing a ZIG ZAG rather than a serpentine. Again, there is only food and no article on the track. If it's not going well - you can end at any point and don't have to push to a glove. The track goes straight, left, then right and each leg is about 45 steps. It was aged about 20 minutes.

NOTE: I don't freak out about age - but I do note it. It should not be older than 30 minutes or so if it is dry. If you are working on damp veg it could be aged more as the dampness will hold the scent. If it's really dry or cold, age less. Scent age is a 'scent picture' to the dog. More aged tracks present possibly a weaker picture to the dog, but still give them information to retain and follow. Dogs with less experience will more easily follow the scent picture of a stronger scent. So think holistically about the conditions more than the age of the track.

Switching to a harness from a collar. Have the collar on. Up to now, you may have been using a collar because it gives you more control over the head for footstep tracking. Be prepared to switch back to the collar if your dog lifts its head constantly when on a harness. Practice putting your harness on prior to your track. Don't start fumbling and getting mad or saying STAY! STAY! just when you are about to ask for cooperation and a calm mind from your partner. Harness before the scent pad, then approach the scent pad. Below: Ash is in a harness for the first time. The flag marking the start is ahead (about where my head is in my shadow!)

Michelle and Ash approach the scent pad

When Ash reaches the scent pad, Michelle gives the command "Find it!"

Note - you can stand closer to the scent pad, but don't stand ON it!

Some people harness at the scent pad. I harness before with my Border Collie Jet, then ask her to lie down at the scent pad until I believe she has taken in scent. Here, Ash explores the scent pad, gets a few treats, and takes in scent. When she moves ahead, Michelle can follow. But you cannot PUSH your dog ahead by starting to walk forward before they do.

Line handling. Michelle follows Ash and begins to let some line slip through her hands. Her right hand keeps some tension in the line to let Ash know she is there. The left hand pulls the line along and prevents snags.

NOTE ON TREAT PATTERN: For this track, we did the following.
- treat on the scent pad
- treat in every footstep for the first 10 steps
- treat in every THIRD step (thus treats alternate from left to right - by using odd number)
- at about the half way point, treat in every 5th step

Before laying the track, we chose this tuft of grass to be the location of the first turn.

When laying the track, Michelle placed a flag BEFORE the turn - about 10 steps before it.

This flag serves as a turn warning. At the flag, Michelle can start to 'walk up' on her line to be closer to Ash in case Ash needs help on the 90 degree turn. For turns, we put a treat in EVERY STEP for the two steps before the turn, through the turn and a few steps after the turn.

Keep footsteps closer together for the turn - like obedience footwork.

Above, Ash explores the footprints and does a perfect 90 degree turn without pausing or lifting her head.

Michelle has the line in both hands to keep the tension and moves in smoothly behind Ash.

You can see the tuft of grass behing Ash as she continues on the track.

The treats go to every 3rd, then every 5th step again on this leg and you can begin to let some line out again as your dog tracks - always being prepared to step in and help if necessary.

Here Michelle moves close to Ash again at the warning flag for the next turn which goes left. Ash is so busy working, she carries on. With consistent tension on the line, Ash feels secure and confident to work without needing to look up and see that Michelle is with her. As well, Michelle is saying 'YES' after the turn (it's like a 'click') and also saying softly 'good girl' to Ash.

Ash takes the turn and Michelle moves smoothly in behind.

Do NOT ask for a tug or pull or make your dog drag you on the turn. Just go with them, and get that flow. This is motivating to your dog and says you trust them. You can only do this by laying your own tracks.

Again, the treats are put in every step through the turn, with small steps. After that, they are in every 3rd, then every 5th step. Two crossed flags in the distance mark the end of the track to keep Michelle confident Ash is on track. The jackpot is BEFORE these flags. We never put treats beside a flag as we want the flags to have little meaning to the dogs. That's why we use them for a warning but not right at the turn. The goal is to eventually make treats random, and remove flags and begin to use landmarks instead. But for now - you need to know exactly where you walked to convey that confidence to your dog as you follow. This teaches your dog to take charge and responsibility.

Jackpot! Calm patting. Always continue walking in a straight line after your jackpot (and later your article). Turning immediately can create a scent pool and your dog could be drawn to the turn and miss the jackpot or worse, the article. In a test, the tracklayer must always continue in a straight line after putting the article down. Then, arch out and come back to the start, avoiding your own track as you leave the field. When you plan your track - always think about how you will walk out at the end.

Good girl Ash! Michelle did a great handling job!
They will certainly be ready for a TD next spring!

Eventually, the zig zag can be longer. Then you can make two zig zags and run one after another. Then three. Once you start to string them together, age them more, and make them longer - you will be doing a full TD. However, don't rush this. Always go back and do something easy after you introduce something new - and keep it random - that is, a "planned" random so your dog never knows what to expect with respect to length, treats and age. This keeps it interesting for both of you.

NOTE ON STRAIGHT VS. SERPENTINES: Please keep up the serpentines too. Dogs that do straight lines will tend to get faster because they start to coast and stop being faithful to the track. It's easy to get excited about this because it feels great. BUT ask yourself - is my dog being mindful? Are they really tracking, or are they starting to race a bit? Always observe and evaluate and fix. Go BACK to a serpentine, or through a curve into one of your zig zags to see if your dog follows or misses it.

TOYS VS TREATS: Someone asked me about toys vs. treats. Toys can also cause a dog to race, rather than track thoughfully. As can using articles too soon on the track. Find a treat your dog likes enough to work for and have them a bit hungry. This is using FOOD DRIVE in your work. Toys elicit a different drive in dogs, which could either be PLAY DRIVE, OR PREY DRIVE. This will be useful if your dog is not a motivated worker and you need to bring out these drives to get some interest out of your dog. But they are, in the long run, not the drives you want for tracking. Play drive is not working. Prey drive is not thinking. PACK DRIVE - working with you, and FOOD DRIVE - working for a reward, use of a lure, are the most successful for tracking. But feel free to think out of the box because you know your dog best. Just always be sure to ask yourself - is this leading to the desired outcome? Is my dog 'tracking?' Can I use this method to shape the kind of tracking I wish for trialing eventually? Plan and think about your training. Don't change methods a lot either - consistency is important. Give a method a chance to work, but equally, toss something that doesn't work.

The rest of the afternoon looked like this...we actually tracked five dogs in 3 hours! I laid tracks for my dogs which aged while we did tracks with Ash, Rook and Baby Ben...

Young Rook did a short track, and did very well!

My little Ben did a little serpentine... baby length - about 20 steps...he is only 15 weeks old:

Caden did a 45 minute old track with 6 turns that went up and over a couple of little hills and dips. We usually track on nice college lawns so it was great for him to be on this terrain and he worked hard:

Jet did a 2.5 hour old track with 3 articles. She did a great job, even though I actually forgot one of our landmarks and felt a bit lost on one leg. Jet helped me through it. I made a map because I don't know this field well - but left the map in my car and suddenly, the trees all looked the same. Yes, this happens to me just like it can happen to anyone. I was really mad at myself despite the fact that Jet is advanced and worked it out while I felt a little panicky. Good girl Jet!

Before it got too dark, Michelle and I let Ash and my dog Ted 'run Jet's track' off lead. I purposely left the articles behind for them to discover. It was really fun to watch them go ahead and actually take the turns and find the articles. Dogs are so naturally curious and this is such great fun for them. We were on Michelle's farm so they were safe (you couldn't really do this in a public area, so always put your dog's safety first). By the time we were done - we heard coyotes howling across the slough.

Look at these two - right on Jet's track under the light of the new moon...

And my BFF River had a great play but didn't track today. It was weird not to track with River because we've been partners for so many years. So I asked Michelle to just take a picture of us....

Raising the Bar - my lesson with Caden

2011-10-24T20:33:00.001-06:00

Do you remember the post on videotaping your dog from a few days ago? In that post is some video of my dog Caden doing a hard surface track - and remember where I drop the line? Well, I usually track by myself, just because of my schedule and work - I fit it in where I can. Yesterday I had the opportunity to get some feedback and I was so grateful for it!

Caden at the end of the track today at noon - I managed to track on my lunch hour!

I visited with my friends Dan and Susan Waters last night (which is where I did little Ben's track in the post below). Dan just won the Canadian National Schutzhund Finals in Niagara Falls, and I got to see his stuff and hear some stories about the World Trials in the Ukraine. I feel I have learned more from Dan in my years in tracking than I've learned from anyone else. I have not had a lot of exposure to Schutzhund, and find the lessons from Dan really fit with my goals for urban, and field tracking. Plus, Dan is one of those thoughtful people who is always thinking of a new way to work with the dogs on the field to get better results.

Dan and I watched Caden's urban video together (OK, if the truth be told, I made Dan sit and watch it, LOL, because I was proud of Caden, and I value Dan's opinion). Dan knows Caden better than anyone aside from me, and had some words of advice as he watched the video. Dan does not do urban (yet) but he is one of those people with an uncanny sense of tracking.

On that first leg - Caden leans off the track to sniff a light post. Dan said "You LET him do that!" I am very slow to react and say no. This is a veg leg with treats. Caden had no reason to do it, all the information he needed was on the ground at his feet. In part, I was guilty of having my camera in one hand, which takes focus away from training.

The next leg and turn are beautiful. He begins to lift his head a bit which I expect on hard surface work. But - wait a minute - it was cold out! Was heat really rising from that surface? Dan felt that Caden was doing so well that I need to raise my expectations and tell him gently, no. With a gentle pop to remind him that it will be easier if his head is down.

We talked about building the stamina to work consistently for the entire track. Perhaps Caden doesn't have that yet. When he worked well, he showed a lot of talent. Then he'd practically give himself a break by lifting his head and looking around. Interesting to have someone else watch and see this. Caden was diligent when he worked - how do I get this for the whole track?

I said I wanted him to learn to solve problems. Dan asked me point blank - HOW DO YOU WANT HIM TO SOLVE PROBLEMS? I need to decide, and then teach Caden that if you have a problem, try this. I have to give this a lot of thought. Do I want Caden to take a wide cast in a circle? Or do I want him to calm down on a lost turn, put his head down, and work it in a smaller area. How do I get what I want or what will work for us as a team? No one has ever really asked me this before. I usually watch to see the dog's method of solving a problem and go with that. My head hurts now!

It seems so deceptively simple to realize I have some say over how my dog will solve a problem too - and can teach this, to give them a behaviour to fall back on. It is like teaching a 90 degree corner. This is actually a problem for the dog - and we show them how to solve it. I mean - I have tried to help my dog's solve problems - but by stepping in to help when I feel they need it. Deciding on the picture I want and asking for it specifically is a really good training goal.

Next: The dropped line. Dan immediately said - you should have had him lie down as soon as he came back. This was a moment of anxiety for me and him. The whole leg after this is shaky. It is in a crosswind to boot. Lie him down. Let him collect his thoughts. Let me collect my thoughts. Then go again when we are ready. Caden worked hard on that leg, but maybe he didn't need to work so hard, and find it such a challenge (overstepping his turn). Maybe having him lie down for a second would have resulted in a completely different performance on that leg.

I could hardly sleep all night. I take tracking so to heart! I could hardly wait to go out again. So today I took Caden to work in my car. I love cool Fall days for this reason. At noon, we went to the nearby College and did a track on a field there. I did NOT videotape any of it, except the very end *(below). I focused on my handling.

It was only 300 meters and exactly 30 minutes old. He should have the mental stamina to do this even though footstep tracking demands more from them. When he tried to lift his head and gaze around, or wavered a lot off the track I gave him a pop and a 'no.' When he was back on he got praised. I was very consistent about the pop and no thing. I could see my steps. The grass was frosty this morning, so it was damp and it was an easy track.

Caden buckled down and after a shaky 2 first legs, his last three legs were quite beautiful and I bent to temptation and videotaped the end with my iPhone. He showed me what he is capable of, if I just ask for it. I followed my formula of treats at every corner, and none on the last corner. Here, with no treats and a good warm-up, he takes this corner on rails! I felt so happy, and - so did Caden!

