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Trailing Progression

2K views 13 replies 3 participants last post by  NancyJ 
#1 ·
Any good recommendations for a good training progression for trailing? I have a bunch of different things I want to do with Tilly and am really going to focus on her this summer and try to shoot for certification this fall.

Urban is definitely in but I have lost enough weight that I am much better in the woods and the stress on the ankle is considerably best (have about 25 left to lose) and better at line handling this charging beast. She is nailing her problems and we are increasing difficulty but I want to be a little more systematic.

What I am really looking for is like a workbook /checklist approach to various scenarios. Know of such a good thing? As far as things like line handling and reading the dog etc. and reading negatives I am pretty good. As is she intuitively stops herself and casts herself when she loses the track unlike some I have seen who just plow on.
 
#3 ·
In the meanwhile I am pulling together bits and peices from

Gerritson and Haak
Kocher
Johnson
Bowling

I had books from Schettler and one from Gorney that I really liked but cannot find. The Gorney book is out of print
 
#4 ·
I've frequented this post often to see if any progress. I haven't offered any.suggestions as it sounds like you are looking for books or published formats and I'm not really sure of any. I do have my own training plans that work well for me and give a broad range of distances, aging and other training points tonkeeo noses sharp nand focused.

I'm eager to see what others have read and post
 
#5 ·
I figured you would have if anybody. I think I am just going to create my own training plan. So much focus on Beau and I need to get serious with Tilly.

One I lost all this weight and learned how to control my little freight train, I was like. Ok. wow. HUGE difference. She is just so good at NOT blowing turns even at high speed and is doing well at finding the start though I am not sure about managing competing tracks by the subject that may be older than the freshest track. And depending on different variables that older track may be stronger to the dog......

For example, where someone walks around their property and the dog finds multiple tracks leading away from the house but some are older than others and they belong to the subject [because when you scent the dog up she should only take the subject's track]

That one has me stumped because she would correctly follow the first correct track she encounters. I would note the probable existence of tracks that on initial scent inventory and perhaps that means I need to widen my circle or realize we may actually follow an older trail in real life and maybe a 2nd dog needs to check out the other possible tracks..

Maybe real-world not so much of an issue but figure when people go missing from their home there is a lot of their contamination. Family scent I am also working on.
 
#6 ·
Starts from a subjecs home is always difficult due to the pools of odor and layering of tracks, however, our dogs should be taking the freshest scent possible, ideally.. I actually practice this sort of thing and it might be good to see what Tilly does out of a subjects home. Use a hot track before trying Nan aged track, and of course the track would exit the property so the dog can go from difficulty to a clarified trail for encouragement, etc.

I'm glad you are in the health and shape to enjoy Tilly and her talents. Trailing is truly addictive and enormously rewarding.
 
#7 ·
Here is the scenario I am thinking of. In the morning subject goes out the front door and across the street to check the mailbox. In the afternoon subject goes out the side door to walk around the neighborhood walking a 1 mile loop. In the evening the subject goes out the back door and goes into the woods. Now, of course we would not know any of this (and of course the family went out looking for him that evening, then LE came and ran their bloodhound and then they call you) Do you think of three unique trails the dog could pick the freshest correct one and how would you train for that scenario?

Are you looking for the dog to maybe follow each one but by reading the dog you can discern the fresher trail. Are you looking for the dog to exclude the two older trails? Would you scent the dog up, circle the house, let the dog explore each track then start over and let them decide which one to take or would you note there are several trails and maybe start a fresh dog at one of the other ones. Some should peter out, returning to the house. See that one is where I am going down rabbit holes]. Very realistic though. Someone leaving a car is easy by comparison.
 
#8 ·
I know Kocher says it can be done and with this weekend's training, I just went "good find more" when she started down the older trail (which was the first trail we hit) and then followed her when she started down the fresher trail. ............(tracklayer had 3 tracks of varying age) -
 
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#9 ·
Good scenario. I've actually on missions deployed from the home, so I do know it is possible for the dog to find the freshest scent and work that trail... perhaps not always, as with any track, variables make for how productive the trail can be. The most recent was a mother with a 1yr old child. From the house to the backyard my girl said she went over the fence (which she did , but my flanker didn't want to climb and so I cast my girl on opposite side of house parallel to fence) she continues down road several homes details a pasture with a lot of junk on it and then big time details a home and the front yard... Again, my bad, as she was 100% correct, the lady and child we're in that home. However, LEO had told me the homes had been 'cleared' and my flanker kept telling me we could get in trouble at 0400 since we didn't have an officier at that moment flanking us.. I should have called in and told IC my dogs interest, but nerves got the best of me and since I didn't follow up on my girls alerts on the home, she then took the next 'freshest' trail (the lady walked alot, had been drunk and was walking around with her daughter before being called in missing) about a half mile further. She then either backtracked to the house or had the neighbor pick her up as my girl threw a negative...

