# More tracking practice.



## samuelsmiles

We're taking a break from sheepdog stuff for the summer so we've started back doing tracking through the woods lately. I'm not very skillful at laying formal tracks with flag markers and items laid on the track etc. so we're doing it very informally - hiding a ball when they're not looking and then walking away on a winding route for 5 or ten minutes. I then pretend I'm a police detective and Percy is my search dog and we go off in search of the important piece of evidence needing locating to close the case. Discarded gun, remains of a body, drugs, pink tennis ball - we never know what we'll find. And, of course, Maggie comes along too, to make sure me and Percy don't get ourselves into too much bother.


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## Moobli

What fun! Any type of nosework is great for dogs and they seem to love it. My GSDs love tracking, searching and scentwork of any description. My stepson loves to run off and hide in the woods near our home and then Zak and I go looking for him. He sometimes leaves clues along the way, or sometimes we search blind. We all enjoy it.


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## Moobli

Have you read "What the Dog Knows" by Cat Warren? I would highly recommend it.

http://catwarren.com/?doing_wp_cron=1465392756.4780728816986083984375


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## samuelsmiles

Moobli said:


> What fun! Any type of nosework is great for dogs and they seem to love it. My GSDs love tracking, searching and scentwork of any description. My stepson loves to run off and hide in the woods near our home and then Zak and I go looking for him. He sometimes leaves clues along the way, or sometimes we search blind. We all enjoy it.


Yes, I shouldn't have titled it 'tracking practice', because we aren't practicing anything really - just having fun, like you say. I wish more videos of people working their dogs were posted because I learn so much more from them than words. (see reply to your book recommendation)


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## samuelsmiles

Moobli said:


> Have you read "What the Dog Knows" by Cat Warren? I would highly recommend it.
> 
> http://catwarren.com/?doing_wp_cron=1465392756.4780728816986083984375


Moobli, thank you very much for the book recommendation. I have bought a dozen or so books on dog behaviour/training, but have failed to complete _any _of them. I'm afraid I'm not bright enough - they use words and thoughts that just confuse me but this one looks interesting so I may have a look. 

ETA - Have just ordered this book off of Amazon.


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## Moobli

samuelsmiles said:


> Yes, I shouldn't have titled it 'tracking practice', because we aren't practicing anything really - just having fun, like you say. I wish more videos of people working their dogs were posted because I learn so much more from them than words. (see reply to your book recommendation)


Oh not at all - when I said "what fun" I wasn't meaning to belittle the work you are doing. Training, no matter what you are doing, should be fun and I love doing stuff like that with my dogs.


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## Moobli

samuelsmiles said:


> Moobli, thank you very much for the book recommendation. I have bought a dozen or so books on dog behaviour/training, but have failed to complete _any _of them. I'm afraid I'm not bright enough - they use words and thoughts that just confuse me but this one looks interesting so I may have a look.
> 
> ETA - Have just ordered this book off of Amazon.


I find training books a little dull much of the time too - I must prefer practice to theory in dog training. This book is brilliant though - I really do recommend it for anyone interested in working search dogs. It is not a training manual but is following the story of one woman and her dog through their journey to become volunteer. Let me know what you think of it.


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## samuelsmiles

Moobli said:


> Oh not at all - when I said "what fun" I wasn't meaning to belittle the work you are doing. Training, no matter what you are doing, should be fun and I love doing stuff like that with my dogs.


That's fine - it never crossed my mind that your post was in any way belittling. When we go out with our tracking gear I never think we're going 'training' - I'm thinking, let's go and have some fun, just like you said it looked.

Will report back on the book. Tracking cadavers? Maybe be a career change!


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## samuelsmiles

The two collies I have now are my first dogs and I thought collies would be the only dogs I would ever want, but German Shepherds have started to make a huge impression. 6 months old!


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## Moobli

My first love has always been GSDs, with collies second ... I couldn't imagine life without a GSD.


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## Moobli

Have you finished the book yet?


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## samuelsmiles

Moobli said:


> Have you finished the book yet?


Sorry Miss Moobli - just the first two chapters so far. I'm enjoying it, but I'm a very slow reader.


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## samuelsmiles

Moobli said:


> My first love has always been GSDs, with collies second ... I couldn't imagine life without a GSD.


Wow, don't German Shepherds track well?

The hard surface tracking is what we're attempting at the moment but, having only done this on grass and through the woods, the transition to hard surfaces has proved a bit difficult so far. After getting some information on-line yesterday I now realise why.