Dan was right. I raised the bar. I am as guilty as anyone about making excuses or being happy with mediocre work sometimes - and Dan said ' if you expect mediocre or allow mediocre, you get mediocre. '

This is actually a basic Law of Attraction. I am quite a believer in attracting good things into my life through the power of my thoughts and intentions. Today I learned that I can attract a more successful tracking dog if my intention is to expect excellence - picture it - shape it - and encourage it in my dog and in myself. I also realized I am so lucky to have attracted a tracking master like Dan Waters into my life! I do not take this for granted and am so grateful for his insight and advice.

I am always learning on this journey! And I am happy to share. Nothing happens accidentally. I am sure it was part of The Plan for me to get Caden and then move to Red Deer Alberta because I was meant to meet Dan and continue learning from him about tracking. I hope this resonates with some of you!

Happy Tracking.

Ground View of Ben's little baby track today

2011-10-23T23:41:00.001-06:00

Ben is 13 weeks and today was his third time out to do a little footstep track. I put my iPhone in my hand as I pointed to treats and thanks to YouTube Editor, I was able to cut the first half of the video. It was 30 steps. This is the last bit of his track.

Notice how quiet it is. I am just pointing but not talking. He is busy thinking and you can hear him sniffing too. He is starting to 'get the game.'

Comments on Animal Crosstracks and Training

2011-10-23T08:44:00.000-06:00

Hi everyone, this morning I wrote a note to the AKC tracking list in response to animal tracks and how to handle them. I talk a bit about yesterday's class and Jet's first leg (click to go to the post below or scroll down). I thought I would share what I wrote here on this blog. Note that this post did not refer to 'crittering' it referred to following a deer trail in a field, as if it was a crosstrack. Crittering is something else entirely in my mind and is where your gentle 'no' comes in in early training.

---
RE: animal tracks

I see different phases when I work with my dogs or others. In very simple terms (I am sure we could break these down many ways) I see an early training period where you set expectations and shape behaviour and lay a solid foundation. Then there is practice where you introduce problems and assist with overcoming if you need to step in. And finally there is 'putting in the time' towards teamwork and testing your reading skills and the dog's recovery,. Here, I give my dog loads of latitude because I need to see how they handle things, how they tell me if they are off, and how they work their way back to the track - and at this stage I look for signs so I can read them to be a better team member. In any of these phases, you can always step back.

If I test my dog's recovery by giving latitude and see it as a potential weak area, I go back to the middle phase. I always remind people, training is not testing! When I lay my own tracks, I KNOW where they go, so know if they are going off. The first time my dog might want to go off on a deer trail, in the early phase, I would be on a short line and would gently re-direct and reward to the track. In the middle phase, I'd let them have some time to solve the problem but would decide when it is best to step in if necessary, and they'd have more line.

With an advanced dog, I might even follow them as if I have no sweet clue where the track goes. For me, this is fun when I lay my own tracks, and I call myself the dope on the rope. My hope would be they will save my bacon. If they carried merrily along the deer track, I'd start thinking about my track shape, my handling, their problem solving, and it would a little training puzzle for me - or could just be the day. I never try to make any one thing a big issue, because what you focus on grows. My goal is always to have a good track plotted for the dog I am working with, then see how we handle whatever we encounter.

A good example for me was during a class I taught yesterday. I went early to lay a demo urban track for my advanced dog, who is UTDX ready. During the class it aged. I looked up and saw an entire high school football team run over her first leg. I pointed it out to people and said - bear this in mind - sometimes it's better NOT to know what happens while your track is aging! I was determined to approach the start with the same calm manner I always do. Jet gave no real sign there was anything out of the ordinary and did a nice first leg, locking on.

If she had real problems, I saw that team run over the leg and would have known the cause. But if I had not, I would try to give her the time she needed to sort it out with loads of patience. I'd stay on my track and give her all the line she needed to satisfy herself. Suppose she took off on some football player's crosstrack - I might follow her within reason to see if she'd lift her head and show signs of circling back, and work with her. I could do this, because I laid it, and I knew which way it went and we'd be a team.

The lesson yesterday was handling the line - so it was a good opportunity for me whichever way it went to instruct my students. I also had a well placed treat well down the first leg, and a well placed article - which I ALWAYS do as a best practice. So whatever was thrown at us on that leg would see a reward for Jet once she got to the article.

If this had been a blind track for me, I would hope in training that the tracklayer would identify to me what was happening so I could work her the same way. In a test, I'd hope to have enough of this under my belt - time and miles - to trust her - and read her. Unfortunately, the way tests are constructed, there will be times the dog goes too far before giving a sign to the handler, or the handler is nervous and misses the signs of lost track. This is all the way things go in tracking - luck of the draw sometimes too.

Donna

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

2011-10-22T21:29:00.004-06:00

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.

Using video

2011-10-21T21:29:00.002-06:00

I LOVE to video because when I watch it later, I see so many things I would have missed in the heat of the track, and I learn a lot about my dogs and the tracks.

I have a small Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS7 which records video in HD. I looked for a small webcam but heard the Flip Cam is going under, and for the price, decided I would rather have something that takes high quality photos AND video, because I like photos too. I have a big Nikon Digital SLR for actual photography, so the Panasonic really is my workhorse camera. I was lucky to get it when the new ones were coming out, so it was marked down from $300 to $180 at Future Shop. I love this camera! It fits in the palm of my hand and I just put the strap around my wrist in case I fumble around. It fits in my pocket easily and is super easy to use.

I know other people have helmet cams and I have thought about these. I tried wearing someone's once (a stockdog person) and felt as though it would impact me, because I don't like stuff on my head. I recently read on a chat group post that someone said she looks around so much her head swivels so helmet cams don't work. I also use my iPhone though the pain of that is if the video is too long, it can't be uploaded easily so I film under one minute segments only with it. This means watching the seconds go by, which is a trick.

So on to videotaping. I do not look through my camera. I aim it, but am watching my dog. Sometimes, on my videos, you will see I am NOT that great at filming because my dogs wander in and out of the shot or I am filming their butts. I glance from time to time, and adjust.

I also never really film a dog I am starting because I need both hands. And there are many times I do not video tape when I know I need to focus on a training issue. Sometimes I am filming and I curse myself because I was not ready to help my dog - so there are pros and cons to it for sure. Which is why it is great when the camera can be stuffed in my pocket. And for heaven's sake, put tracking first. If you can't do it, don't. Mind you it takes a little practice for sure.

Last weekend I did film my 12 week old but it was a gong show because he hated wieners. So I had to improvise and realized that I was able to pull my camera out because I was standing out of his space Otherwise I would NEVER have filmed him at the same time as doing crucial handling. To see how he did on day two, check out my personal training blog here (click link). I tried to set my camera on the hood of my car, but was out of the frame for the first minute!

I know that many HITT people set a camera up on a tripod to film themselves which is a good idea in a small area (like a puppy track). Having a partner is good too - though I know it's hard to film someone else when you are not sure what the dog is going to do.

With my advanced dogs, I think the main thing is this - I use a loose line eventually. My urban dogs River and Jet are both given a loose line because this style works for me and them. Therefore I am able to just hold it in my left hand because I am not doing the taut line handling style. Tangling is an issue but I also prefer my dogs to work through this and other mishaps and weird situations so I will only move in when I feel it is impacting them.

I filmed the end of Jet's urban track last weekend on my iPhone because my camera memory card was full, half way through her track. It is one minute and 20 seconds and I managed to upload it. You can see the loose line she has. *I forgot her harness (forgive me)... it is her first track since having a puppy 12 weeks ago and her harness was not in my car!

Jet, 300 m, 1.5 hours old, very dry, slight wind (crosswind on this leg)

On this track, she was pretty dead on which is her style. I used berms to help hold scent. At the end, she casts around for the article which is a small piece of old dog bedding that I poked into sand. I like to see her do this - it will help me in my visualization in a test situation. I try not to interfere with my advanced dogs. They know their jobs and I just want to observe them at this point to learn from them and see how they work or recover to the track. Videotaping helps me to learn.

My GSD Caden is an exception as he really does need a taut line. I have challenges filming him and ensuring he works in the nose down style, or focused style I want. So I rarely videotape him and when I do, it is not easy and comes out really bad. But it's still good enough for me to see his work.

Last weekend, I also did an urban track with Caden out in a huge open parking lot. I did manage to videotape it, and it will make everyone crack up because I do just drop his line accidentally. I call 'here!' and he comes straight back. I kept the film going because for me, this is valuable for me, and I hope for people who look at the coach blog. These things happen! What do we do and what do we learn? I always feel I am able to teach people (and myself) more through mistakes :)) and getting through them. I am going out today and will try to improve as always.

Here is the video

Caden, 45 minutes old, 300 meters

I tried to follow natural lines of asphalt in the lot rather than pre-determine the route, so when I laid it, I went with my gut rather than by steps and a pattern. It is a big zig zag. My original plan was a field track, but the field I have permission to use had horses in it yesterday to my surprise and dismay.

I was really glad I kept filming even when I dropped the line. I felt flustered and can now see what he did, and how he handled his next turn. This was all feel-good stuff for me showing my dog recover and work (even though I felt a bit stressed).

It is interesting to see how much he and I rely on line handling still. If I drop the line with River or Jet they carry on normally. Caden just takes off at a high speed and heads off to cut a corner immediately. This was really interesting to me. Back on line, he tracks to the corner and does a circle to take it. I am clearly holding him in check, but maybe holding him back to a style. He would have bolted to the next leg without his handler and probably to the article.

Also, back on line, I keep him to the track. Of course in the long run this is better training. But it showed me that he knew where the article was and 'tracking to it' my way is for me - which is good because I want to pass tests!

The other really neat thing I captured is how he sniffed leaves. I don't think it was visual, I think they held scent. Not sure, but it's a theory.

I hope you try video. You will see things you don't recall - it is a great learning tool. If you want feedback, feel free to share!

Puppy Ben starts tracking - Humility and Improvisation!

2011-10-15T23:25:00.002-06:00

Today was the big day I started my own puppy Ben, who is 12 weeks old. As always, dogs have a way of humbling us, and Ben did that to me today! On my way out, I stopped at a grocery store to buy wieners. I have been avoiding giving him wiener, thinking I would make it his special treat today. Things started out well, until he decided he'd had his fill of them, and actually didn't like them. Suddenly, I became the mean lady pointing out these horrible things he HATED!

Below are pictures of him doing three scent pads. He ate the wiener from these and seemed to like it.

First scent pad

Second scent pad

Being pulled from the third scent pad, and looking back wishing he would have picked up that wiener faster.
At this point, it was all what I expected and he seemed to like wiener!

Then... I laid a tiny track for him with wiener in every footstep. He sniffed a wiener and gave me a look as if he would be sick. Maybe it did cause some tummy upset. Who knows? I tried pointing them out, and tried to pick them up and toss them to make it interesting. He literally PULLED BACKWARDS, and then hid behind my legs. I was so surprised. In my mind, this was going to be a piece of cake! He's only 12 weeks old, so there was even less reasoning with him than with an older dog. I picked up the wiener to give to Jet (who still had a track to run). I laughed - here it is on the hood of my car...

Thankfully, I had dried liver in my car. I put him away to give him a break and laid a tiny track with dried liver (which I KNOW he likes) in the footsteps.

Doing 'the routine' I waited until he peed, before doing his tiny track.
This required a lot of patience as he was really curious to look around before finally doing it!

What a surprise I had when I went to do his little footstep track! When I tried to point to each one, he did the same thing and began to pull away from me. I am sure he believed it was more wiener.

SO, I had to improvise. I wanted a bit of positive for him. I stepped out of his space and simply stood quietly and waited him out. He eventually sniffed and discovered it was dried liver. I made a snap decision to film, and stay out of his space even though it is not my training method. I allowed him to 'discover' the liver and here is what he did without me looming over him. I added in a little praise - because I WANTED HIM TO KNOW I WAS PART OF THIS!

This is one very serious puppy. And one tired puppy too! I took this as I was writing this post.

Tired Ben. That's Jet on the couch and Ted by the door. River and Caden are behind my chair!
*GSDs need to be CLOSE... lol

We'll go out again tomorrow. I will have different treats. And I will make sure he is hungry!

No wiener for Ben. And so our tracking journey begins!