Anyhow, the way I train for these calls is by having family members lay trail on the property leading off it. So like out the back door down the backyard around the barn to the road, down the road (asphalt) to the next street and then turn left or right and find a hiding space soon after. This allows the dog to have multiple layers of odor, it is a semi known track so I can make sure the freshest trail is rewarded.. honestly, I haven't had them not take the correct DOT (direction of travel) unless a huge scent pool due to long period of someone (like gardening for hours) recently, then they might go to scent pool and cut the track.
 
#11 ·
Lol, yeah.. in my heart I knew better, just pressure from a less than positive team, and my own insecurities (ironically, not in my dog! She has consistently oroven accurate)..

Had another from the home for an adult autistic/mentally challenged, and again (both) dogs got correct DOT and trailed most recent nighttime walk. Subject ended up in someone's car asleep. Dogs were on their way when we were told to stand down... So it is most definitely possible
 
#12 ·
Not sure if you have conquered the issue with working from home on layered tracks or not.. One of the questions you had asked was if the dog shows a difference in body language on a hotter vs aged track... Well, just had a mission for an autistic 5yr old who crawled out her window at night. I scented my girl before getting to the window (this was a5+ hr trail) which was a mistake. I did it because it was pitch black and a about 14 people from LE, border patrol, fire department and SAR (one other K9 handler of an air scent dog) LE kept getting in front of the of the dog and my girl initially took the hotter trail but I believe got stymied by her walking into LE in the dark.. She then doubled over herself reverse and ran an older track that was behind the home and laden with scent pools. There was a distinctive difference in how she worked it and I told the group following I felt this was aged and layered odor. I deployed my boy directly out the window and he took the track my girl initially started and it seemed like a fresh(er) track, body language obviously in fresher odor. We suspected the kid was hiding from us and my dogs would work circles around the property of a neighbor. I redeploy my girl with less of an enterouge and she runs very similar to my boy but runs into a scent wall. We had horrid smoke from the fires (air quality was 184) and a mist was now forming creating scent pools. I told them I wanted to go back to that area when conditions changed as she was acting like she was in fresh odor..

Early morning, we wee waiting for helicopter with FLIR and so I ran her starting down from where she had hit the wall and this time, she is working like a hot track, occasionally air scenting and offering (now known long distance alerts) proximity alerts. We work another 3/4 mile up when she gives a negative... This is where I screwed up.. I should have asked her to take the ground odor even if it was fringing from actual track because we would have had a walk up find... Instead, I noted it and headed back to IC as the helicopter was supposed to be there very soon and another searcher had driven past us on the road and I figured she would find her if she was on the road... She was.. Heading our way and I believe when my girl gave a negative it was when the kid loaded into the car of the searchers truck.. No sooner had we made base camp the searcher drove up with the girl.. I had my girl still harnessed a d everything and as they walked by she pulled hard to smell her bare feet and wagged and smiled.. I praised my girl and kicked myself, lol
. Kid was OK and had slept in a 'barn', one I believe my dogs kept circling and more like a machine shed with a tall ceiling, but she kept moving to hide from the searchers... Anyhow, distinctive body language differences for aged/layered track and hot/fresher track..
 
#13 ·
We have been busy this summer with HRD and Tilly has taken back seat to Beau again but we have worked problems where my subject has contamination that is a few hours older than the freshest track and she seems to work it out. I usually put her at the end of team trainings - she does well but is 5 and I may try to go ahead and certify her this fall. With her past air scent experience I can usually cut her offlead after we start getting strong head pops in a consistent direction and she will make the find and do a recall refind.
 
#14 ·
In other words, she takes a back seat at training - my call - younger dogs get higher priority but she does well. She could be operational late fall / early winter and fill a gap between older dogs and new ones coming up.
 
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