Tracking NOOB, need some tips, advice...

[Liesje]

First off my main goal is SchH and I know tracking styles differ, but that's where I aim.

My dog is about 4 months old. I have never done ANY tracking in any form. When he was real small, he got 1-2 meals a day that were just kibble scattered on the ground or sort of poured in a trail. I was told if anything it would help encourage his "hunt" drive. Sometimes he ate outside so the kibble was in the grass and he had to nose around for it.

I am trying to read all about SchH tracking and puppy tracks. I found this really great site once where the guy explained everything step by step, even included videos, but I can't find it in my bookmarks. Maybe someone here has it? Or if you know if it, is it a good resource?

Anyway, I've read a few things about a "scent pad" and would like to try it. Is this something I can do on my own without real training? My understanding is this: I get some food like hot dog or some food roll, walk out in the yard and then take a hop to where I want to start, stomp my feet around in a few square foot area and drop the food here, hop back off, take my puppy out there, say something like "find" and let him sniff around and take the food. Is that really it? How often do you do it before you have to start making a track? Can I do it in the snow? If not, can I do it on the carpet indoors? Now once I figure out the answers to the previous questions and I want to make a scent pad and a short, straight track, when I am taking my steps do I go heel-to-toe or just walk a normal stride? How much food do you use for this, like one bit in each foot step or just a solid trail?

Or should I just wait? I keep seeing all these 7-8 week old puppies tracking so I don't know if it's better to try some basic stuff on my own or forget about it. We go to SchH club but our TD handles police dogs and their tracking is WAY different. They don't care about cutting corners, air scenting, downing on an article...all they care about is finding a person as fast as they can even if the dog is "cheating". My breeder has done tracking but AKC and I understand that is also different than SchH. I don't expect to be doing real tracks right now, I just need some pointers on things I can do in my yard or nearby to encourage the right behaviors (I have a large yard so I could do several scent pads before they would be anywhere near each other, plus I can also use several baseball fields and a local church which has a huge yard, the field at our local club is probably no good for starters b/c there is so much rabbit poo, dog pee/poo, and dropped treats I bet it's too distracting?).

I'm open to buying some form of instruction, I would prefer video since I'd rather watch and imitate than read.

ETA: just for laughs I will admit I am such a noob for a long time I thought a "scent pad" was like a real pad that you rubbed on your hands or something to get a scent and then give it to the puppy, lol.

[lhczth]

I would start with scent boxes. This is a 2X2 up to 3X3 box that you step into and then stamp down very well. Put 12 or so small pieces of food in it, take your puppy to the box, show him the box, and then let him work. Loose leash, stay quiet, let the food be the reward. If he leaves the box, just stand there and keep him from going to far, and let him figure out where to look for the food again. Pull him away from the box when he has found most of the food, but not all. You want him still searching. I usually do three and lay all three before starting.

You can increase the food drive by feeding him in the boxes. If he quits and doesn't want to work then you pull him away and try again at his next meal. "I" won't do this for more than a couple of meals, but it can help motivate some pups. Many do need to track when hungry (I have been lucky to never own a dog like that) and will be less motivated if fed before tracking.

Once the puppy is working these boxes calmly and continuously I would move on to tracks. I use trench tracks (I know others don't) and double lay a track with food every foot or so alternating between the two trenches and a food drop at the end. Not long at first until you see how much drive the pup has for the track. Do a box first and then the track. Lay a small scent pad, put food in the pad and then start off on your track. I add in corners fairly soon that are triple laid. More of an arc into the next leg than a true corner. Once they are doing 100 pace tracks I quit double laying them (still triple lay the corners) and then just stomp and then walk normally. I would rather take the time and develop the SchH style behaviors than move on too quickly.

Hope that helps.

[lhczth]

Oh, and, no, it isn't something you can do on carpet, but it is something you can do in shallow snow. I would use food that blends in with the snow.

[Liesje]

Yes, thanks Lisa. You answered a question I forgot to ask (how to "end" the work on the scent pad).

CAn you make a scent pad in the snow?

Does it matter what I wear on my feet?

[Liesje]

Originally Posted By: lhczthOh, and, no, it isn't something you can do on carpet, but it is something you can do in shallow snow. I would use food that blends in with the snow.

OK, thanks.

I sort of tried this afternoon, thought I stomped around pretty good but the food still got in the snow/grass so he had to nose around for it. Is it better if it's not so easy to pick up?

[JKlatsky]

Is this the website?

http://www.schutzhundtracking.com/

[Castlemaid]

I could be wrong about this, but I would be wary of starting a puppy off in the snow, as they could learn to use their eyes to see where the scent box or the track is.

At this stage, it is good that the food is deep and Nikon has to work for it, it teaches him to keep his nose deep. You want the food easy enough to pic up that he gets rewarded for his efforts, but deep enough that he has to find it by scent, as opposed to finding it by sight.

Though we do leave scent behind off our shoes and off our bodies, what dogs really learn to track is the scent of disturbed vegetation and dirt. As a track ages, the scent changes, and dogs learn to track the scent of that particular track with minor whiffs of the track-layer's scent on the groud.

[lhczth]

I started a number of dogs in the snow and it was never a problem. I wouldn't track in deep snow.

Yes, it is good that he has to search for the food.

[Liesje]

Originally Posted By: JKlatskyIs this the website?

http://www.schutzhundtracking.com/

YES!!!

Does anyone have anything good or bad to say about this site? I didn't really "get" it (not so much laying a track, but just the concept of the scent pad in general) until I read this site when I found it the first time.

Lucia, that makes sense. The snow today was just a little powdering, we were in an area of the yard with a lot of leaves so the food went through the snow into the leaves and I noticed he lost his way a few times and even skipped some pieces.

[jesusica]

I mixed up Flash's meal with canned fish and let it sit overnight to make it real mushy and yummy. You want something that can quickly be chewed and swallowed. We started with the large scent pads, roughly 3x3, and I'd scatter his entire meal throughout it, making sure nothing fell outside the box and that the entire box was covered right up to the edges. The pads got smaller as he got better. Don't forget to stick a flag in the left corner of the pad. Walk him up to it and give him the command, if you need to pat the ground while saying the command to get him started that's ok. Say the command and good command many, many times. Scent pads are for teaching both the command and discrimination of scents. You will eventually see him start to self correct. He will go outside the box and quickly realize the scent is different (thus contains no food) causing him to go back to the box. You also want to be able to pull the leash and have him maintain his focus on the box. Make sure you praise both after he self correts and after attempting to pull him away and he resists. I don't know how large he is but I would pick Flash up and walk away, not drag him out, before all the food was gone. When he's ready, basically make a scent pad and then lay a track off of it that leads to another scent pad with food in every "step". Don't lay the track as actual steps but one continuous line that is as wide as both your feet. Slowly elongate it and add serpentines and then actual steps. Don't rush through this. This foundation is so, so important and he's young so there's no point in rushing through everything to get quick, sloppy titles. I'd also keep a tracking log and not use a harness.