Building Mental Stamina - and dealing with challenges on the track

2011-10-13T21:58:00.002-06:00

Hi everyone - I just took a long time to answer a question on the CKC tracking chat group list, and thought I should post it here as well, for people who aren't part of that group. Someone presented a scenario: They did 3 short tracks for their dog and when they went to run them, there were geese on the field. The dog did a beautiful job on the first two tracks, working through the geese. On track 3, the dog began to whine, sit, and offer other behaviours. With some convincing, she completed the track. The owner said this dog has done this before and asked for some thoughts. Here is my response...

I took this picture of a rabbit on one of our training tracks last year

I posted on my other blog over a year ago about a track Jet did that had mice, a rabbit, a crow, and so on. It was crazy. (*Click on the sentence above to see that post.) She did work through it - I was lucky. And at her first urban test, she ended up with rabbits on her track. She went their way and I refused to follow her, and it turned out to be correct - she was tracking, and I failed us, which is typical. I should have trusted that she could do it. So believe me - I may write this blog, but I make mistakes like everyone - and try to learn from them. That is one of the keys to tracking.

I think it is amazing and great work that she did the first two tracks so beautifully and with so much heart and determination. This shows you the dog you have! By the third one, she was just burning out, that's all (in my opinion). Tracking is natural to a dog but takes a lot of focus and with the geese there, she really had to concentrate.

I can see how exciting it must have been, and why you would have carried on to the third one. You should be proud of her, and just learn from it - and build that enthusiasm and talent she has over time. She was happily tracking through a difficult scent puzzle. Her behaviour is (in my mind) stress, or being tired.

I usually try to put harder things (new things) for dogs early on in a track while they are fresh. Even in plotting I will put harder urban stuff sooner - NOT towards the end when the dog has worked hard to get there. Eventually they need to cope with what comes at them at any point on the track and they build up stamina, not just physical, but mental as well.

So I think you learned something very valuable from this session which is how capable and determined she will be over time - and that is very exciting! Plus she has given you some valuable information about why she stops tracking this way, I think it may be just mental fatigue and too much coming at her when she is not ready to handle it.

I think it's really common for people to want to do more and push a bit and that's good but you need a plan to do that. This should give you a good idea for planning your progression. Next time I would say give her an easy peasey track. I like to go back and forth - something challenging, something easy. And eventually extend the challenges and see how she does.

Again, it is really neat that she did those first two tracks for you - good for you for going for it. It shows you that you are doing a lot of things right for sure, to see something like that and what a good girl! I also see that despite her stress, she pulled it out for you after some convincing which to me is a wonderful sign of a dog that will try - even though you are dismayed that you had to work so hard to convince her. Some dogs might not have gone back at it.

If you had stopped after track two, you would not have learned this. But next time, set up your three tracks and decide if you are ahead of the game by stopping at the end of #2. Once you are on the third one - it's hard to know how to end it when you get those behaviours. Do you quit when she is stressed or ask for more. You asked for more and you got it. If you do not, you will need a plan for how to end that kind of track. Some people toss an article down and pretend it's the end, but I think a dog knows that is not true. You could just pull her off, but now you have undone the great job she did on the first two. Here is an idea I learned from SchH you might like to try:

- Have one of those spiral tie stakes that you can stick in the ground, or do something to make her stay in place. Go ahead and relay a part of your track with lots of treats - only even 10 or 20 steps. Let her watch you do this. Get her, and let her track that small part and give some moderate praise, and end it. Even if you have to casually walk to your article. I would not overdo the praise because this is not a behaviour or situation you prefer. Just say a quiet thanks to her for doing those last few steps for you. (always have treats handy for doing this when you run a track).

In training, I would try to avoid this kind of situation as much as possible early on. At some point you do need to work on that kind of teamwork because you will need to use it on a track if you encounter a difficult patch. Just decide when your dog is ready for it - and my sense is - maybe soon, but not yet. Tuck this away in your pocket because you know some day, you will be in a test and hit a rough spot, and with some convincing, if you keep up this great training, she will pull it out the same way.

PS After all this, at her first urban test, she ended up with rabbits on her track. She went their way and I refused to follow her, and it turned out to be correct - she was tracking, and I failed us! I should have trusted that she could do it. So believe me - I may write a blog and have titles and even judge, but I make mistakes like everyone - and try to learn from them. That is one of the keys to tracking.

I am nearly embarrassed to post this link because Jet is SO much better now. That was a year and a half ago and Jet and I have improved so much with constant, fun practice. I have to thank you for making me go look at this for that reminder!

One day you will feel the same way - and you will actually have a warm fuzzy feeling about your early training days too.

Sharpening the Saw - A few words about your experienced dog, motivation, photos, partners and perspective

2011-10-10T07:59:00.002-06:00

Sometimes, I need to take my own advice. We never stop learning and thing I love about teaching is that it reminds me of basic things I need to remember in my own training.

On my personal training blog, I just posted about my own dogs. On the day out with the dogs in the post below, I was very emotional about River's track because she struggled through it. She has been my 'demo dog' for so long, it's hard to see her age. At 11, she still loves to track, and I love to follow her. I admit I was in a bit of a panic thinking her tracking days might be ending and it made me very sad.

Emotional moment. And River of course, sensed my anxiety.
See the bottom of this post to read a note about frame of mind and perspective

Value of photos and training partners

Nancy Thornton was kind enough to send me photos of River doing the demo track. There are moments where River looks way better than I felt she was doing from behind. This is the value of working with someone who will take pictures of your dog. The side posture is something you won't see as a handler. In my post on my personal blog, you can see the pictures of River show she is working way harder at this than I observed from my point of view. This is why I take pictures and video of tracking students - so they can see different angles of their own dogs working.

Here is an angle I NEVER see of my own dog. Thanks Nancy

Motivation - Sharpening the Saw with your seasoned dog

I also admitted to myself that I can take her ability for granted and forget to work at keeping her motivated, and keeping her skills sharp.Yesterday I decided to do a motivation track for River to see if the demo track was a 'one-off' situation. I set it up like this... I laid a very simple urban track and only aged it for about 10 minutes. Then I ran it with my OTHER dog Caden. He is fairly accurate and I never deviated from the track myself. This was a great experience for him, as he is new to urban tracking.

PLUS PLEASE NOTE THAT I DO A LONG STRAIGHT LINE, AND THEN THROW IN A SERPENTINE CORNER AROUND A TREE. This is a great SchH method to make sure your dog is not just zoning off on a long line. Watch his video on my personal blog to see this one.

But my main goal was River on this day. So after Caden ran it - River was really anxious to get out of the car and track, of course. Without waiting - I simply put her on the track and let her go. She did a beautiful job of it.

Next, I will lay something a bit more challenging for her again and simply work on keeping her happy and keeping her nose in shape. I have no doubt on the 'demo dog' day, she sensed my anxiety after her track was complete. Dogs know when they have done the job once they are experienced.

You can see the pictures and the video of my personal tracks here. Thanks Nancy, for helping me with my training, too! (this sentence is a link, click on it)

Finally, a word about perspective.

This is the judges view. When you are handling your dog, the judge, tracklayer and gallery see this view or a side view. Sometimes it seems so obvious to everyone that your dog is working and on track, but as a handler, it is hard to have that same picture. I once heard a HERDING clinician (Scott Glen) say that when you are in the field with your dog, it is like standing nose to nose with Monet's painting Water Lilies. You need to stand back to see that it is a painting of flowers. Up close, it is just a swirl of colour and dots. I think handling can be so much like this - and we need to learn to be calm and observe - which only comes through 'time and miles.' Plus working with partners.

Next time you are at a trial remember this when you are thinking 'why doesn't she just follow her dog?' - you have the angle, the view and the frame of mind to see more calmly from a distance. The handler is standing nose to nose with the painting.

As a handler, remember to give yourself some distance at times to observe your dog with a calm mind. Even doing a demo yesterday, I forgot my own advice to others and felt a bit rattled as River had a bad day. But I love this because the Universe always presents us with opportunities to learn - and even though I was the instructor - I learned too - we never stop learning in this sport.

Two new dogs in training - progression and the 'casual stroll' game

2011-10-09T11:17:00.002-06:00

Yesterday I met Nancy Thornton and Kristine with their dogs Tally, a Parson Russell Terrier and Kristina with her 5 month old Rottie pup. We did scent pads, then a serpentine. After I did a short demo track with Caden, we took each dog on a 'casual stroll' (no commands) on his track, and they simply tracked it to the end with no prompting. It's so natural for dogs to do this! Now they will work on foundations of scentpads and footsteps, and the casual stroll stuff is just to keep them motivated and have some fun.

The 'casual stroll' is where you walk another dog, or track another dog - then take your dog in training and on a long line, simply walk the path with NO COMMANDS. Be very neutral and watch your dog follow the track casually. When they turn, turn. If they stop and sniff around, just stand patiently. When they go, go. No big deal. This is a natural activity for a dog and will enhance your training by keeping your dog's interest and motivation high.

I got this idea from watching my dogs on trips. If I take one out around a hotel property, then go back for the next dog - the second dog ALWAYS follows the path of the first dog to see where he went! It is tracking. And you can see your own dog's more natural style this way and it will help you learn to read his body language.

Observe the progression... 3 scent pads, a SHORT serpentine with a jackpot - the casual stroll. Between each, the dogs had a rest in the car while I did demos with my dogs. So overall, this took three hours.

NANCY AND TALLY - PARSON RUSSELL TERRIER BITCH, EXPERIENCED WITH SCENT HURDLE AND EARTH DOG, ETC. SO A GREAT WORK ETHIC AND TEAMWORK

**I just found out there is one PRT in Canada with a TD and TDX owned by Davine Walsh - "Rosie" - Ch Caudlewood’s Surely Sheza Rose CGN RE CD TDX. How exciting! And we can share tips which will be wonderful. In the US, there are two PRTs who do Cadaver work in Kentucky and are regularly deployed SAR dogs. Very, very cool little dogs.

KRISTINE AND TIA - 5 MONTH OLD ROTTIE BITCH, A BABY TO SHAPE, SHE SHOWS A VERY THOUGHTFUL AND CALM MANNER AND LITERALLY BURIES HER NOSE IN THE VEG

An Urban Experiment with Caden - Problem solving fun and Proofing

2011-09-24T22:25:00.005-06:00

Caden at the end of the track

I've been posting about getting started in the field, but I am sure some of you are hoping to do urban too. Caden has been exposed to urban from the time he learned to track, but I keep my focus on veg with him, as I want him to be as precise as possible for Schutzhund tracking. HOWEVER, I do like him to learn to solve problems as I think this makes a great tracking dog.

*I have had a lot of questions on the previous post about following footsteps. I plan to do a post to answer them. As well, I will do a post about the steps a judge follows when judging a test - for those of you who wonder what's involved. Those are future posts.

Back to today's urban track, where I highlight the best tips, that apply to both field and urban...

In the beginning, you never want your dog stressed in tracking. Problem solving is your job as you keep your dogs confidence and motivation high. As your dog becomes more solid and track sure, you can begin to add in problems for them to work out. I strongly advocate putting problems at the beginning of a track when your dog is fresh. Tracking is mentally draining, and weather can take its toll too. If you track in a specific location all the time, a problem might just be to go to a new place. If you lay a track in your regular location - then you know enough about the lay of the land to come up with a little puzzle for your dog.

Today, I decided to do a track with Caden. You will see it was impromptu, because I did not have his line, and cobbled three leashes together. But it works. JUST IMAGINE how much better my handling would have been if I had the right equipment! (That's my excuse)... so wrong equipment is problem number one and at a couple of points in the track this does affect us as a team. He is on a choke that's on a deadring, and it keeps turning round his neck which causes a few weird tangles. Dogs need to get used to this as any little glitch can cause a problem in a test - teach them to work through yanks and tangled feet now.

Sorry this is so big, but any smaller and it's not readable! Here is the map, done using Google Earth, and then saving the image and opening it in Paint to put on lines and text...CLICK ON THE PICTURE FOR A BIGGER VERSION - THEN USE THE BACK ARROW TO RETURN TO THE POST...

Caden's track. 240 meters. Wind direction is shown, and the blue shows areas you will see on video below.

It was so hot today - nearly 29 C. That is in the 90s F I believe. It has been such a wet summer here that I wanted to do a track with Caden in heat and dry conditions. I just judged a test in Winnipeg and can sure feel for the trackers there. It is good to get out in all conditions, one never knows what to expect on test day. On a hot day like today keep it short and make sure your dog is hydrated!

