The" Fast and the Furious", trackers - Page 1

     I have a question???
     My Boy Duke is totally 'EXCELLING," in his tracking. I have been out, Everyday, Twice a Day, for the last couple of weeks.

My dog "Is NOT Driven By Food!" It seems "his 'NATURAL' instinct to track is working "Overtime". He loves it. I have laid SO MANY different tracks this week, through 8-12 inches of snow. I start him at the BEGINNING of each SEPERATE track, and he is"OFF and RUNNING".

     I really don't want to 'slow him down'! I think that "maybe" schH is going to be a waste of his Natural talent.! I really am leaning towards doing SAR with him! This dog Knows "so much more than I do," with the tracking.
 
     Has "anyone" had a dog that "knows what they are doing, BEFORE being taught?"

(this also goes with my post on Genetics, WHAT REALLY DOES a dog bring to the table with them????)

How is schutzhund going to waste his talent?

Well once he gets his schutzhund title can he be retrained for sars tracking?

Schutzhund will do worse than waste his talent--he will be punished if he tracks by air scenting instead of keeping his nose to the ground. This will happen even when air scenting is the best way to track in a particular situation.

I have a similar dog, who tracks because he loves the work and is delighted to find the person. He knew almost immediately what needed to be done, and he joyfully does it.  He uses his eyes, air scenting, and keeping his nose to the ground, and does so very intelligently. There's no way I would ever mess with this. He would think I was an idiot if I punished him for air scenting, and he would be confused and hurt.

Find a really good tracking trainer who does real world tracking instead of sport tracking. And congratulations on having such a wonderful dog!

    chris,
     I am beginning to think that since there are two totally different methods of training regarding schH and SAR, I need to go with which one is more "BENEFICIAL" to my dog, and Pursue what he excels in.
     If I deceide that SAR is the route I want to go with him,Should I, (or would I be wasteing time, having to re-train SAR) take on SchH tracking IF THAT IS NOT THE END RESULT I hope to achieve?

The by Christopher Smith on 15 January 2009 - 23:01	Christopher Smith Posts: 188 Joined: Tue Aug 31, 2004 12:26 pm
How is schutzhund going to waste his talent?

     If he can truly track, a real situation, WHY, or What is my schH title  needed for??

I rerally am torn. which route to take.

Or, you can continue the foundation for Sch tracking until he is a solid nose down, accurate tracker. Use that foundation to progress through the AKC tracking titles, including VST.  You may still trial him in Sch. He just may lose points- that doesn't mean he won't get a passing score. If you really wanted him to do SAR, that is a huge time committment with his training and YOURs. I doubt you'd have much time on top of that to be doing Sch trials. Which is why it might be worthwhile to continue his foundation with footstep tracking, but eventually, train him on tracks that are much more difficult than what you would usually see in the Sch I-III trials. It's really a worthwhile adventure to see the dogs be successful on tough tracks.... but it isn't simple, it does take alot of time. If he enjoys it and seems super happy to get going, that does not excuse him from being accurate and blowing past corners. If you have only been tracking him on easy tracks, then give him a short difficult one- then see how he handles it. Throw a 3 hr old track at him in dry conditions with a corner and a transition from vegetation into gravel. It might surprise you to see that he will struggle to keep the leg and find the corner.  That that awesome attitude that he has and be careful with it- don't progress to quickly or else he may get frustrated at not being successful, especially if he is not bothering to pick up his food drops along the way (try a better treat). There's absolutely NOTHING wrong with having a motivated, happy, accurate tracker! If that costs a few points on his Sch tracks, do you really care? Especially if you also get him a Tracking Championship along the way? That attitude and your advanced training will help him be successful on very difficult tracks. After another year plus of training! Have fun with him, I love to see the happy trackers at competitions.  TK

You're Sch title proves the utility of the dog. It was meant as a breed worthiness test. Granted, it isn't that way so much anymore. Also, I wouldn't track him so much. How old is he? Puppies, and alot of dogs will get bored of the same thing every day twice a day, even if they show drive for it now. JMO.
-Emily.

As for food training to track--my dog would be offended. He tracks for the tracking itself, and finding the person, and he has successfully completed some hard tracks. He loves the challenge! We'll continue tracking, but the dog is far more important to me than titles.

As for real world versus sport tracking: A police officer told me that when they got their Department's Malinois, they thought the dog hadn't been trained to track properly. If the decoy was hiding behind the officer, the dog would immediately air scent him out instead of putting his nose to the ground and following the long U-shaped trail in front of the officer. When they called the importer and complained, he laughed. Then he asked if the officer wanted to be shot by the bad guy hiding behind him while his dog carefully followed the trail with his nose to the ground instead of air scenting the obvious. Point taken. They now understand the difference between real world and sport tracking perfectly. Their lives depend on that difference.

You really need to decide what you want to do with the dog.  Are there any SAR groups near you that you can join and train with?  Is there any need for volunteers to do SAR style tracking in your area?  Years ago I considered doing SAR, but the closest active group trained 3 hrs from me. Any callouts would be a 4 - 5 hr drive 1 way to the National Forest where they were mainly used.  By the time I would get there the call out would be over.  So practicality is something to consider.  I didn't want to train for something I would never use.

You can start in SchH; work your dog to a SchH 1,2, or 3 then convert him to SAR style tracking.  It's easier to convert a SchH style dog to airscent work then vice versa.  Also a dog with a strong foundation in ground disturbance tracking makes a better SAR or "real world" tracking dog.  Dogs need to be able to use both the available airscent and ground disturbance depending which is stronger.  The more tools in the tool box the better.

Jim

MygsdRebel ,

     My dog is almost 2. We track first thing in the morning, and right before it gets dark at night. He is running and retreiving things through-out the day. He is sent out over the fence to retreive and brings it back over the fence, hell he's carrying firewood in, and out running through the horse pastures.He really is an active, motivated dog. I myself 'never' seen nothing like him.Go,Go,Go,Go,Go...

Slamdunc
 Is there any need for volunteers to do SAR style tracking in your area?  Years ago I considered doing SAR, but the closest active group trained 3 hrs from me. Any callouts would be a 4 - 5 hr drive 1 way to the National Forest where they were mainly used.  By the time I would get there the call out would be over.  So practicality is something to consider.  I didn't want to train for something I would never use

     This is where the dilema comes in. The SAR would be the greater good. And there really is NO predictors as to "If and When' my dog would be called on. It's one of those things thar you really don't want to be called upon to do. But it sure would be a nice feeling if you were called and could help.