Scent pads are how you start dogs off on tracking, before you go to turns and straight tracks, etc. A lot of people also use them to get their more expereinced tracking dog into the tracking frame of mind before a test or before they hit a straight track.
What I do is map out a square 1.5 times the length of the dogs
body. I tramp the square down, the outline first, and
then the center. While I am still standing in the pad,
I take their breakfast or evening meal and scatter it
in the pad...it helps if you do not feed them one meal
prior to tracking. Then I leap as far as I can out of
the pad so that I don't leave a direct trail from the
pad to the car.
I take the dogs out and leash them and walk them up to
the pad. I do not point or show them the pad in any
way. I simply walk them up to it and say 'such'. As
they work the pad, I stroke them on and off and say
'such' softly. If they stick their nose out of the
pad, I say nothing. As soon as they put their nose
back in the pad, I stroke them saying 'brav, ya, or
good such'.
A lot of people use hotdogs, I use their morning or
evening kibble. I was told that hotdogs are really
smelly which makes pad too easy, but that kibble was
not quite as smelly which makes the pad a little more
challenging for them. Its really a personal preference. But
food training is probably the most popular route.
For some really AWESOME Tracking articles, go to the following links:
www.schutzhundvillage.com - look for Armin Winkler articles...esp Only The Nose Knows . This guy trained
my trainer and is highly regarded in Schutzhund circles.
http://www.big-planet.org/Tracking.html - This site has tons of info on tracking (Dennis Helm really knows his stuff)
Also, join
trackingdog@yahoogroups.com . It is a yahoo group dedicated to tracking. The people are so nice and the guy who runs the list (Dennis Helm) is just a plethera of info.
Also may want to invest in the following books...
TRACKING: FROM THE BEGINNING
TRAINING THE COMPETITIVE WORKING DOG
These are both excellent books on tracking. I understand the tracking book by Glen Johnson is supposed to be good.
One thing I will recommend. I am not sure if you are doing AKC style or Schutzhund style tracking. But I will tell you regardless of which you are doing, train the Schutzhund footstep tracking method. Positively everyone I've met said it is hands down the best way to teach your dog to track for any venue....Schuthund tracking titles (FH1 and FH2) and for the AKC tracking titles (TD, TDX, VST) and SAR tracking.
Footstep tracking involves your dog following scent step by step, not lifting his nose off of the ground. Tracks start short, and you can lay them yourself.
Footstep tracking is different from Tracking through Drive (trailing), which is what SAR and Police Dogs do. In tracking, the dog follows the ground scent, or the track scent. This is the scent that is produced when the person disturbs the vegetation or ground, which lasts a long time (doesn’t dissipate quickly), does not get too affected by wind conditions and is therefore reliable and easier to follow. Air-scenting is when the dog follows the bodily and airborne scents. The dog will work in a grid pattern and try to locate the scent cone (affected by different wind variables), and, when found, follows that scent. That is how SAR and police dogs are trained.
In the early days of tracking training, trainers used to use the Drag Method. They would drag a piece of smelly meat and command our dogs to follow that strong scent. This method presented many problems. Trainers did not know the exact location of the track so they did not know if the dog was exactly on it or whether he was side-tracking (on the downwind side of the track), the dog develops a “high nose” when following the strong odor, and eventually missing corners and turns.
Since we want our dogs to stay on the track a better training method called Footstep-to-Footstep Tracking was utilized. You start the dog on dirt or grass and dig-in or mark each of our footsteps on the surface and place a treat in each one (near the heel area). This accomplishes two things – you know exactly where each one of your footsteps are, and the heavy marking imprints your scent on them that can be easily followed by your dog. This conditions the dog to follow and check each footstep.
Footstep-to-footstep tracking is conditioning your dog to follow, not only your body scent on the footprint, but also the scent of broken and disturbed grass created by your footprint. It makes them become more efficient and effective trackers. After the conditioning phase, the treats can be taken out slowly and the dog will readily follow a track without treats.
The best time to do this is early morning when the dew is still on the ground, and everything else is fresh -- no other traffic tracks and scents. Tie your dog to where he can see you laying down the track (or leave them in the crate but make sure they can see you lay the track. This will get them motivated to check what you're doing when you bring him to it.