Today I laid a track for Caden that he has done once before. This is a great idea - you can run the same track every few weeks to see how your dog reacts to weather conditions or other factors. The last time he did it, it was a cool but sunny day, following LOTS of rain. He did this track perfectly that day. So beautifully that I wanted to cry and wished I had video. It is a 'Steve Ripley special' - where I lay the track starting on veg, then transitioning to a parking lot. I go up one side of a raised sidewalk - in the fold of the curb. I switch to the other side, cut across on veg, then come down along the curb again. We finish on veg. The idea is that the fold of the curb will hold scent, and also the raised berm will prevent scent spread. This worked beautifully 2 months ago. I always recommend Steve Ripley's book Making Scents of the Urban Jungle, which you order directly from him (just Google it).

But today... I was prepared for something different. Here is the track on video...

I started with the wind at my back. The leg along the berm was in a crosswind. As you will see in the video, Caden tried repeatedly to get to the other side of the berm. I would not let him - holding my ground and questioning the line - this line handling is a good type of partnership to build with your dog that can only happen when you lay your own track so you know where it goes. Be cautious in a test not to guide, but questioning the dog with the line and a firm stance is usually OK.

I had to encourage Caden to get into the track. Always be vigilant about that fine line between problem solving, and hanging your dog out to get stressed. Decide when to step in! You want them to solve problems, but it is still training, not testing. I cut through an opening in the sidewalk. In the video, it is so interesting. As you can see, I follow him as he overshoots. My goal is to see how he will recover and what his body language will be. He suddenly stops, lifts his head and circles back to find the turn.

On the far side of the berm, he does so much better. This could be because that wind was depositing my scent on that side when I laid the track. It could also be because he was more locked on by this point. He goes around the front of a car parked on the track. On veg his turn is dead on. I put large treats on every corner to mark it and slow him down. (Sadly he goes to pee, bad boy! I think he drank too much water in the car due to the heat). He does a small cast and finds the turn and does a beautiful transition from veg back to the parking lot. Here, he goes to the curb where wind is blowing the scent. But, he comes away from it and corrects to the track, which is along the black line.

The end of the track is more sloppy than I would like - but - in training you always need to have some give and take. He did very well in the trouble spots in the beginning. Here, he is so confident that I don't want to correct too much and take away the amount he takes charge over the course of this track. I never follow unless my dogs are on the track (ON VEG OR URBAN), but I allow a bit more leeway for him to cast and find his track on the berm to get to the end.

Heading back to my car with his article - this is part of our routine

I love to videotape my tracks because I can analyze them more later, when I am calm. I see things differently than how I know I would remember them. It is a very useful training tool. If you train with someone, have them video you. You will be happy to watch the video, over and over.

So - as they say - a test is just another day in tracking. Caden did this exact track perfectly two months ago. Today, with different conditions, he had to solve little problems. If I had not laid my own track, I could not have helped him by knowing when to hold my ground and when to go with him. This adds a lot to his confidence.

He gets a treat in the car - part of the routine. This is something you should do, so that at a test, they will have faith in the 'cookie in the car' no matter what...

Drink in the car. More routine. With AC blowing!

Next time, I will do a very easy veg track for Caden, to reinforce that tracking IS easy. I don't want him to think every track will be hard like this one. But I also believe he felt accomplished and satisfied today too. And that is an important part of training!

And one happy boy rides home with his paw on my seat :)
Love tracking!

Tracking Classes Starting October 8 for 6 weeks

2011-09-24T16:04:00.000-06:00

Tracking Classes start October 8 and run for 6 weeks - every Saturday. Your choice - 9 to 12 AM or 5-8 PM (time to be adjusted for the later class). Urban or field. Contact me privately for details at spiritdance@shaw.ca or through blog messaging. Individual coaching and small classes.

Will be in the Red Deer and Olds area.

And I will be blogging for the rest of you to follow along :)

Comments and Questions

2011-09-14T22:54:00.000-06:00

??????

Just a short note to say that I had a very good question on the post 'Following Footsteps' (below) and answered it - both the question and my ideas are under 'Comments' - link is below that post.

Please send in any questions you have.

I am going to judge a tracking test this coming weekend so may not keep up for a few days, but I love to talk tracking!

Donna

And just have fun sometimes!

2011-09-12T21:29:00.002-06:00

Happy boy, tracking under a full moon

Tonight I was walking Caden and had a pocket of treats for obedience. I was cutting through a little park - it was dark, and the grass seemed dewey. No one was around. I decided to do an impromptu track.

Tied to a bench

Start - using a stake I found in the grass

I tied him to a bench to practice a long down, and laid a serpentine track with bait. No stake, no article. But I found a wood stake in the grass so used it to mark the start. I used lightposts for guides - doing a serpentine around one, and heading for the other for a 90 degree turn. I went up a little hill, across, and downhill, one more turn and a jackpot.

Serpentine around a lightpost

I didn't age it at all. I just did it, and was it fun! On the way home I thought I'd post about it - to share the idea of just having fun sometimes. I know Caden enjoyed it. On the way home I felt so happy and I could tell he was feeling satisfied too.

Uphill

There were no rules, nothing scientific, no real plan in mind - I just went for it. I only had him on a leash and his fursaver collar (German choke with long flat links). I put it on the dead ring for the track.

And downhill

Stuff like this keeps the joy in tracking for your dog - and YOU! Since there was nothing formal about it, and it was short, there could be no harm done as long as you stay safe and just let your dog discover the rewards and enjoy the togetherness.

Jackpot

Following footsteps

2011-09-11T20:22:00.003-06:00

This is a video of my friend Dan Waters with his puppy Cilla learning to footstep track. If you have been working on scentpads, your dog knows that it will find food where there is scent. The next steps is to get off the scent pad and begin putting food into every footstep. You can see how Dan keeps the line short and tight and cups his hand around the bait when necessary.

At the end of this post is a video I took today of my dog Caden tracking. I am nowhere near the SchH tracker that Dan is, but I have been working hard to train him to stay on the track when we are on veg. As a result, he casts less than any dog I have ever had.

Instructions
Start with a fairly short track and make sure you do it in vegetation where you can SEE your footstep or the food. Moist loose soil also works. And, make sure your dog is hungry so it will work for the food. In the above video you can see how Dan builds in a slight curve to the track. This is longer than you should do at first. In part because it is back breaking when you begin - as you will be bending down to point out each piece of food. You point with your right hand, and hold the leash with your left hand. Don't let your dog go too fast, or skip steps or treats. You want them to actually realize that the scent in each step is where the 'reward' is.

If you must, use stakes to mark your way. It is better to do that then to lose your track. Landmarks on the ground also work. Look ahead and decide where you will head and where you will end. When you reach the end of your small track - turn and look back at it to etch it in your mind. I always walk back around to the start (never walk back ON your own track - curve around to it). I will look at the track again from the start. Then I check my watch to see the time. I always keep in mind how much the track has aged when I run it. I also keep a little booklet in my glove compartment where I make notes.

Look your field over. Decide on a landmark. You won't go that far, but it will keep you going straight! Then decide on a nice spot for a scent pad. Pick a nice lush spot, and make sure that there are no patches or ruts intesecting where you will lay your short track. Be choosy!

Here is my scent pad, and there are three treats on it. It is a meter square and flag is always to the left.

First step off the scent pad is actually 'connected' to the scent pad. Lift your toe and drop your treat in the TOE of your footstep. NOT beside your step and not between your steps. It must be IN the toe. Period. :) Use pvc piping if you don't like to bend down.

*It will take you a long time to lay your track. You will be glad it's short.

Don't make your footsteps too far apart going forward or too wide apart but DO make them alter, so your dog will definitely be going left-right-left-right from step to step. If the bait is in a straight line, your dog will start to rush and skip bait, and even cheat, thinking the track is in a straight line. This will 'keep your dog's behaviour honest.'

I picked this dandelion for my landmark. These tracks will only be aged minutes at most - 15 or 20 tops by the time you lay three. That dandelion will still be there. Once you are laying fairly aged tracks, don't count on a dandelion to look the same hours later. The white circles show where your bait is (in the TOES!)

Here is the footstep work for a turn. Note the dandelion.
Keep your steps closer together so your dog is guided around the turn.
Never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never never make a turn difficult. Keep it an easy and stress free activity for your dog. Keep close on your leash and help them by point out bait.

I chose this yellow dandelion to mark the end. I put a jackpot here, but nothing really big as your dog may rush to it. Make sure they go footstep to footstep right to the end. This may hurt as you restrain them and bend to point out each piece of bait.

*Please note, by the way, if your dog does miss bait, just be sure to point out the next one - never teach them to turn or circle back. Always encourage forward flow.

After your jackpot, keep walking straight. Don't curve off right at the end. The rules even call for tracklayers to continue straight. The reason is that you can create a 'draw' by turning, that will pull the dog around the curve and away from the article or jackpot. Then, turn and look back, and picture your track. I have drawn it in pink here. I walked up straight to the scent pad. So when I get my dog, I will bring him in from a different direction (yellow arrows) so that he learns to put his head down at the start when I give the command. I want a 'clear' command at the start to mark the beginning of our work,.

I walk around and look at the track from the start too. I can see my scent pad, my dandelion and I can even see my footsteps after the dandelion. I now feel comfortable that I know where it goes.

If you need to use stakes - then go ahead but try to wean off of stakes. The only stakes in a TD will be the start and at 30 meters to show direction. Your dog will learn stakes 'mean something.' In the video below I use stakes as it is a new field to me - but I offset them from turns and place them an arm's length off the track so that they seem meaningless to Caden. BUT if you watch on the second leg, he is drawn off track to the stake, then gets back on track. ARGH....!!

Most people will do three short tracks, the same way as you did three scent pads. You can do them in a row, so after the end of one, you start a new one. This way you get a nice flow going and don't have to walk around to the start as you would if you laid them side by side.

So they will go like this:

S -------------- J S -------------------- J S ---------------------------------- J

S = Start
J = Jackpot

You can curve these a bit if you like. Make sure the Wind is at your back. If it if very windy - go straight. You do not want a crosswind when you are doing this. Notice that each one is slightly longer. Make notes at the end about how this works, and how many steps you took. Then you can adjust as necessary next time.

Let's see how Caden did...

I followed my routine - I let Caden go pee, and he has a drink, then sits and gives me attention, then we approach the scent pad. As you can see below, he is looking at the track and in the right state of mind to be given the command.

After the command, his head goes down. And as you can see, he gets the dandelion just fine.

I tried to videotape this, but sadly, it was too long to send to YouTube from my iPhone (I continued from this to a long track, so videotaped the entire thing.). However, you can see him start a different track in the video below.

Do THREE WEEKS of three short tracks. If you find it hard to put the food in every footstep, you can try using a long piece of PVC piping to drop the food down without bending. The food MUST be something you can see, something your dog loves, and about the size of a nickel, like sliced wiener. I use dried liver that I buy when I worry about ants or hornets.

By the way, Dan Waters and his dog Ali v. Daechsel SchH 3 just WON the German Shepherd Schutzhund Club of Canada's Nationals! The five top finishers leave for the Ukraine to represent Canada at the Worlds in 3 weeks. It will be very exciting indeed!

You can't imagine how lucky I feel to have moved here to Alberta and met Dan. I remember him "warning me" that he tracked at least three times a week!!! Imagine. I've learned so much from him and am really enjoying it. I think we can all learn from different methods and incorporate things into our training. It's neat to learn new stuff in your sport and passion - even though I am still very green at SchH.

Even though I am trying SchH with Caden, I will allow my dog to problem solve and not correct very quickly. However, I believe that this is part of a 'feeling for tracking' that all trackers have, that can separate how well people take to tracking - this intuitive type of training that I have seen in Dan as well, which I think makes him a great tracker and tracking trainer/competitor.

Today is a good example - I had my boy out in extremely windy, dry conditions. On the crosswind portion, and into the wind as well, he was good but sometimes lifted his head and went off track. I was very lax in my corrections, but very proud to see him work it out. In the end, I think this will give him more confidence to take the lead and be a great tracking dog.

