Night Tracking?

[ShatteringGlass]

Just curious since day light is sparse now, if anyone tracks at night?

If so, is where you track lighted at all? Do you use a flashlight, hat light?....not so much for the dog, obviously because he/she's using their nose, but for you so you dont fall on your butt tripping over something!

[Ruthie]

I tracked once at night at our church. They have flood lights in the parking lot that made it possible to lay the track. However, it was difficult for me to make sure I was getting food in each step in the right place because that amount of detail was difficult.

[Bullet]

Hello Shattering Glass,

I do track at night, although not as much as what I do during the day. What works for me is finding a place that has good reference points. For example, I might track along a sidewalk or curb since I can pretty much "see" these things. I have used tress & bushes as well, but when I use these kinds of things, or when it's really dark out, I will have another way of marking the corners. Maybe with an orange flag or something like that. I do keep a small light with me as well, and have found it to be usefull if I shine the light in such a way that the brightest part of the light is actually off of the dog. I sort of use the lowest possible light needed to help me, if I need help. To be honest I don't use the light much.

If I'm going to track at night I try to use moon lit evenings as much as possible. To add to this most of my "night" tracks actually occur in the early morning before work. So when I'm getting close to the time to run my track, it's just starting to get light.

Tracking under lights works OK too. I simply place the food/bait on the ground & step on it as opposed to dropping the food/bait in a footstep behind me. I even do that during the daylight & don't have any issues because of that either.

As a general comment when folks ask me about tracking in the dark, I always encourage people to have a solid foundation in place before they start working at night/dark.

As a FYI there was/is actually a system of tracking that some people use where they blindfold the dog. I don't know what kind of success, or lack of success these people have either.

Good luck,
Al Govednik

[ShatteringGlass]

Thanks Al, appreciate the info. I have seen pictures in a tracking book I have of a Basset with a blind fold. I do AKC tracking, and I dont bait the footsteps, so I dont have to worry about my dog using his eyes to follow the track.

I think Im gonna try a night track tonight!!

[umzilla]

I do track at night, but we have thousands of acres of preserves and farmland around here and there is ALOT of wildlife out at night (lots of coyotes, deer, foxes, etc), not to mention the chance you might meet someone who is up to no good! For this reason, I do it very selectively, and with common sense. I either have someone with me, or let someone know where I'm going, keep my phone with me, and stay in well populated, lit areas. This is great prep tho for a VST It adds nice variety, great distractions to work through, and I find I enjoy laying the tracks quite a bit because the areas present so many odd challenges!

Here are a few pictures of me and Unzer on a recent night track...

Before the start



This was pitch black but I iPhoto'd it up a bit and I think it's kind of a cool effect



And a good scratch at the end

[lhczth]

I used to train with a man who tracked at night because that was the only time his job allowed. Actually he would track very early in the morning. He used a flashlight type devise that fit on his head.