Start by laying down a scent pad where you stomp square 1.5 times your dogs body width. Without stepping out of the pad, sprinkle food liberally around the pad. Be sure to leap out of the pad and walk in the opposite direction you are going to use to bring your dog to the pad...if you take a direct route, they will track your footsteps to the pad. Walk them t the pad. Point to the ground and say such (tsook). While they work the pad talk to them qiuetly...good dog, brav, yah and stroke them gently once in a while to keep that connection. Keep it calm and quiet being careful not to distract the dog. If they step out of the pad or lift their nose, say nothing. As soon as they step back in/put their head back dow, praise them, but again gently as not to distract them...quietly and calmly, 'yah, good boy, brav, good such'. Let them work the pad for approximately 3 to 5 minutes....this depends on the intensity of the dog. The important thing is to remove them from the pad while they are still into it. Strive to remove them before they lose interest with the track.
NOTE: Many people use hotdogs. Personally i like to use kibble...I simply use their breakfast or dinner in the pad. Reasoning is that hotdogs and other very smelly foods tend to make the dogs work more frantically as opposed to slower and more methodic. Also, using dog treats such as biscuits make the dog stop and chew and swallow which you do not want on a track. Kibble is less smelly, plus most dogs swallow it whole without chewing.
Once the dog is reliable on the scent pads, works it the whole time without stopping, going out of the pad, or lifting their nose, I then start them on short straight tracks. First I lay a very small 1' x 1' scent pad to get them into the tracking frame of mind. Then, a short distance (not too short or they will be distracted and air scent) away, I lay a short straight track of 20 to 30 paces. When I say footstep to footstep that means exactly what it says....make your first step with your right foot, your next step with the left, your left heel should be next to the toe of your right foot. So its like walking but with very short strides. This is so that the dog flows from one footstep to the next. In the toe of each footstep place several bits of kibble with a slightly bigger pile in the last footstep...not too much at the end or your dog will rush the track. HINTS:
1. Always use a flag to mark your starting point ...do not assume you will remember where you started the track. 9 times out of 10 you will not...especially in shorter, dry grass.
2. Always be sure to pick a focal point that you are walking towards..tree, fence, boulder...again, do not assume you will remember where you started the track. 9 times out of 10 you will not...especially in shorter, dry grass. Also, this aids in laying a straighter track.
3. Be sure to look up and make sure you are going straight with every footstep. You'd be surprised how easy it is to think you are laying a straight track and then to get to the end and realize your perfect track is really a zig zag!
4. When putting kibble in your footstep, lean back on your heel to place the kibble in the toe of each footstep. Its a heck of a lot easier than balancing on your tippy toe trying to place the kibble, plus it prevents you from losing balance and stepping outside of the inended track which will throw your dog off.
5. Dig down (stomp) an indentation on each footprint you lay so that you can see a "mark" of your print, with the toe portion more indented. That is where you place a treat.
After laying down the track, get your dog and lead him calmly to the secnt pad. Allow him to work it for about a minute. Then pull him away and lead him to the straight track. Calmly command him to Such! (tsook). Observe the dog and point to the next footstep if he is unsure. Once he realizes the pattern of the track, he will start putting his nose down and checking each footstep. Let him work it out without too much guidance from you. Loose lead (6' leash to start with). IF you notice that he is trying to raise his head to see the treats (sight tracking) point down to the footsteps. If his head is down, scenting, he cannot see those footsteps and the treats. You are conditioning him to work with a "deep nose" and if done early, he won't have any problems tracking with a high nose.
At the end of the first track, praise him calmly while he's finishing the treats (Good such, good brav, yah). Remember not to praise him too much at the end of the track. This will result in him hurrying to get to the end of the track. Reward should come from the track. Try not to interfere too much by popping the lead to slow him down, or talking to him for reassurance. You want him to be focused on the track and not rely on you later on.
You are just shaping his behavior to track. Once you notice that he is confidently tracking, you can start making longer tracks, then you can variably place the treats -- two steps, treat, three steps treat, five steps, treat, etc.
Don't introduce any corners yet. Once he is confidently working straight tracks you can start training corners. Once I get there I will let you know how to do it.
I almost forgot. The track should not head towards the wind and your other tracks should be down wind of the first one so that the dog doesn't get distracted by the scents. Good weather and cooler mornings are better to start with. Showers, warm weather and variable surfaces can be introduced later.
HTH!