There was a day when extreme winds made me panic. But living in Alberta where you get DRY and WIND all the time - I have been learning (via SchH) to overcome a lot of the issues and actually make them work for me. Dan always says that when it is windy, your dog should become more intense and channel more energy into his tracking. I could see this today - Caden worked SO HARD and after his track (600 meters, he did in 8 minutes), he slept soundly in my car for an hour.

I am more verbal than I ever was - and although I sometimes say no, I also tell him when he is good and encourage him verbally. How embarrassing when I first tracked with Dan to be told that I was not praising my dog ENOUGH! When he hears 'good boy' and 'yes' he tends to carry on without needing to lift his head as much as it gives him the confidence that he is working well. And I've seen this carry over to his hard surface work too as he sticks way more to the primary track. I keep his confidence on veg, and that transfers to the hard surface and keeps him from casting a lot (works for Caden, anyway).

I videotaped today's track (tricky, but managed)... when you see this video, you can look at the horizon and see each thing I used as a landmark to keep myself going straight. I put flags in as I am not familiar with this field. The flags are always about 20 steps BEFORE the turn.

Caden is very intense, as he loves to track. As I age his tracks more, I hope he will slow down a bit more. But this gives you an idea of where footstep tracking takes you - even in these very hard conditions my dog stays pretty true to the track.

AND IN THE MEANTIME, BABY BEN THINKS A TRACKING GLOVE IS THE VERY BEST TOY EVER!

And he is doing sit, lie down and here for little treats... we are getting ready to start tracking - in 2 weeks... stay tuned!!!!!

Tracking tomorrow - on a mission for photos - please share!

2011-09-02T22:14:00.001-06:00

Hey everyone - I am heading out in the morning to do some tracking and have some photos I want to take for the next post - so will be on a mission. Watch for the next post on how to progress from the scent pad to laying a baited track.

If you have photos you'd like to share, please send them to me at spiritdance@shaw.ca with a brief description of your dog and what you are working on - looking for scent pads and starts only - your ideas are welcomed too - thanks!!

Donna

Question about scent pads

2011-08-28T22:25:00.001-06:00

Someone sent me a private question and I am sharing it here...

Question

Great post but have a question...can you do the scent pad exercises in late fall/early winter with a pup/or dog the same way as you described? It wouldn't be fresh green veg that time of year. Thanks

My answer (via iPhone, so it was pretty short!)

Yes. I started Pam's dog in the photo on a snow scent pad. I will put my mitts and hat or other stuff on the scent pad to add to the scent pool if its cold or dry and stay longer. Sometimes soil works better than dry grass. Think of shade vs sun too depending on temps. In hot temps shade is better, or if it's dry. In cold temps sun is better. Good question!

Thinking about starting my puppy - this is MY plan

2011-08-24T22:30:00.004-06:00

Scent Pads and establishing a Start Routine

Allie at work - her first time out tracking and she was all business by the third scent pad

This fall I will start my puppy in tracking. He will be about 10 weeks old when we start (post vaccines). One thing I observe in raising this puppy from birth, is that he discovers the world through his nose. He finds his momma and even finds me by sniffing the air before using his eyes. He knows if there is an old towel in his bed, or if I have put a fresh one in there (he is repelled by the clean fresh ones, ha!). It reinforces for me that I am not teaching him to use his nose. I am just shaping behaviour.

AND before you think this post is just about puppies - I re-trained my dog River two summers ago to deal with scent pads in this new way. She was 9 years old then, and it took me two months. It was worth it, to have a better start on her - even at her age! And it was fun, though it took a lot of determination to stick to it.

Yesterday in the yard, Ben (1 month old) discovered the outdoors through his nose

My pup Ben and his momma Jet - nose to nose

I am already thinking about things I will do with him. Every time I start a new dog, there are new ideas floating around and I have gained experience from dogs I am training now. The last dog I started was Caden my 3 year old GSD. I started him prior to knowing about Schutzhund tracking. Since moving to Alberta, I have joined the GSD SchH Club of Calgary and have learned a lot about imprinting a young dog, and starting a dog in a way that it will be solid in the field.

My friends Pam and Dan. Pam's dog Sting is showing the nose-down style you see in Schutzhund. Dan's dog Ali was #3 in Canada last year - Dan is the president of my SchH club and is a passionate tracker. I have learned so much from him. Pam started Sting in the manner described in this post. This photo was taken last April.

If you have ever watched a SchH dog track - it is so calm - and whether or not you want to do SchH, you can't help but agree that it would be a great experience to follow a dog and feel so confident and relaxed. I've seen SchH dogs compete in CKC tracking tests at the field level and they consistently do well. A few have done well at urban as well - though most SchH people are not interested in urban tracking.

From now on, I will start my dogs the SchH way. BUT I will also expose my dogs very early on to EVERYTHING they will experience in tracking - terrain, cover, age, obstacles. In the beginning, if they are exposed to this, they won't fall into that 'oh no! this is older, longer, different!' frame of mind. Scent is scent - and no matter what the age (30 minutes, 5 hours) or cover (grass, soil, sidewalk) - I want my dog to view each thing as simple a 'scent proposition' to solve.

I will also start all of my dogs in footstep tracking in the beginning, using the SchH method of bait in each footstep. Too often, many trainers allow 'fringe following' by their dog. This means that the dog is just off the track by a few feet but moving in the same direction. NO NO NO! Glen Johnson has a great graphic in his book Tracking Dog that shows how scent moves from the primary track - and the difference between tracking dogs, fringe - followers and trailing dogs. The FRINGE has a different scent than the primary track. Think of the track as a rainbow and the primary track as 'red.' It is not yellow, green or blue. Or, think of it as a musical scale - the primary track is the note 'C.' The dog follows this note, and if it gets into the fringe it is off-key.

I have sketched in the size of the scent pad here - one meter square - flag always to the left. The track starts here - the scent pad is where your dog gets the information about the scent he will follow for you, ignoring all other scents and memorizing the scent here. Take your time always to make a GOOD scent pad. Then, walk off slowly. The more slowly you move, the more scent you will leave on your track. Tracking is never a race.

I lay my own tracks so I am 100% sure of where the primary track is. I know where my footsteps and bait are. There are no mistakes or errors as I follow my dog and I know exactly where to point and how to help my dog - without looking back at a tracklayer for confirmation.

So back to my puppy.

Step one will be to get him to like bait. I will start to form a bond and teach sit, down, stand using the same bait (wiener, probably) that I will use for tracking. It will be special. He will begin to understand the concept of reward for behaviour. When you begin tracking with your dog - please use bait he likes, and please make sure he is hungry so he will want the bait.

Step two will be to acclimatize him to waiting in the car. Tracking involves a lot of waiting. So car rides and waiting around are important.

Step three - I will train my other dogs. Dogs love to follow where their pack mate has walked. If I do a track for my pup's mom Jet - I will make sure Jet stays right on track. I'll go back and re-lay a bit of it with random bait. This is not formal training - it is motivation to open his mind to tracking NATURALLY. After I put Jet back, I will get him out and casually bring him to the track and let him follow it. I will let him take me on a walk and watch his behaviour. This will show me his natural style. There will be no commands, and no major rewards. His reward will be in being allowed to follow Jet's scent - find a bit of bait - and take the lead while I follow him.

Step four will be formal scent pad training. I will make three scent pads and bait them. They will be on nice green grass that is lush but not high because I need to see the bait. I will take a big step to each one, then jump back off of it in the same direction - so there are no footsteps leading up to it. To make the scent pad, I will simply move or shuffle from foot to foot until I trample an area that is one-meter square. The flag is always to the left of the scent pad. (Survey flags are cheap at Home Depot, or even get orange cones from the dollar store, or use orange tent pegs from Canadian Tire) - just have something to mark it.

Do not scuff. Eventually you will be laying footsteps. Your dog's nose is amazing - you don't have to scuff up the scent pad to provide scent for him. The tracking rules say in a test the tracklayer must spend one minute making a scent pad. This is because this creates a scent pool - we are always shedding rafts of skin (scent). It does NOT matter what shoes you are wearing, but I do like doing this in barefeet on a nice summer day (more for me, probably!).

This is a SchH exercise. I'll place the flags to the left of each one. Count the pieces of bait - about 10 pieces that I can see. Then I will go get him.

Judi Snowdon and Swayze working on a scent pad last April. Notice how she is standing at the edge of the scent pad. Notice the loose line and her relaxed body language.

At this point, I will begin my tracking routine with him. I'll get him out and talk to him calmly. I do not want him to get excited. Tracking is a thinking sport and I want his mind to be in the game. I will take him somewhere and give him a command to go pee. Then I will walk him to the first scent pad. The first I do will be the LAST one I laid as it will be the freshest scent. I will walk him up to it from a different direction than I used to lay it.

This is Pat and Fizz, the Aussie. Notice Pat is standing back and letting Fizz work things out. Notice his loose line. He is going in circles finding the bait. Good boy!

*You do not need a harness. A 6 foot line and buckle collar are best for this, because you will have a bit more control over your dog's head. You can use a harness if you like, or introduce it later. You decide. In my opinion, using a harness at this point adds a complication you don't need yet in your routine.

At the scent pad, I will give my start command. YOU need to think about your own command. There is no command given in the rulebook - it's up to you. I use Find it! After giving the command, I will stand at the edge of the scent pad and allow him to discover the bait. If necessary I will point but will try not to. I'll simply allow him to eat it - on a LOOSE line. I won't talk. I won't say good boy. His reward it to find bait.

This is a PAIRING exercise. He will be realizing that where there is scent, there is bait. It will get his nose into it. He may step off the scent pad. I won't panic, I will let him realize there is nothing there, no bait and no scent. The scent he is smelling is a combination of a scent cone - my scent (scent pool) from making the scent pad, and also of crushed vegetation. When you have a well-defined scent pad, the edges of it will be clear. I'll let him come back to it on his own.

What I am looking for, is for him to reach the 8th or 9th piece of bait. If he is eating it happily I will wait and count the pieces. If he is a bit hesitant, I will just time it for when he is reaching for a piece - and then - I will pull him away. The idea is to leave him wanting more and let him think about how he should have eaten and explored with more intensity.

Move to scent pad #2 and repeat. The go to #3. I know that by the third one, my puppy will see the flag and be pulling me to get to it. It is that simple. It happens that fast. At each scent pad I will give the same command.

When he is pulled away from the third one, I will very calmly pat him and say good boy calmly, I won't bang his side or toss a ball or play tug. If I do, it will undo what I want next, which is to put him back into the car and let him think about this.

These are photos of Marilee and Allie the Belgian Terv. By the third scent pad, Allie was all business (that's Allie at the top of this post too). This was in early July, and we tried to work in the shade as much as possible.

***

ALWAYS BE SURE TO HAVE WATER ON HAND AND KEEP YOUR DOG HYDRATED.

THIS IS CRUCIAL TO YOUR DOG'S OLFACTORY PROCESS - dog's need a moist mouth and nose.

NEVER put your dog at risk in heat - try to track in the mornings and evenings in hot weather.

***

A week of scent pads - three a day. And you are ready to start adding more to it.

NOTE - if you feel your dog is not doing it as you wish - don't force all three. Do two and abandon the last one - make notes in your journal - was it too hot? Didn't your dog like the bait? Were there ants? Was it too noisy, too busy? Dog not hungry? Dog distracted? Figure it out and simply alter something and try again. When you get success, don't go crazy praising with excitement! Keep it calm and remember what you changed up. Journal it. You are on your way!

Tracking foundations are really important. So many people want to get on to the actual laying of tracks. Lay a solid start ritual and scent pad foundation. This is setting the stage for all of your future tracks with this dog.

Have fun!

This blog was interrupted by a puppy!

2011-07-25T15:30:00.000-06:00

Post on Scent pads will be up shortly.

In the meantime, this is Spiritdance Big Ben! Born July 21, 2011. And boy, do puppies have noses! He can zero in on her and he has favourite nipples! Now, that is the ultimate scent pad exercise.

Jet with Ben Monday morning, day four

Mom is Alta-Pete Jet UTD and sire is Lakeview Ted Std-s. Jet is a daughter of Scott Glen's Maid and Ted is a son of Scott's very well-known Pleat. I am very lucky to own these dogs and thrilled to have a pup. I have never bred a dog before and it was difficult to breed Jet who has frequent seasons. I had no idea I would not have the time to do more blogging. Bear with me!

