# Basic Tracking advice please?



## kat&molly

Can anyone tell me how I might go about doing some Tracking with my Teckel. I've got the harness,long line [and the dog] Thank you


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## Sleeping_Lion

I'll pop something together for you and post a little bit later, the important basics to understand are how to get the dogs nose down, and how important wind direction is. Fingers crossed some of the more experienced folk will post a bit of help as well


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## grandad

kat&molly said:


> Can anyone tell me how I might go about doing some Tracking with my Teckel. I've got the harness,long line [and the dog] Thank you


Tracking for................? Some dogs are trained to track blood scent for wounded deer. Hounds are trained or scenting anything from foxs to deer I.e Fox hound, Deer hound etc. Is this just a game you wish to play?


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## Sleeping_Lion

grandad said:


> Tracking for................? Some dogs are trained to track blood scent for wounded deer. Hounds are trained or scenting anything from foxs to deer I.e Fox hound, Deer hound etc. Is this just a game you wish to play?


Working trials type tracking 

Ok, very briefly and quickly while my cuppa's mashing, and from memory, so I hope I get it right 

How scent works - the scent that is laid closest to the ground is strongest, so if you imagine a piece of steak lying on the ground, it smells really strong but the further away you get, the less strong the scent is. Now if you imagine the wind blowing across that steak, it creates what's called a scent cone with the strongest scent at the point of origin. Dogs don't generally like to track into the wind, so I was taught to track them with the wind behind initially, which encourages them to keep their nose down to the ground, instead of lifting it up with all the confusing scent swirling into their face.

Initially you need to keep it heavily scent and simple. Track laying is done for beginners by scuffing down into the ground heavily enough to leave a visible trail in the grass or across dirt, so that the dog has a lot of scent to associate with where you've walked. You also double lay in straight lines, so walk out ten, twenty, thirty etc paces, turn around and lay across the track you've just done. One thing you do at this stage is pop treats down on the track, and make it obvious, so you need an assistant to track lay while you hold your dog (with harness and line on ready) and gee them up, let them smell the treats before sending the track layer off with them, and put a nice reward at the end of the track for them. To walk in a straight line, choose two reference points ahead of you so a fence post and tree, or some thistles and a tree, and keep those two in line, should keep you straight (it's amazing how much people walk off in curves when trying to walk in a straight line).

Once the track layer is out of the way, encourage your girl to get her nose down, and let her get a few paces ahead of you, if she moves off the track, just keep still and encourage her to get back on the track and get her nose down for the treats.

Here's some pics of me tracking Indie, there were a few corners in this one but it's important to keep to straight lines and wind behind you until your dog has learnt to keep it's nose down and will track without any need for you to encourage them. You need to build up to really long straight lines, and then you start to look at how cross winds affect tracking, and how corners work. But for now, short straight really scuffed tracks with treats on there.

Anyway, here's Indie and me, this was a while ago now but she still knows as soon as that tracking harness comes out what's coming up .....


















































































The pic with her laying down is because she indicates she's found something on the track by going into a down, in this instance a yummy pot full of cheese!


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## kat&molly

Thank you SL I've printed that off. Have noted I need to learn to walk in a straight line Is this something I should practice in the garden first- or just straight out in a field? Thanks for your time and the pics are great


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## Sleeping_Lion

kat&molly said:


> Thank you SL I've printed that off. Have noted I need to learn to walk in a straight line Is this something I should practice in the garden first- or just straight out in a field? Thanks for your time and the pics are great


It will make more sense to you when you try it in the great outdoors, try walking through long grass that will leave a visible track, without using two reference points ahead of you, and you'll see what I mean, it can meander a little! And you'd swear blind you had walked absolutely straight, so yes, chuckle, you need to learn to walk in a straight line 

The main thing is to make it easy and simple for both of you to get it right, and then learn from there, just like any training really. So let your girl see the tracks being laid, give her the incentive of smelly treats and she will hopefully start to learn to get her nose down and track for you, she should be a natural really. The pics I posted for Indie were for a track she hadn't seen laid, so she tracked 'blind' in the same way gundogs do a 'blind' retrieve, ie they haven't seen it, but trust the handler that *it* is there, which you build up to over time, hope that makes sense


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## Jenny Olley

Thats pretty good Jo, I always knew you were listening, just for the record, we don't usually track starter dogs into the wind, because it is usually more difficult for them, not because they don't like it, loads of dogs find it exciting.
As Jo or SL says out in the field if you have access to one unless of course you have a very large garden.
i assume it is a spaniel you will be tracking, she may want to go fast if she does load the track with more food to slow her down.
Grass is good to start as Jo says nice for the dog, visable for you both. As she gets more experienced you can try on different surfaces, I am Judging a tracking stake at the weekend and the tracks will have been laid on stubble.
Its a wonderful thing to do with your dog, I hope you both enjoy it


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## Sleeping_Lion

Jenny Olley said:


> Thats pretty good Jo, I always knew you were listening, just for the record, we don't usually track starter dogs into the wind, because it is usually more difficult for them, not because they don't like it, loads of dogs find it exciting.
> As Jo or SL says out in the field if you have access to one unless of course you have a very large garden.
> i assume it is a spaniel you will be tracking, she may want to go fast if she does load the track with more food to slow her down.
> Grass is good to start as Jo says nice for the dog, visable for you both. As she gets more experienced you can try on different surfaces, I am Judging a tracking stake at the weekend and the tracks will have been laid on stubble.
> Its a wonderful thing to do with your dog, I hope you both enjoy it


It's a rescue Teckel Jenny, so should have the nose for it.

Indie still loves a track btw, although Tau never took to it, but she hunts superbly doing the gundog stuff!


