Tracking

I went to my first tracking seminar the weekend of May 15th.  There was gale force winds both days which made it hard for the dogs to track.  I have never tracked my dogs before so everything was absolutely brand new to me. 

There are two different ways a dog can track.  One is footstep tracking, the other is tracking through drive.  Tracking through drive is the way they teach Search & Rescue and police dogs to track.  Those dogs are taught to look for the end of the track (the person) and go the shortest distance getting there.  Footstep tracking was developed so that we can compare how well one dog does compared to another.  The dog is expected to follow the exact path of the person they are tracking.  If the dog goes "X" number of feet off the track, the dog is disqualified.  Along the path, the dog will come across articles.  These could be keys, a glove, a pop can.  These are articles left behind by the person who laid down the track.  The dog is to "down" at an article to indicate he has found something.  However, he is not allowed to touch that article.  If this was a real life situation, a police dog may find a gun dropped by the suspect.  Obviously if the dog was to touch it, he could ruin evidence.  So, the dog is to indicate it, but not touch it.  I will be learning footstep tracking.

There are 4 Tracking titles awarded by the CKC: TD or Tracking Dog, and the more difficult, advanced tests: TDX or Tracking Dog Excellent, UTD or Urban Tracking Dog and UTDX or Urban Tracking Dog Excellent. A TD title is a prerequisite for entering TDX and UTD tests; a UTD is a prerequisite for entering a UTDX test. A dog which has earned all 4 CKC tracking titles (TD, TDX, UTD, UTDX) will be awarded the title of Tracking Champion (TCh).  I will be concentrating on the first (obviously) and that is a TD, or Tracking Dog title.

At the TD level, the dog is required to follow a stranger's track, which must be at least a half-hour old (but no more than 2 hours old). This track is about 450 meters long, has 2 to 4 turns, and has a leather article at the end - usually a glove. The start of the track is indicated by a pole, and there is a second pole that indicates the direction of the first "leg" of the track. The dog must follow the track and indicate that he has found the article in order to pass the test.

All that seems like a long way into the future at this point.  I am taking two dogs tracking.  Cruise, my 9 month old sable female and Merlin, my 3 year old Czech import stud dog.  Cruise was the youngest dog at the seminar and I was very proud of her.  Being a pup still, she sometimes lost focus but overall she did very well.  She is such a wonderful, easy going dog and I don't think there was a single person attending the clinic that didn't say "How about I take Cruise home with me!"  She is so well behaved under any circumstance;  and for a pup that's really saying something!

Cruise (8 months old) hot on the trail!

So begins my saga.  I'm looking forward to learning lots more about scents and tracking.  For instance, did you know that your scent can linger in something as small as a rock depression!  Or that scent rolls down hill!  Who knew!  Lots to learn, and lots of fun to be had!