Thanks
Donna

The Art and Science of Tracking - and finding the magic formula for you and your dog

2011-07-20T23:08:00.009-06:00

In this post, I want to talk a bit about scent and tie it to your job when you undertake tracking with your dog. Read on to discover what I consider to be the magic formula to tracking success. In a separate post I will discuss more about scentpads.

THE IMPORTANCE OF UNDERSTANDING SCENT

As an instructor, I work hard to impress on people the importance of understanding scent. People are so anxious to move on to lay a track or run a track that they don't invest the time they should in teaching the scentpad, spending time at the start, and making a good scentpad. It's boring. Standing there for one whole minute? ARGH. Making it a meter square? Double argh. But this is where the dog gets all of its information, and where it will pick up the scent to follow through to the end of a track. It is important!

I made a scentpad last weekend for an urban track. I decided to lay it in my barefeet. For any track, a scentpad is crucial. In urban tracking, the conditions can be drier and hotter and the dog needs to have a very good scentpad to impress the memory of the scent they must follow. Understanding scent, and making GREAT scentpads, are crucial to tracking success.

If you want your dog to be successful, please wrap your head around this - taking time to learn to make a good scentpad, and then, to teach a scentpad start to your dog is CRUCIAL to a good track. And a scentpad is not just an exercise as described in the rules - it is about understanding that tracking is all about scent. If you want to be successful at tracking, you must also understand some basic concepts about scent. You don't have to be a scientific expert on it. But since it is 'scent' we are working with - you better know enough to make sense of your training and help your dog.

ART AND SCIENCE

In my personal opinion, people who approach tracking like obedience or as a series of exercises are missing that tracking is both ART and SCIENCE. Following a series of exercises could produce a dog that tracks, but that dog lacks a handler who can read the situation and improvise in a pinch. This is why I relate tracking to sheep herding - which is my other passion, and it is a great example...

In a stockdog trial, my Border Collie is sent to gather sheep. I watch the sheep and see how a knoll on the field might make them bolt to the right or left. I send my dog to stop them from bolting - then watch as they come straight towards me to see if they are calming down enough to settle as they reach my feet. If they are running too quickly, I ask my dog through commands or whistles to back off so that they are not being pressured. It is a team effort between me and my dog to move the sheep around a course in a trial field. The sheep are always a wild card. You can get calm sheep, wild sheep, wiley sheep, docile sheep who just want to eat. Every run is luck of the draw.

My dog Ted and I worked together, communicating as a team, so that the sheep came around this panel. In tracking we communicate the same way, through verbal cues and line handling. We can't see scent the same way we see sheep, but we can learn to 'see' how scent works. This will improve our decisions and our handling skills, and make us a better team member with our dogs.

The more I understand sheep behaviour, and the more time I spend with my dog and sheep, the faster my reactions will be so that I can direct my dog to the sweet spot where he can make the sheep go in the right direction. In many ways, it gets to be like a chess game on the trial field, moving pieces about the board.

In tracking, the wild card is scent. And the more time you spend with your dog trying things and watching your dog the better you will get at reading your dog and figuring out the scent picture on any given day. You can't see it, but you need to understand it is there and it is always going to be different.

By watching your dog on a track, you need to figure out, is scent blowing in a certain direction? Is your dog going too fast for the conditions? How can you work the field on a given day for success? How do you communicate through your tracking line and with verbal cues? Sure, you can SEE the sheep, but in tracking you almost need to learn to 'see' the scent.

This really makes tracking a sport that uses both the left and right brain. Awesome!

DO, RE, MI, FA, SO, LA, TI, DO - The Tracking Song!

I once heard a radio show about the brain and how humans interpret the world based on our own experience. The scientist said that some day, we might discover that bats 'hear' in colour, and dogs 'smell' in sound. The interviewer asked for an example, and the scientist said perhaps scent was like a musical scale. I love this example.

Do you remember being a child and singing the song Do Re Mi? Check it out here!
http://youtu.be/7EYAUazLI9k

Do Re Mi Fa So La Ti Do - that is the musical scale for the notes CDEFGABC. Do is the note 'C.'

I want you all to think of this song whenever you track. This can even be a song you hum at the start, as part of your ritual! In tracking, you are bringing your dog up to the scentpad and saying "Please follow the note 'Do!"' Your dog will take the scent and remember that note. If he fringes, he is going to another note. Is he following Do, Re, or Mi? YOUR JOB is to motivate your dog and shape his behaviour so he is always following DO!

As the song says, 'Fa, a long long way to go....' - if your dog has strayed off track and is fringing the note 'fa' - he has a long long way to go to get back to Do! Teach your dog to stick with his note - that is the primary track.

I won't get into scent science here- you can research this on your own and in books. Dogs do not have scent fatigue the same way as we do. This means, their olfactory system is so amazing that they retain scent memory. Picture it this way - when you walk into a house that smells like turkey, in the first minute you say, wow, it smells so good in here! Within fifteen minutes, you no longer smell it the way you did when you walked in. This does not happen to dogs. Their noses are simply hardwired differently.

We are visual, dogs are scent-focused. We really can't relate to their ability to smell. When you learn about tracking, it is mostly important to remember this. There are a lot of stories and numbers explaining how great dog's noses are. Just accept that you probably underestimate their ability - and if anything 'seems hard' for your dog, you may be putting a human spin on things.

FOUNDATION FOUNDATION FOUNDATION

Getting back to our musical scale, dogs require a good foundation to learn to stay on the primary track. This is why we build foundations. Simpler conditions (fresh, short, moist grass) make it more clear to the dog when we are trying to shape behaviour. Don't over-complicate when you are first working with your dog.

Too many people rush through foundations. It's boring. I know. We all want to get out on the big field and herd sheep. If I threw an inexperienced dog out on a big field with a group of sheep, it could be a disaster! Or, maybe the dog will have a brilliant moment and I will think - aha! I don't need foundations, I can skip stuff, my dog is so good - he is ready for the big field. But odds are, without foundations and experience, we will run into a situation where the dog can hurt the sheep, run them into a fence, or they could turn around and butt my dog and break it's ribs.

A standoff. This ewe did butt this young dog. See this blog post for pictures. Luckily she has the foundations to cope with it and it would not be a setback for her. Without that kind of training, and without good handling in this situation, this could have been a setback for the dog. Don't let a lack of foundations be a setback for your dog! Make sure they are ready for these kinds of problems when it is important, in a test (or in real life!)

A good foundation prevents problems. Dogs not ready for a big field can run into serious problems or hurt a sheep. Tracking may not be this dangerous, but pushing beyond what your dog is ready for, without a good foundation, can set things back and lead to frustrations. Do not let ego get the best of you. Do the best for your dog, and for yourself by progressing logically and appropriately. Each dog and each handler is different.

(PS, this is my dog Jet, trying to bring back a ewe that bolted, and it worked out just fine...I am happy to say...)

Of course, we all want to do long, fun tracks. But we need to be sure we can do short tracks well. No sheep will be hurt and no dogs will get stomped by a wiley old ewe, but you can sour your dog and suffer from setbacks that will affect your tracking when you are faced with problems you can't handle. Foundations count in tracking, no matter how good you think your dog is! If your dog is that good you owe it to him to work even harder on foundations so he can really, truly shine. If he is that good, don't let him fall victim to your ego or your boredom.

This is Ted (the same dog herding sheep, above) at his start. You can see the tent peg just behind me. I have taught him to take it slowly at the start and am using a tight, short line. He is comical because he practically crawls along the footsteps until he gets going. He used to take off too quickly. I worked hard to shape this behaviour - the crawling thing is Ted's response and his own personal spin on it.

I am giving Ted experience on different cover. Notice his nice posture and head down. A good start, and taking scent in at the beginning, ensures a dog can stick to the primary track better over the course of the track.

Your dog may look good to you, because of course, he knows how to track. When you are working on foundations, you are aiming to communicate to your dog that you would like him to follow a particular scent when you give a command, and you'd like him to do it in a certain manner that is easy for you to understand. And that if he does this, he will be rewarded - there is a paycheck in it for him! I use treats - high value treats - as the reward or lure to shape this behaviour (more in the separate post on scentpads).

Age, cover, obstacles, turns, and weather conditions will affect a dog's ability to follow a track without some degree of problem solving. But never create excuses or issues that hold your dog back. I like to introduce my dogs to all kinds of things early on so that they simply see each situation as a 'different scent' scenario. Age - is just a different scent. It's not 'harder.' Dry or wet conditions are a 'scent picture.' Once you have a foundation in place, you can begin to give your dog experiences, always going back to something simple to reinforce and reward the behaviour you want, and keep your dog motivated and confident.

YOUR JOB when you begin tracking is to...

Establish a solid foundation, where you make it clear to your dog what behaviours you want when following a scent
Lay tracks yourself so you know where they go and can get the behaviour you want through your handling, and through praise, reward and some degree of prevention (don't let the dog do things you do not want)
Provide the right motivation to your dog to follow the scent for you, upon request
Praise and reward appropriately
Progress at an appropriate rate, always going back to reinforce and never jumping ahead too far so you and your dog lose confidence
Provide a variety of controlled experiences to expose your dog to different scent scenarios, but in a logical way - so if it is hot and dry, make a short and easy track; if it is on different cover, put treats and reward in strategic places (and so on).

Lastly (and this huge)...

You must learn to lay a good track / lay it yourself / learn to read your own dog / and LEARN FROM YOUR DOG and what they tell you about each track you do together.

This last point is really the key to what tracking is all about, particularly learning to read your dog on tracks you have prepared. And, dogs will not always be brilliant - you may have given them something beyond their experience, they may have an off day, they may not be motivated enough, etc.

It is up to you to figure out each time what has happened then some up with a plan to go back, find new motivation, change the scent picture next time (new time of day, new cover, new rewards - change it up). Books and instructors can give you lists of suggestions to try - but it is UP TO YOU to try them and choose what works - or come up with your own ideas.

And this leads me to...

THE MAGIC FORMULA

...which has to do with combining the concepts of art and science

The ultimate goal in tracking is to become a team member with your dog so that the two of you can give and take and work out problems on a track with trust and confidence.

Getting to that point, and setting up the right training for you and your dog is really a 'gut thing' that makes tracking so fun, and so challenging. No one can tell you what works best for your dog. People can make suggestions based on experience, but (at the risk of repeating myself) it is up to you to figure out YOUR magic formula.

The best advice I can give you is this - Begin to think freely about tracking, get over a fear of mistakes. Treat tracking as a fun adventure, and you will be on your way.

Dogs are forgiving and will grow with you. You will become a better, more flexible handler, and your dog will bloom as you become a team. Just get out there and do it. Fumble along, and keep notes. Try things, scratch them, watch your dog, and do a self-check to see you feel when you are following your dog. If you like how you feel, work to bottle that, capture that moment and duplicate it in your training. If you don't like how things felt, analyze and change it to get the feeling you are after.

And after you have mastered it with one dog - the next dog will be completely different. But you will have more experience and more tools in the toolbox to haul out. As a tracking instructor, and with many titles now, I have the advantage of having worked to figure out many dogs over the years. This adds to my tools in the toolbox, and it adds to the creativity of the plans I come up with to motivate dogs and help handlers.

Any instructor or clinician will watch you with your dog and think of dogs that have been similar to suggest things you can try. Often they will see you and your dog objectively which can help you a lot. A friend who is an honest training partner may do the same for you. An instructor might say 'your dog is confused, you have pushed too hard, go back to simple tracks on easy surfaces and use better treats!' A friend might not - but a really good training partner will learn to say these things - and these kinds of training partners are gems!

Remember, tracking is a FEELING thing - Ask yourself, did that feel good? What did I do? How do I keep that feeling and build on it? Did I feel calm, or did I feel out of control? Frustrated? Why? How do I keep that, or how do I avoid that and change it?

Remember to make notes about the science side of things - age, cover, length, rewards, cover, weather. Then think about the art side of things... did you feel you knew what your dog was doing? Did you 'see' how scent was being affected by obstacles, wind, ground cover. Were you anticipating what your dog might do and were you prepared to follow or help as required?

TIME AND MILES

Think about time and miles now - the more you do this, the more this will become second nature and intuitive.

