Tracking

[MontanaRott]

Originally posted by LynnS
Sounds like fun Shirley!

I can't wait to here updates!!!
Oh and SEE PICTURES!

Well when I grow a brain and remember that I HAVE A CAMERA I will take pictures! I am going to tape it to my hand next week! LOL. It was alot of fun Lynn. We just came in from laying a track and practicing with the boy and he did really well. It is really different the doing obedience because you don't talk to or encourage the dog!

[fbkeays]

Now that you are tracking, you have to be picky about your tracklayers. You will be surpised at the number of people that can't remember which side of that bush they went past. The best person I had as a guest tracklayer was a college friend that is an architect.

[MontanaRott]

Well the boy did his longest track tonight 100 yards and the longest aged 30 minutes, it was on an old forest service road with a nice curve, that is no longer used. He got on the track and by passed the treats! His nose stayed down until he got to the article and he SAT! Oh we were leaping for joy! He has got it! We are eliminating the food except for a treat on the article. At the end before he hit on the article he wanted to veer a bit to the right the way hubby had gone to get out of there after laying the track, but he caught himself and found the article. Boy it was fun! It is so neat to see it click for them!

[Beckysmom]

Wow!!!! That is great!!! And thanks for the emails!!!

[Carina43]

It is fun to watch them "get it!" I practiced today with Cooper & did his first "aged" track - about 10 minutes, just because I was alone & wanted to lay it when he wasn't watching. I did about 50 yards and then one turn, and he got it. :) Pretty cool.

The beginning class I'm taking doesn't have us teach the dog to sit at the article, is this an AKC requirement?

[MontanaRott]

They just need to do some kind of indication that you recognize and to have the boy sit was a big indicator, so we will stick with it for his indicator. The gal that is teaching our class said the AKC does not have a preference for article indication.

WTG Cooper!

[Carina43]

Thanks, Shirley! I was going to ask our instructor about that tomorrow, but I keep having senior moments and forgetting.

Cooper is usually busy rooting around like a truffle pig looking for any microns of food he might have missed in the excitement of finding his hockey puck (this is his article now.)

[MontanaRott]

Originally posted by Carina43
Thanks, Shirley! I was going to ask our instructor about that tomorrow, but I keep having senior moments and forgetting.

Cooper is usually busy rooting around like a truffle pig looking for any microns of food he might have missed in the excitement of finding his hockey puck (this is his article now.)

A hockey puck, my hubby will LOVE that! Gosh I hate those senior moments! The farther I get into my 40's the more I seem to have!
I will be interested to hear what your instructor thinks about indications for articles, if he or she thinks they should have a strong obvious one or just one you can recoginze, as is our instructors opinion. Hey maybe Cooper should be in France earning a living!:D

[Carina43]

Originally posted by montanarott
Hey maybe Cooper should be in France earning a living!:D

He'd EAT hundreds of francs worth of precious truffles a day, he's a hog. :p
I'll let you know what Bill says tomorrow! I'm supposed to be an hour south of here for class in, umm....seven hours.

[MontanaRott]

Originally posted by Carina43
He'd EAT hundreds of francs worth of precious truffles a day, he's a hog. :p
I'll let you know what Bill says tomorrow! I'm supposed to be an hour south of here for class in, umm....seven hours.

Good deal I would love to hear. Well I guess truffle dog is out of Cooper's future?:( Try to stay awake on the drive!!

[Carina43]

Well, Bill the tracking guy said no specific "indicating" behaviour is specified, just something. He stressed the importance of the handler knowing the dog and understanding its body language on the track, and gave tips on building a behaviour to indicate the article.

Today he laid a long track, 3 turns, for Cooper & I - neither of us knew where the turns were, so it was more challenging. Well Cooper took off like a rocket, nose to the ground - made each turn quite easily while I followed - then hoovered the treat off the article and kept going! He just tracked Bill's footsteps right back to where he'd exited the track.

Clearly my dog has no problems following a track (it was dry and windy, too) but we need to work on him actually stopping when he finds the article!!

[fbkeays]

Originally posted by Carina43

Clearly my dog has no problems following a track (it was dry and windy, too) but we need to work on him actually stopping when he finds the article!!

You can work on article indications off the track. Chose what indication you want. With Fizbin I wanted a down. Since TD tracks almost always use a leather glove, that is the article I started out with. I would load up on the gloves and while waiting for the track to age (or even in the house), I would toss a glove down. When he went to it, I told him down and gave him a treat on the glove. I would then toss another glove several feet behind him. When he got to that glove, I would drop the first glove, tell Fizbin to down and give him a treat on the glove. I would then encourage him to find the first glove. When he got to it I would tell him down again. I would repeat the dropping of the glove and by this time Fizbin was learning to down automaticly. I would toss the first couple of gloves to get his attention to them. After that I tried to not draw his attention to them when I dropped them. I wanted him to find them.
In the house I would scatter gloves/articles in a room and let him go to them. At first I would tell him down when he got to one, but after a bit, I would keep quiet. He learned he had to down to get the treat. After a bit I required him to have the article between his front paws.
After the dog gets the idea of downing (or whatever) you can lay what is called an article track. Articles are dropped every 10 yards. This is to enforce the article indications. You can not let your dog pass the article. You have to hold him back with the line until he indicates.
I still have to work on article indications with Fizbin. If I don't do it for a while, he gets sloppy on the track. He will tell me there is an article by dipping his shoulder and turning his head slightly as he passes it. In a test I would take that as an article indication, but in practice I don't. I want him to clearly tell me there is an article there. I am also planning on doing the FH with him so I need a clear indication such as the down.
In both his TD and TDX tests he did a great job of article indication. The second article in his TDX, I couldn't see as it had fallin deep into the grass. Fizbin's down was so strong that I put my hand down between his front paws and I felt the wallet. If he had just done his shoulder dip, I would have looked, but I know I would not have seen it unless I stopped and felt for it.

[MontanaRott]

Originally posted by Carina43
Well, Bill the tracking guy said no specific "indicating" behaviour is specified, just something. He stressed the importance of the handler knowing the dog and understanding its body language on the track, and gave tips on building a behaviour to indicate the article.

Today he laid a long track, 3 turns, for Cooper & I - neither of us knew where the turns were, so it was more challenging. Well Cooper took off like a rocket, nose to the ground - made each turn quite easily while I followed - then hoovered the treat off the article and kept going! He just tracked Bill's footsteps right back to where he'd exited the track.

Clearly my dog has no problems following a track (it was dry and windy, too) but we need to work on him actually stopping when he finds the article!!

Well good that is how it was explained to us also. We are working on article indication with the boy and it seems for him it will be a sit. Hubby went and laid a track this AM, long curve with a turn, no flags, no treats and made a map. Took the boy down there about and hour and fifteen minutes later, dry and windy here too. He did just fine, and like Cooper, wants to keep going and follow the track layers path out! Sounds like Cooper and Guerin are progressing at the same rate!

[Beckysmom]

Originally posted by fbkeays
I would load up on the gloves .

Have you got a source for inexpensive gloves?

[samanthac]

Speaking of tracking, I found some really nice tracking shoes...in of all places the equine section at PetsMart. I went in to grab a whip to use to play the chase game to build drive, and I came across these shoes called Rubber Mucky's. They are waterproof and have steel-shanks so they should be pretty durable. And since I don't like boots, they are perfect for me, although I am pretty sure the girl said they come in boots, too. I paid $24.99 for them on sale. It never crossed my mind to look in the equine section for tracking shoes. They'll be really handy for walks in wet weather as well.