AT July-Aug 2005

Tracking Field Notes
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Mittens hones in on the ball
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Mitten scents a ball concealed by
the deep, thick ground cover
surprised at how quickly he will reject
objects that do not carry the tracklayer's
scent and returns to the track.
2.If your dog sees or scents an article further
down the track, lifts his nose and heads
straight for it, let him go. Do not force
him to "track" all the way to the article.
Allowing the dog to find the article and
achieve his reward efficiently is critical
to maintaining his article drive. The same
principle applies in later training if the
dog cuts a comer and heads straight for
thearticle.Alwaysgive finding thearticle
priority over "tracking."
3. If your dog is approaching an article and
begins to adopt a circling search pattern
lethimcircle. Heis following themargin
of the article's scent pool, and he will
hone in on the article. Pulling him off
the article scent and insisting that he
continue tracking until he reaches the
article, teaches him to ignore the article.
He must be allowed to find the article in
a manner that makes sense to him. "The
nose knows."
Let your dog's behavior detennine your
choice ofarticle indication.
At some point you will train a specific
article indication: a sit, a down, or a
retrieve. Each indication has advantages
and drawbacks: The "sit" is the easiest to
train, but it is the least secure; the "down"
is secure, but it may be off-putting to some
dogs, especially on steep or wet terrain;
the retrieve is definite, but retrieving an
article may pull the dog off the track, and
some articles are difficult or dangerous to
retrieve. The most reliable indications are
developed from the dog's spontaneous
behavior. The "retrieve" is the best choice
for the strong natural retriever. The"down"
is ideal for a fast-working dog or for one
who naturally goes down when he checks
out an article. The "sit" is ideal for most
other dogs.
To train an indication, wait until the
dog approaches the article and exhibits
the behavior, then name it and reward him
for it. If he does not exhibit the behavior,
command it. Trade food rewards for the
dog's indication. Since you are carrying the
food in your fanny pack, you can broaden
the range of food you use. DuringTinker's
final year of TDX training, Debbie Grain
chose tuna-fish, because tuna was Tinker's
favorite treat. She rewarded him with tunafish
every time he sat at an article, and she
made certain that he sat at all of them. The
tuna was messy but worth it, because it
trained a reliable indication. Expectation
of tuna saved Tinker's career. 1 use lamb
or beef stew meat seasoned with teriyaki
sauce, and lightly cooked in the toaster
oven. Others use garlic baked chicken.
Whateveryou choose,make it specialand
reserve it just for tracking.
Youwill stop baiting the articles while
youaretraining anindication, butdon'tstop
"cold turkey." Ease offgradually byhiding
baited filmcanisters in each article.The dos
Got it!
Laura BellowsBelgian Sheepdog puppy
"Danny" has finished his training track and
has found the glove. Laura excites him with
the glove.
Good boy," Danny!
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