When we talk about 'good handlers' in tracking, we are talking about people who seem to react instinctively to work with their dog and handle in a way that things flow. This is not a gift, this is the result of lots of hard slogging out there, until it comes more and more naturally.

The gift these people may have, is that they are willing to invest the time in solid training with good foundations, putting in the time and miles so that things look easier when we watch them. The more you work at it, and the more you learn to love the process, the more you will get out of tracking and the more success you will have with your dogs!

Beginners - Scent Games to try this weekend

2011-07-15T21:36:00.006-06:00

NOT READY TO ACTUALLY LAY A TRACK? Here are some things to work on this weekend to get ready for next week's lesson...

Ted just LOVES finding a glove and will try to prolong playing with one for as long as possible

Lots of times, when I go for a walk with my dogs, I will carry a glove and drop it as I walk, then ask my dogs to run back and find it as a fun game. I toss it, and play with it.

Ted finds a glove then makes a game of it

A leather work glove will be a common article in a CKC trial, so your dog needs to associate this with pleasant, fun times and rewards. I have these things lying around my house, in my yard, my car, and my purse. I cut them up, and buy kid's size gloves. I also use cloth gloves (think 'urban').

Ted is very joyful when he finds articles as they have always been a positive for him

Eventually this will be an article associated with obedience. But why not keep it positive! So that's what I use, but you can use a ball or other toy in the games below. For goodness sake, do not start asking for indications and behaviours yet - you are just aiming right now to make this fun. That can all come later - do not push ahead without getting a feeling for all of this. Ted will both play with his articles, AND indicate. When we track, he knows it is a job. But we keep the JOY in the JOB by not always making it work, work, work.

Article indication means lie down and don't play... (some people have other indications). On the track, you want the dog and article to stay put, as you know the track continues straight after an article. BUT don't start demanding this early on. It can risk souring the dog if you don't make it enjoyable. And NEVER teach indications as part of the track. Keep them separate.

Game #1- Command and Treat
Take your dog outside with a baggie full of treats he likes. With your dog on a loose line, drop treats on the ground and say 'find it!' - or whatever command you will use (search, track, go find - you choose). Your dog will pick up the treats. Simple. This is a pairing exercise. He learns that when you say find it, he should put his head down and get a treat.

Game #2- Find the toy (1)
Another fun one is to have two people and your dog on a leash. Your partner can wave a toy your dog loves and then hide it - behind a rock or bush. You can say 'find it!' and your dog will of course, pull you to the toy. When they get there, say good dog! And reward with a treat.

Game #3 - Find the toy (2)
Put your dog's favourite toy in a box or basket, with a bunch of empty ones around it. Take your dog around and get them to look inside, saying 'find it!' When he finds the toy, play and reward. Eventually, move the toy to different baskets and let him find it. End before he gets tired or bored. As a variation, try turning them upside down, and let your dog scratch and nose the right one and be sure to reward IMMEDIATELY - it's like clicking - don't delay - reward and praise to get the behaviour you want. Don't overdo it - make it special and fun.

Game #4 - Runaway Game

Variation on this from Susie Coutt's blog
http://birchbarkhill.blogspot.com/2011/07/early-walks-motivational-searching.html

Lastly, you can play a runaway game this weekend... Here's how it works...

1. Have your dog on a leash or long line.
2. Work with a partner who the dog loves (child, best friend, spouse, sister...)
3. Choose a place for your partner to run to, where they can hide - something obvious like a tree or haybale. Even a car.
4. Determine wind direction. On step three your partner will be going INTO the wind (upwind) so you need to pre-plan this.
5. A third friend can be involved to watch or video tape your dog.

Step one: Your dog is on a leash. Your partner runs to the obvious hiding spot (this does not have to be upwind, only step three must be upwind). They can stop and call your dog, to get his attention before hiding. You say 'where is she? lets go find Betty!' and then, you go with your dog to the person, who pats and praises the dog. Even gives it a treat.

Step two: Repeat. Don't be worried if your dog acts bored and looks at you both like you are idiots.

Step three: Turn your dog around. Your partner now runs to the hiding spot - and then, goes upwind to the next hiding spot. If there isn't one, they can lie in the grass. The wind will carry the scent / scent pool to your dog.

Step four: Just like the first two times, you say "Let's go find Betty!" By this point, your dog really thinks you've both lost your marbles. You may even have to walk with the dog to the hiding place, because it is losing interest. BUT... you get there, and Betty is GONE! You say 'oh no! where is she? go find her!!'

Step five: Just watch now, and let the dog problem solve. Your dog has been using its eyes and memory. Now it will switch to its nose. This is where you have a great chance to watch raw, natural ability. Your dog will sniff and go in the direction of Betty. It may have its head up, or may sniff the ground. As it gets closer, it may run. GO GO GO with your dog! Praise when your dog gets to your partner.

*If your dog loves you more than anyone, you can be the one hiding and a friend can do the handling.

Later in your tracking adventures, you will likely find that the style your dog showed this day is the style that comes naturally. So you now know what you are working with. Head down, head up, slow, running... make notes.

This is such a fun exercise and in clinics people sometimes get choked up to see the dog revert so naturally to tracking. People who didn't believe their dog would do it... I often see people get 'hooked' on tracking right here! Dogs are so amazing.

Now go have a fun weekend!!

Poll 1 Results and Working on your Own

2011-07-15T21:20:00.001-06:00

Thanks to everyone who has taken time to respond to the three polls. Today I have some observations and random comments! I will leave the polls up until Sunday night, and then they will be removed - if you have not voted yet. We had a grand total of 68 votes - that is a great sample!

Poll #1 - How are you currently training your dog?

I should have added a few other categories - especially - training with a friend, as this is a very common scenario. I realize a good poll would be to find out where people are from, to correlate with how you train. For instance perhaps people in southern Ontario or BC have more access to classes than people in PEI or northern Saskatchewan. That would be an interesting future poll!

Thanks for the feedback on this one. Here are the results:

Most people are training on their own. Of those who answered, a third say there are no classes in their area. I am guessing that this means some people simply choose to train alone. I am one of those people. Nice to see responses from other trainers! I hope you join in the conversation here as these are mostly my ideas and everyone has slightly different ways of instructing.

I had a question from someone about training alone which was: Is it OK if I mostly lay my own tracks? I'd like to share my answer here:

I lay 99% of my own tracks. So do most of the people I know. The reason is that I need to know (as do you) exactly where the track is. That way I can learn to read my dog and help my dog when required. When I lay my own tracks, I never correct or misguide my dog or make them track where there is no track. All of these things can happen when someone else lays a track for you. They can set you back - by eroding your dog's motivation and your handling confidence.

If you wish to be sure your dog will follow someone else's scent, then pre-plot the track and agree where they will start and turn and end. Even have them use stakes so there is no chance they will forget. Sometimes a matter of a few feet count - did you turn here? or here? I like my dogs to be as ON the track as possible and not fringe. If I want a blind track when my dog is solid, I will pre-plot but say "and here, you choose if you will turn left or right and don't tell me." Then I see if I can read my dog on one turn. That's all I need!

Many, many people lay their own tracks right up to a test and it doesn't seem to affect the dog's following someone else. If you need to be sure, pre-plot the track with someone who can lay tracks - or who will follow your directions (no games) and use stakes.

I hope this helps some of you who are wondering this same thing. Some of you may be training with a friend. Here is something you CAN do that is very useful - watch the other person's dog to share your observations with them about body language or handling. When you are busy handling and following, you can miss things. Taking pictures or video taping each other is even better. I love to watch video I take of my own dogs to analyze how it went - I can't tell you how often I see things I missed while in the heat of the track.

BUT - and this is very important - DO NOT start chatting at the end of the track.

THE END OF THE TRACK IS FOR THE DOG! Praise, sit with your dog, reward, walk him or her back to your car, have a ritual of reward at the car... take your time to unwind and let your dog know they did a good job. '

AFTER YOU HAVE DONE THIS, you can talk about the track. One of the most frustrating things I see / experience is when people immediately talk about the track while the dog stands there being ignored. Please do not be guilty of this.

When I give classes, I still like to have people lay their own tracks, and my role as instructor is to watch how they lay them (or tell them what to lay), make sure their timing is good, then assist a student through the start to the end. I like to follow and encourage and watch. Very rarely in a beginners class do we lay tracks for the student.

At clinics, you may see different things depending on the people enrolled. Sometimes there is a mix of beginners and advanced students. The beginners get advice on starting and get to watch the advanced dogs. It is always nice to see a dog track, to know what to aim for. I like to get beginners involved in laying tracks for the advanced dogs, and make it a 'track laying / mapping' exercise. These skills are very important.

I firmly believe the best thing we can give to fellow trackers is observation and some objective advice. People lay their own tracks, and an instructor or clinician can watch and analyze, then offer options to tweak this and that. Why struggle through a blind track, when what you need is a comfortable track where someone can see you at your best - then improve on your skills. A blind track in a clinic should be fairly short, much like I describe above. I hate to see anyone or any dog feel demotivated or deflated. I would rather build on successes and add to experiences.

So in summary, working alone and laying your own tracks is fine and even preferred. Eventually you will want to get your dog used to people following, and a crowd watching. In the beginning though, you want success in as controlled a situation as possible on a nice field, with peace of mind that you know where the track goes and can work with your dog.

Getting ON TRACK - Making a plan and sticking to it...

2011-07-12T20:33:00.003-06:00

You can do anything you set your mind to, if you have positive intentions, goals, support and a plan to get there...

Today is the day you find out that I teach tracking a little differently. For me, it is more than just practical work of shaping behaviour and teaching cues to get a dog to track. I like to take a holistic approach, so that your practice fits into your lifestyle, stays positive and makes you feel good about how you spend your time - because believe me - you will spend a lot of time tracking if you decide you want to pursue it.

(Note - links in this post are in brown text)

I am reading a great book right now called 'The Way of the Happy Woman' by Sara Avant Stover. I always relate things to my hobbies. She writes

Like a flower, your life can be divided into two parts: your inner world, the center of the flower, and your outer world, the petals. Your inner world consists of your thoughts, deepest heart's desires, intuitive knowing, awareness, devolution and emotions. Your outer world includes your relationships, community, career, external personality, and day-to-day interactions.

For the petals of your outer world to unfurl, you must first inhabit the innermost aspects of yourself...Doing so allows for authenticity, self-acceptance, self-love, trust and confidence to flow into the outermost reaches of your life. When you live from the inside - out...you're sure of who you are, for you are guided by a steady, unwavering inner stream of wisdom. When you live this way, you are aligned with what you value most, which gives you the stability to flow through your life without becoming derailed... (page 35)

The plan I am sharing in this post helps you to clarify your goals. It is something you should prepare, and then always carry with you. You can re-write it once you have reached your goals. Once you know what is important to you - you will develop a plan to achieve it - and the plan will help you to make decisions about how to spend your time and energy. You will have an idea of things you need to do to reach your goals - and you won't get derailed by false starts or low priority things. You will have a sense of confidence - even if you are new to TRACKING - to get going and start making some steady progress! How cool is that?

Just as there is such a thing as 'work - life balance' there is also a 'life - hobby' balance. We can only do so many things with our time and energy. So before you start heading out to train - I recommend stepping back to make sure you have realistic goals, plus toss in some crazy dreams - then figure out how to reach them without burning out or giving up along the way.

Obviously you are interested in tracking. Maybe you are already tracking with your dog. You might have multiple titles and don't know where to go next. You could just be starting, or you could feel stuck. No matter where you are at, this method is a great way to identify where you are now and how to establish some dreams and goals - then make a plan to get there.

Intro to how I am using the PATH method - I am grateful to a friend/ co-worker who is in Social Work for sharing the PATH method with me (don't worry, I will share the link and process below). As some of you may know, I moved to Alberta three years ago after a devastating marriage break-up. I left my home, family, friends and job behind to make a clean break with the past. This has turned out to be a blessing. Have you ever noticed how major events, good or bad, always teach you lessons? I am sure you can all list a few things that have happened in your lives that have set you on a new path or clarified things for you. One of these things might be that you got a dog, or discovered tracking.