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## Jenny Olley

Sleeping_Lion said:


> It's a rescue Teckel Jenny, so should have the nose for it.
> 
> Indie still loves a track btw, although Tau never took to it, but she hunts superbly doing the gundog stuff!


Thanks Jo, sorry I thought teckel was the dogs name, just had to look what one was, yes should enjoy tracking. I Love those photos of indie tracking.


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## Sleeping_Lion

Jenny Olley said:


> Thanks Jo, sorry I thought teckel was the dogs name, just had to look what one was, yes should enjoy tracking. I Love those photos of indie tracking.


I love them too, I know they're old ones, well, a couple of years, but the last two for me, shows how much dogs enjoy training!


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## kat&molly

Thanks both Just one more ickle question- will food do it for her? I take liver cake, hotdogs, chicken etc on walks. Shes a greedy mare indoors but outside is only interested if shes passing


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## Sleeping_Lion

kat&molly said:


> Thanks both Just one more ickle question- will food do it for her? I take liver cake, hotdogs, chicken etc on walks. Shes a greedy mare indoors but outside is only interested if shes passing


Yes, all you need to do is skip breakfast, it won't hurt a couple of times a week and she'll be earning part of it during tracking


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## kat&molly

Thanks, we'll have a go tomorrow, already had breakfast. I hope she does take to it- she seems to have a very short attention span.


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## Sleeping_Lion

kat&molly said:


> Thanks, we'll have a go tomorrow, already had breakfast. I hope she does take to it- she seems to have a very short attention span.


Keep it really short and simple (a bit like me, chuckle) and when she gets it right, finish the training session, so you end on a high.


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## Sleeping_Lion

Have you had a go yet? How did you get on??


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## kat&molly

Sleeping_Lion said:


> Have you had a go yet? How did you get on??


Not yet I had another dog arrive yesterday, family emergency- hopefully I've only got her for about a week. Its taking everything just to walk and wear them all out for a bit of peace. 3 of my 4 just dont like her and thats not like them. She makes Evie look like an angel- I dont want to swap her for a bottle of wine afterall
I have been practicing 'find it' in the garden- with rubbish treats. Your advice wont be in vain and OH is here at the weekend so I'll have some help


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## Sleeping_Lion

kat&molly said:


> Not yet I had another dog arrive yesterday, family emergency- hopefully I've only got her for about a week. Its taking everything just to walk and wear them all out for a bit of peace. 3 of my 4 just dont like her and thats not like them. She makes Evie look like an angel- I dont want to swap her for a bottle of wine afterall
> I have been practicing 'find it' in the garden- with rubbish treats. Your advice wont be in vain and OH is here at the weekend so I'll have some help


A good way to practise 'find it' (not really the same as tracking but gets them hunting an area) is with a handful of kibble thrown up in the air and just allowed to scatter, that gets their nose down!

Looking forward to hearing about when you give tracking a go


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## kat&molly

Well we went out and had a go today
She did follow the track and find all the food. I could really hear her nose going, I didn't go out as far though as it seems like she just doesn't focus on me well. In fact most of the time I may as well not be there at all!
In the short[3 months] she been with us its the first time I've ever taken her out on her own so I'll keep it up and see how we go. I will have to keep changing the treats as well see if that helps. 
I'm quite pleased for her first go.


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## kat&molly

Went and had another little go today. Again I was on my own, tied her up, stick a bag of liver up her nose, jump around like a loon and shes just stretching as far as can to sniff everything else
She followed the track a tiny bit and then veered way off to the left for something else.
Is it worth trying some fur dummies- I just cant get this blummin dogs attention


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## Jenny Olley

kat&molly said:


> Went and had another little go today. Again I was on my own, tied her up, stick a bag of liver up her nose, jump around like a loon and shes just stretching as far as can to sniff everything else
> She followed the track a tiny bit and then veered way off to the left for something else.
> Is it worth trying some fur dummies- I just cant get this blummin dogs attention


You need to work on levels of desire for the thing your dog is tracking for, if it does not want it enough, it wont track for it.


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## Sleeping_Lion

Don't let it put you off, all sorts of things can affect their *desire* to track, there could have been something really smelly have gone through where you laid the track, and you wouldn't have a foggiest  

xx


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## Jenny Olley

Sleeping_Lion said:


> Don't let it put you off, all sorts of things can affect their *desire* to track, there could have been something really smelly have gone through where you laid the track, and you wouldn't have a foggiest
> 
> xx


Agreed but if the desire was strong enough it would be irrelivant, could you get someone else to lay the tack, so you can follow them with the dog as they are laying it, this can help with learner dogs.


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## Sleeping_Lion

Definitely, and I know it's not easy always to get that dog on the end of the line desperate to track, even for a dog that's supposedly bred to use it's nose. 

But no, was just wanting to perhaps point out to the OP that we often (well I do) forget, the ground to us is a track laid for our dog to follow, where as to a dog, it's a HUGE myriad of different scents, and we're trying to get them to follow one of them, it may not be the most exciting to them for whatever reason. And as you said, it's finding what switches your dog on


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## kat&molly

Thank you both. Its encouraging to know I shouldn't give up. I'm going to try hotdogs next, I think shes never really known the 'outside' world before so everything apart from me is exciting.
I know its clutching at straws but she goes barmy if she finds a bit of manky sheep fleece?


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## kat&molly

Jenny Olley said:


> Agreed but if the desire was strong enough it would be irrelivant, could you get someone else to lay the tack, so you can follow them with the dog as they are laying it, this can help with learner dogs.


I can get OH to come, hes good at 'straight lines'


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## Jenny Olley

I'd go back even further with her just throw a piece of hot dog sausage on the floor and let her eat it, repeat a few times then throw a piece out about 6 inches let her pull out for it, then throw a piece out a bit further. Hot dog is better than liver its mre visable.


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