How to Get Started

[shadow mum]

I have an almost 2yrd old Shep male named Shadow. He seems to have a "knack" for tracking my kids when we are out playing. I'll keep Shadow occupied with a tug, or doing obedience and the kids will go hide somewhere. I tell Shadow to find X or Y, and he'll sniff the ground and take off. You can tell when he loses them, because he'll stop and sniff the ground really hard and take off again. When we get to within 5 foot of whichever child I've told him to find, he gets really excited and starts barking.

I think that he may enjoy tracking, but am at a loss how to proceed past hide and seek with the kiddies. Can anyone recommend any good books or DVD's, or even give me a few pointers? If he does have a talent for this and enjoys it, I would reallly like to try going further.

Thanks in advance for any recommendations.

[Liesje]

There was this site called http://www.schutzhundtracking.com that was awesome, it's basically a very detailed step-by-step exactly how my club tracks. It disappeared, but you can still access it via the Way Back Machine (some of the pics and video demos are gone).

http://web.archive.org/web/200710120...dtracking.com/

[Victoria_Lynn]

I apologize in advance for hijacking your post but I recently took my pup out to "track" my kids for the first time this past weekend. I didn't think it would come so naturally to her, I was completely amazed! We were in the woods and had the kids run up ahead and hide "off trail". Maya found them everytime! They were even hiding close to a rotting armadillo and despite the putrifying fumes she still stayed on track. Also,she would spot them through sight but would continue tracking through scent exactly down the same path they took. She too seemed very eager to play "hide & seek" again. When she say the kids running off she would begin barking and get very anxious! I was VERY impressed!

I too would love to get more involved in this sport since it seems she really loves doing it. What local clubs are available or types of certifcation so we can expand on her natural talent that she seems to enjoy doing?

[Lauri & The Gang]

There are a couple different 'styles' of tracking.

Schutzhund requires the dogs nose to stay on the ground at ALL TIMES - marking each footstep:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kG689zPTp8k

You see the dog turn (around 40 seconds) - it's almost an exact right turn.


AKC tracking does NOT require the dogs nose to be on the ground at all times - just 'working' the track:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7OMAQcikE6E

This Otterhound lifts her head up a bit and casts side to side while following the track and even takes a few off-track sniffs at thing as she goes by:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7OMAQcikE6E


Decided which you are more interested in and then follow a training technique.

For the non-Schutzhund style I like the book:

http://www.dogwise.com/ItemDetails.cfm?ID=DGT205

Enthusiastic Tracking by William Sanders

[Lauri & The Gang]

Di,

Not sure how close they are to you but I did find this club:

http://cctrackingclub.com/index.html

[Lauri & The Gang]

I did a Google search for 'Florida tracking clubs' and found this one:

Tracking Club of Central Florida,
Joseph Hamzy, 5 Balfour Court,
Palm Beach Gardens, FL 33418-7021 (Tracking)

I'm sure there are others!

[Victoria_Lynn]

thank you so much Lauri & The Gang!

[shadow mum]

Thank you so much. I've just sent for more information. Can't wait to give him a job, and this may help a bit more with his reactiveness (sp?).