tracking

[kelking]

hi boomer 8m male has taking to tracking down his favorite ball when i hide it in the woods,he will sit and wait while i run in there and untill i stand by his side and say "go find it"i didnt really need to train him to do this he just seemed to know,

ive read a few things on here about tracking thought it was through a lot of trainning can a rottweiler just be born to like and know how to do tracking?

his tail is high in the air moving side to side and he snorts like a pig ha ha
does anyone have any ideas what else i can do with him and his tracking or am i best sticking to his ball?
should there be treats as hes following the trail or just and ball at the end?
he doesnt want to play with the ball much when he finds it he just wants me to hide it again and again and again ha ha which i dont mind

thanks

[lblax]

Originally Posted by kelking

ive read a few things on here about tracking thought it was through a lot of trainning can a rottweiler just be born to like and know how to do tracking?

all dogs are born with the ability to track otherwise they would all starve to death in the wild. if your just doing this for enjoyment then use whatever you want if you plan on getting into a tracking venue then this is where the training is involved because most venues take a dogs natural abilities and have them perform them in an unnatural fashion ie schutzhund tracking

[jazzking1971]

teach him to find your keys and wallet. Put your item in a zip lock bag with treats. Make him stick his head in the bag to get the treats. "Find my Keys" Do this for a few sessions. Then hide your keys in another room with treats. "Find my keys" Put them in progressively harder places. Then stop having the keys and treats together but hide them in the corner of a room or some place easy "Find my keys" when he finds them make him come to you for a treat.

Eventually you can change this to "Get my keys" and he will bring them to you where ever they are.

[damp]

Originally Posted by lblax

all dogs are born with the ability to track otherwise they would all starve to death in the wild. if your just doing this for enjoyment then use whatever you want if you plan on getting into a tracking venue then this is where the training is involved because most venues take a dogs natural abilities and have them perform them in an unnatural fashion ie schutzhund tracking

Exactly! (or they would not be able to find back to the pack)
We don’t have to teach the dog to use the sense of smell, but in tracking and other kind of “nosework”, we teach the dog how to and for what we want it to use this wonderful sense (work or sport).

[Skip]

Originally Posted by jazzking1971

teach him to find your keys and wallet. Put your item in a zip lock bag with treats. Make him stick his head in the bag to get the treats. "Find my Keys" Do this for a few sessions. Then hide your keys in another room with treats. "Find my keys" Put them in progressively harder places. Then stop having the keys and treats together but hide them in the corner of a room or some place easy "Find my keys" when he finds them make him come to you for a treat.

Eventually you can change this to "Get my keys" and he will bring them to you where ever they are.

No offense here, but finding something in the house is not tracking. The dog is not following a track this way...just my opinion. To the OP, I would do some research and find what kind of tracking you want to do...AKC, Schutzhund...then I would to locate a club or person in your area that has experience in tracking to show you the basics.

[jazzking1971]

Originally Posted by Skip

No offense here, but finding something in the house is not tracking. The dog is not following a track this way...just my opinion. To the OP, I would do some research and find what kind of tracking you want to do...AKC, Schutzhund...then I would to locate a club or person in your area that has experience in tracking to show you the basics.

air scenting is a form of tracking. Ever throw a ball in the dark and make your dog find it?

he wasn't asking about schH tracking or any other formal form of tracking as far as I could tell. He really was asking about what else he could do with his dog.

I was speaking of training the dog to find keys which to me is possibly useful sometime in the future. Find them in the house first and then throw them in a field. If a key or wallet was ever lost then that dog would be tracking for it in a field or where ever.

[s1960]

Originally Posted by kelking

hi boomer 8m male has taking to tracking down his favorite ball when i hide it in the woods,he will sit and wait while i run in there and untill i stand by his side and say "go find it"i didnt really need to train him to do this he just seemed to know,

ive read a few things on here about tracking thought it was through a lot of trainning can a rottweiler just be born to like and know how to do tracking?

his tail is high in the air moving side to side and he snorts like a pig ha ha
does anyone have any ideas what else i can do with him and his tracking or am i best sticking to his ball?
should there be treats as hes following the trail or just and ball at the end?
he doesnt want to play with the ball much when he finds it he just wants me to hide it again and again and again ha ha which i dont mind

thanks

Kelking, on the Vom Schloss Hexental website and at schutzhundtracking.com there's some good stuff to look at for tracking.

[kelking]

hi yes its just for boomer and i to enjoy as i dont think any where here(darlington,england) does club tracking i will try hiding more things thanks for the ideas
its funny hes a rottweiler without papers and has a white spot but he likes to carry and track just like the breed does so even though his not from great lines hes got some great qualities the main one i think is hes a big, big baby ha

[brunie's mom]

If you just want to have fun tracking with your dog...then see if you can get this book. It's called "Enthusiastic Tracking" The Step-by-Step Training Handbook by William (Sil) Sanders. I belong to the online CKC tracking group, and this book was recommended to me on there.

It's a great book to start at the beginning...when you are trying to wing it on your own. I've been tracking with my dog since he was a pup, and he LOVES it.

You should be able to get the book on-line. It teaches you how to lay your own track,etc.

Gina