IPO 2050 .. What Must Change ..Tracking - Page 6

well then he will know how they can on the flip-side be manufactured as well.

 

read my previous post, i support IPO in that it broadly supplies proven broodstock for us non-breeders to access.

 

so blitzen go construct an argument that isn't there if it helps you pass the time.

I'm a person that likes pedigrees simply because I like knowing where things come from, and if I like a dog I've got, I want to try and get more of the same.

As for IPO stye tracking, I fully admit to hating it.  It is a pain in the ass to teach footstep to footstep tracking.  It takes too much time, and it's not a practical way to track.  We already have noted ways to see obedience in the dogs in IPO in the *obedience* phase, as well as the protection phase.  I really wish I could see dogs tracking more naturally.  I admit to preferring AKC style tracking in this instance.

Yes, I tried IPO style tracking, and couldn't stick with it because I personally found it ludicrous and tedious.  Not to mention trying to bait every footstep put me in a world of hurt.  I'd rather see my dog barrel down a track and cast a bit rather than waste time checking every single little footstep.

That's just my opinion.

I will say that a huge downside to AKC tracking is that getting into a trial relies entirely on luck.  Tons of people that want to track, not enough time and space to do it.

"Tracking on other people's land can get you arrested"

 

A couple of you mentioned this as a reason for difficulty finding tracking grounds. If you ask for permission,

and they grant it, you won't be arrested. Regarding cropfields....most owners of hay fields don't mind foot

traffic. Hay is just grass. you will not hurt it walking through it. Once YOU learn how to teach tracking it can

be one of the most fun and rewarding phases of IPO.

 

Mike 

 

The only thing that has limited me tracking more, are my excuses.  I've never NOT been able to find land or get permission and i've always managed to not get arrested for not having the proper leash, LOL.  That's funny shit right here.  You'd have to have one pissed off officer  if they stopped you to arrest you for having a 6+foot leash on while tracking with your dog. Especially after you've explained what you are doing.

sometimes I really wonder just where the heck some of you live??? I do not consider this city very dog friendly at all.  No dogs in any city parks, not even the farmers market downtown on weekends.  It's probably in the top 2 for most dog unfriendly places i have lived and I have never been hassled for tracking anywhere.  I play with them offleash when i'm done too....... GASP

I live at a golf course and trap field, lots of room to lay a track. My problem is how to lay a track using bait that won't attract fireants. So far by the time the track is cured, the fireants are eating everything I've tried to use. I don't like my dog ingesting or inhaling them. She eats anything; she still eats the bait even if it's covered with ants. This is a year round problem in FL. I like tracking and so does the dog so I'd like to pursue it with her. Any suggestions?  Thanks.

double 

some people freeze bait, have you tried the steve white stuff on asphalt?  I imagine it would be too hot in the day, but in the evening in empty parking lot could be fine.  Or are they covered in ants too?  I never really noticed if they're out at night :)  Once you get past imprinting the footstep to footstep behavior, tracking is about articles anyway, so not much need to lay food out on the track.  At least not a lot.  Other people do food drags with certain dogs to keep the nose down, but not actual food on the track

Heven't tried the Steve White stuff, this is the first I heard of it. Can I find out more on the net? The asphalt would be too hot during the day and the ants would get to it, but it should work OK in the evening. The food drag sounds like something I will try. I assume it works just like it sounds, the bait is dragged using some sort of line?  

I am told that fireants are not nocturnal and they won't get to a track laid early in the evening, but I can't lay a track here until after 6 when the golfers and the shooters are gone plus the ants are still active then. I try to find an area with longer grass to work in, not a fairway or putting green.

It's very hard to even find trials down here and making the draw is another trick. I saw 2 trials in Orlando last year and the chance of making those draws were not exactly in one's favor. There are so many barriers to tracking, AKC or IPO, that I can understand why some get discouraged. I guess you all know that to even enter an AKC tracking trial, the dog has to first be pretrial qualified by a judge. They want to make sure that people aren't entering dogs that aren't ready taking up a spot for a ready one.

Zdog, i just walked in a few minutes a go from taking the dog to a park that people take their horses at and allow them to swim in the lake there.
My dog LOVES water, will dive and swim all day, but the park ranger that came by did not care about the horses enjoying the water, he wanted my dog out of the lake, end of.

Last week while practicing an area search in some wooded area, i was told that i needed to leave because my dog was disturbing the local ducks...i had seen no ducks at all.
I have no idea where you live but i am in the middle of a huge metro area, finding a place to work off leash is a problem, never mind with a prong or an E collar.

Blitzen, google HITT, its an excellent way to train tracking and if you want to try the drag the food method, use a cotton sock with something juicy in it, tuna is good because it leaks nicely as you drag it.

Thanks for the tuna suggestion, I would never have thought of that. It will probably attract fireants, but the dog won't eat them. I will google that. I just purchased Glyn Clayton and Joan Adler's "Day 3 to Trial". Joan owns my dog's sire's littermate so I'm confident she knows about the breed as did Glyn.

I am lucky to live where I do in the middle of a 50+ acre trap field and steps from a 27 hole golf course. Some of my friends who work their dogs on gigs and sleds have a very hard time finding places where their dogs are accepted and/or where there are no loose dogs running around. I feel for you. How can the park ranger ban dogs and still allow horses?