I made a track yesterday afternoon which was a couple of hundred yards on grass which then crossed a path of about 2 yards and continued back on to more grass. The grass tracking Percy did was fine but as soon as we hit the concrete path he was really lost and looking to get back on the grass (any grass) Having not properly tracked on a hard surface before he just thought he'd gone wrong.

A bit of research led me to something called HITT (Hydration Intensified Tracking Training) Working on a hard surface, you put down a spray of water on the track you are making which, when walked on retains much more of your scent. Another idea to get a good scent down will be to wear a nice thick pair of socks for as long as you want and (when good and whiffy) put these over your shoes and walk over the water sprayed track. Treats at short intervals on the track - and soon he and Maggie should be working nicely.

This video shows a couple of dogs beginning their training on hard surfaces. I love the intensity the dogs show when working this track.






ETA. Moobli, with you having had both collies and German Shepherds, in general how different are they as breeds. Both seem very owner/handler responsive but as a very new dog owner I've always found GSDs a bit intimidating. Maybe it's just their size.


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## Moobli

samuelsmiles said:


> Wow, don't German Shepherds track well?
> 
> The hard surface tracking is what we're attempting at the moment but, having only done this on grass and through the woods, the transition to hard surfaces has proved a bit difficult so far. After getting some information on-line yesterday I now realise why.
> 
> I made a track yesterday afternoon which was a couple of hundred yards on grass which then crossed a path of about 2 yards and continued back on to more grass. The grass tracking Percy did was fine but as soon as we hit the concrete path he was really lost and looking to get back on the grass (any grass) Having not properly tracked on a hard surface before he just thought he'd gone wrong.
> 
> A bit of research led me to something called HITT (Hydration Intensified Tracking Training) Working on a hard surface, you put down a spray of water on the track you are making which, when walked on retains much more of your scent. Another idea to get a good scent down will be to wear a nice thick pair of socks for as long as you want and (when good and whiffy) put these over your shoes and walk over the water sprayed track. Treats at short intervals on the track - and soon he and Maggie should be working nicely.
> 
> This video shows a couple of dogs beginning their training on hard surfaces. I love the intensity the dogs show when working this track.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ETA. Moobli, with you having had both collies and German Shepherds, in general how different are they as breeds. Both seem very owner/handler responsive but as a very new dog owner I've always found GSDs a bit intimidating. Maybe it's just their size.


German shepherds are great trackers - but so many other breeds are too.

I have limited experience of hard surface tracking but it is something I do have an interest in and would like to have a go at. This blog had me rapt for hours. Sadly it hasn't been updated for quite a considerable period.

http://birchbarkhill.blogspot.co.uk/

Thanks for the video. I have only watched the first couple of minutes so far, but will watch the rest later.

In terms of GSDs v BCs - ever since I was a small child the GSD was the dog I longed to own. I have never felt intimidated by them and the more individuals of the breed I got to know, the more my longing grew. Many people are intimidated though, and I wonder if it is because of their size, wolf-like appearance and also the fact they are often portrayed as guard dogs, police dogs, junkyard dogs etc - barking, snarling, biting etc. I have found they have plenty in common with border collies - both breeds are sensitive, intelligent, handler dependent, and can be reactive. They are both high energy and can be a good match for one another. It is incredibly important to find a really good breeder in this breed though, as there can be a propensity to fear aggression, shyness and dog-dog aggression in certain lines. Obviously health testing is also incredibly important in the GSD. I would say more-so than in the BC personally.


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## samuelsmiles

After looking into why it was proving difficult to get Percy and Maggie to track on hard surfaces I had a search around on the internet and discovered HITT (Hydration Intensive Tracking Training.) We've been doing some practice with this now.

I started with a continual line of water spray with treats close together but then decided to spay patches of water down (each one I stepped on) with just 1 treat halfway round and more at the end of the track. I _think _he is working the track nicely but have no previous experience to compare his tracking to.

PS. The road we are on is behind an estate that is unused at the weekends.


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## smokeybear

Very nice indeed.


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## Moobli

W


samuelsmiles said:


> After looking into why it was proving difficult to get Percy and Maggie to track on hard surfaces I had a search around on the internet and discovered HITT (Hydration Intensive Tracking Training.) We've been doing some practice with this now.
> 
> I started with a continual line of water spray with treats close together but then decided to spay patches of water down (each one I stepped on) with just 1 treat halfway round and more at the end of the track. I _think _he is working the track nicely but have no previous experience to compare his tracking to.
> 
> PS. The road we are on is behind an estate that is unused at the weekends.


Fantastic!!


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