The ONE thing I took with me into my new life was my dogs, and my love of tracking. Through the dogs I have met some amazing people who have become friends. I will never forget one of my first conversations with my friend Dan Waters, who is the President of the German Shepherd Schutzhund Club of Calgary. We started to talk about tracking, which is his passion. He warned me that he goes out at least three times a week. I said "only three?"

Dan Waters gave a tracking demo at my April seminar with his one-year old GSD Cilla

Choose goals will help you begin to live, and train, 'ON PURPOSE' - I believe that when you are living life "on purpose" the people and circumstances you need will turn up in your life. This is because you open yourself up to seeing things you might not normally see when you are unclear about your goals and dreams. This saying comes from one of my 'gurus' Dr. Wayne Dyer. I attended a retreat with him (and 400 other people) in Maui last fall. He says - 'don't die with your music still in you.' In other words, decide what is important to you, and make sure you go for it!

Take stock of your current situation - Through Dan I was introduced to Schutzhund Tracking. I moved here thinking I knew a lot about tracking. But I am always eager to learn more. My dogs had a hard time adjusting to the dry climate here, as well as the elevation. I actually ended up spending one whole season retraining my dogs to cope with this, by using ideas from SchH tracking. This has changed my whole outlook on tracking and how beneficial it is to my goals, which include a TCH - precise urban tracking being something I desire.

Choose some role models to be on your team - I am very blessed with friends who are extremely successful at their chosen dog sports - all right here in Alberta! In addition to Dan Waters, my friend Nancy Anstruther is a great mentor who is a successful breeder of Rough Collies (two of my dogs come from her kennel). She is a great role model who is always saying "Donna, you need to focus!" My third role model is Scott Glen, the breeder of my Border Collies and a World Class trainer, clinician and competitor. Scott's kennel name Alta-Pete means 'aim high.' In his clinics, Scott always says - your job is to take your dog, and make it the best dog IT CAN BE. Not the best dog ever, not better than your friend's dog, not as good as a World Class trainer's dog - but the best dog IT can be. I am inspired by this whenever I think of it.

WHO ARE YOUR ROLE MODELS? Even if they are not tracking people - you should choose successful people and people you admire, and enlist them on your team, or make them an inspiration to keep you on track.

Reaching your dreams and goals - When it come to tracking, I am very clear about my dreams and goals. But the rest of my life has literally taken a couple of years to sort out. Getting healthy and losing weight is related to my tracking goal, because I want to be able to keep up with the dogs and keep them all happy and in shape. I also do sheep herding with my dogs. Trying to fit tracking, Schutzhund and sheep herding into a life already stressed with working full time, trying to work out, and maintaining a home on my own was not really panning out for me.

Does this sound familiar? I was burning the candle at both ends all of the time. As a result, I missed opportunities, was too tired to train, passed a few tests by, and felt frustrated. I became a bit of a whiner with excuses. Ugly! How to drive friends away! I got the book Excuses be Gone by Wayne Dyer. What an eye-opener! I am a firm believer in reading books that are NOT related to dogs or tracking, to find some wisdom to apply to my passion. I started on a path of re-evaluating my priorities and my self-talk, looking for positives and opportunities. It was when I started to turn things around that my friend introduced me to the PATH method.

PATH - Planning Alternative Tomorrows with Hope (click on this, it's a link) - This planning method is frequently used by Social Workers who deal with people who can't see a positive future. It is a way to set some positive and possible goals, then work backwards to establish first steps and milestones. Many of the steps in this method are described in the text above - Where are you at now, who will you enroll to be on your team and help you, what are your dreams and goals?

If you click on the link above, it will take you to a PDF of the chart you need to complete. YOU CHOOSE whether to make it completely about tracking, or if you want to do one that puts tracking into context with your other goals and dreams. I did the latter - because of how busy I was, and how scattered I felt. I found it very enlightening to break things down. I was forced to be very honest with myself about what I could realistically do - and forced myself to discard a few goals that had less importance and were low on the priority list. Of course, TRACKING remains very high on my list. But with four dogs and a puppy on the way, I needed to set some possible goals with timelines to make sure I stick to a plan.

I recommend you do two charts. One for the big picture, and one for tracking. The tracking chart can detail specifics about your training plan, with timelines.

Let's have a look at this diagram with some examples - -

When you finish your own chart, make a copy and always carry it with you.

1. Write down your own dreams and goals in a circle at the right hand side of the chart. Some could be things you want to achieve in 6 months. Others can be things you wish to do or have years from now. I wrote that I will lose 60 pounds. I also wrote that I would like a Tracking Champion by 2012. I'd also like to compete at the Open Level in Border Collie (stockdog) trials.

If you are doing a chart about tracking you might say - Enter the XXX test in May 2012 for my TD.

2. Around the star - write down the things and people who are your inspiration. These become your guiding light to keep you going. My inspiration is my Mom, who died of Cancer in 1995. I want to be healthy and fit as I get older. I have had Cancer - and when I got it, I was very unfit and unhappy. I have given myself a year to lose this weight. Of course, my dogs are inspiration. I've even put Scott Glen's name down, because I am inspired by his teaching. I added Maui, because I am going to another Wayne Dyer retreat, and I want to be slimmer for that beach this time!

Write down whatever comes to you - it's your chart. Take your time.

3. Go the the left side of the chart and make a list of things describing your current situation. I wrote "I am confused about how to spend my time with so many goals!" I also wrote 'nowhere to practice sheep herding, and can't afford a farm."

If you are just doing a chart for tracking you might list - don't know how to start my dog; don't understand what scent they are following; don't know how to enter a test, have never seen a test.

4. Who will you enlist to be on your team? List them here. They don't all have to be experts. Your team can include your spouse, your mom, a friend, a doctor - anyone who you know will support you, or help you along the way.

5. What will make you stronger? On your path there will be trying times, good times, you might experience setbacks or get frustrated by the time things take. A few things I put are to eat right and stick to a diet and exercise plan. I also wrote that I will try to do yoga and meditate - to relax more and feel less scattered and more mentally focused. I KNOW this will improve my mental game - which is a huge part of dog trialing of any kind.

What do you need? Maybe you need to eat better, sleep better, or perhaps you need some new skills such as map making (for tracking!) or understanding scent (do you need to find a tracking clinic?) Make a list here and try to be specific.

6. FIRST STEPS - list some things you can do right away to start feeling good about your plan. This is your short term action plan. Remember 'talk is cheap!' Put your ideas into action in the next few months. I wrote that I want to trial my Border Collies at the Open level as a goal. One of my first steps is to learn to use my whistle, which is used at this level to communicate at a distance. I will carry my whistle in my car, and start learning whistles as I drive!

Maybe you are a beginner to tracking, and want to enter a test next Spring. In your NOW column, you may have written - I have never seen a test. As a first step - you could enter - find a test to watch. Maybe you will even volunteer to help out in some way! Many tracking tests accept beginner tracklayers as 'apprentices' to carry stakes and equipment when tracks are being plotted. Another first step could be - find a place to train. Or, decide you will try to train twice a week - and choose the days - then stick to it! Buying a journal to start tracking your training is another great first step. Trackers are fanatic about journalling, and it helps you to know the progress and problems you are having.

If you are an experienced tracker, you may list things such as - Improve my dog's article indications or train my dog to be more 'on track' on non-veg surfaces as goals. You can list first steps to these goals, and may have to make decisions such as - learn to use a clicker - take a clicker class, or learn about footstep tracking - find a Schutzhund club or get a video or book, or, use food - or chalk - or water on the non-veg surface (try something different).

7. In the ARROW - write down where you should be at the midway point to reaching your goals. I want to lose 60 pounds by July 2012. So by January 2012, I should be down 30 pounds. I would like to trial the Border Collies in Open by 2013. So by summer 2012 I should be entering the Pro-Novice classes. I want Jet to be a Tracking Champion by 2013 (or sooner!). She needs a TDX and a UTDX. By 2012 she should have one of these titles. To be even more clear, I should decide what tests I will enter. She is UTDX ready, but I need a place to train for TDX. This is one of my first steps for that goal - 'find a place to train Jet for TDX.' (and by the way, I did just find a field!)

Make your chart fun! Doodle on it, use colour. Be creative. This is YOUR chart. The most important thing is to be honest and clear with yourself. If you want to get a MACH Agility title - you know this is going to take a lot of time and effort. How will you fit tracking in? If you are having knee surgery this summer, you know you can't do the walking required to track, so make sure your timelines are realistic!

As you achieve your first steps - BE SURE TO CELEBRATE. Pat yourself on the back, and check them off on your chart! At the midway point to your goals - see where you are at. If you have had setbacks, figure out why. I have decided to journal to keep track of my eating, my exercise and my training. Then I can go back and see where things may have fallen off the rails (my friend suggested this to me). So if I don't lose 5 pounds this month - I can go back and say 'Well Donna, you had a bag of chips every day! No wonder!!!!' :)))

When I teach tracking classes I always encourage people to journal their training. Here's what I say - "You might think you have been training your dog for 3 months and feel disappointed with where you are at - but if you look at your journal, you might realize you have only been out 10 days over 3 months - and this will be a wake-up call, and can make you feel a bit better about your progress."

When you finish your chart you should have some idea of -

your goals
time lines and specific dates for your goals
who can help you
some positive first steps
how to check on your progress at a midway point

This will help you determine how much time you can devote to tracking plus give you a sense of purpose. You will be on the path...dare I say... you will be ON TRACK!

Please take the time to do this. Let me know what you think of this approach. I have always planned backwards from tests, but am so excited to find a formal chart to use that clarifies the steps.

NEXT WEEK: How to start your dog - foundations and exercises.

April Seminar - Judi Snowdon working on a scent pad

*The PATH method was developed by Jack Pearpoint and is used widely now by organizations and businesses.

Weekly Posts - put your thinking caps on!

2011-07-10T22:48:00.006-06:00

Hi everyone

Thanks so much for the great response! I'm trying to decide the best day for weekly posts. I'm thinking of Mondays (or early each week) - so there are a few days before each weekend to discuss and make plans for work - as most of us likely work on weekends.

I plan to do a review of the polls and am working on the first post which will be how to get a goal and get there. Between now and Tuesday start thinking about your goals. YOU pick the timeframe - but no less than 6 months away. Some can even be years away.

You should try to stick to tracking related goals, but if you have very strong goals that need to figure into the plan such as get my CDX or Master Jumpers titles - you should put these down, because it will impact how much time you can realistically spend on tracking - and how to tailor your own plan to be realistic.

Break your goals down - don't just say 'I want a TD.' Make a little list of about 6 goals such as

- Read my dog better
- Enter the XXX test on XXX (date) for TD
- Better starts
- Have a Tracking Champion by 2013
- Run with my dog
- Run a 5 Km race in June 2012

Notice that some are specific, some are general, and one is related but not about tracking - it's more about something that would make you feel happier and this would have an impact on all of your activities.

Stay tuned - I will discuss how to break these down and come up with a plan to get to your goals.

Stay tuned!

About You - Polls

2011-07-06T21:55:00.002-06:00

Please tell us who you are! This blog is about YOU.

Please take a moment to fill in the three polls in the sidebar. Each one allows multiple choice.

1. How are you currently training your tracking dog?
2. Tell us about your experience
3. What else do you do with your dogs?
This will help to shape the weekly tips and posts. Feel free to comment below as well and let me know what you'd like to see on this blog.

Thanks!

It's time to get that TD! Online coaching for free!

2011-07-06T19:54:00.000-06:00

Hi and welcome to Your Tracking Coach. Stay tuned to this blog for weekly lessons, training tips, videos, discussion and more. I look forward to helping you with your dog.

Tracking is fun and every dog can do it. YOU can train your dog for a TD and enter a test with confidence - and enjoy the journey along the way. I guarantee you'll love it - and the next thing you know, you'll have a Tracking Champion on your hands.

Looking for something more advanced? Look no further. This blog will provide tips for new trackers as well as training ideas and exercises in TDX and urban tracking. I've been tracking since 1990 and have offered clinics, classes and one-on-one coaching since 1995. I'm a CKC Tracking Judge and have many titles on three different breeds.

More importantly, my students have been very successful, with titles obtained in CKC, AKC and ASCA tracking. Four of my students have Tracking Champions (out of 19 in Canada, to date). I want you to be confident and successful.

Tracking is my passion and I will make it yours too!