Tracking Pictures

[heidi]

Hi, we have just started tracking with our 6 month old boy "Cash".

We started tracking over a year ago with Busta Girl when she was 4 months old.....its a great sport that Wei's just love!

Our main purpose for going is that the dogs love getting out in the bush setting & working their nose for treats, play & praise & we enjoy that it is what u could say its a family bonding day out

Busta has her first CAWA trial coming up on Sat the 16th Sept & we are really excited.

Here are some pics of our babies tracking

I like this quote I found:

"Tracking, a natural sport for the Weimaraner, it is almost like cheating! A naturally keen nose and hunting instinct make this a perfect sport for a dog with a hound heritage. All you need to do is keep up!"

Busta & my partner Mick



Cash looking for a article



Busta & Cash enjoying a frolic!

[indy]

Great pics! I'm envious of you'r beautiful tracking grounds!
When you compete in tracking, do you have a obidiencepart aswell?
we are out tracking 1 km tracks and will try to make them longer as soon as I can find a big enough forest (we had a big storm GUDRUN a while back and most of the forest is still lying down)
Good luck with the tracking in the future!

[marjolein]

Great pics!

[Faust]

Very nice pics, loved it!!!!

[emma]

Very nice pictures! I want to start bloodtracking with Aku but I will wait until next summer because this year he needs to learn searching birds with his head UP

[marjolein]

Good plan Emma, I'd wait too!

[rute_paredes]

hello Heidi
in a diferent thread, marjolein was kind enoug to tell me how bloodtracking works. Can you please tell me how regular tracking works?
Do you leave trails for them to find and if so, hat kind? Is there a set of actions the dog must perform for it to be a good tracking?
I appreciate your help, this is something I'm very interested in but I'm still quite an ignorant.

thanks

rute

[heidi]

Hi rute_paredes,

I can tell u all about it

With normal tracking a person hides behind a tree in the bush or leaves an article their.

The track is left for different durations before the dog tracks it, the longer the wait for the track the better the dog is if he can get it basically.

The dog has a harness & 10 metre lead & flags are laid by the tracker to help show the way for beginners.

an article is left by the track layer at the start & the dog scents that & follows the foot steps of the layer where more articles may be dropped by him.

Tracks can involve turns & straight lines so the idea is that the dog has to only use his nose to the ground to find his way rather than air-scenting.

Remember to do big praise, treat & play when the dog has done the track. This keeps them always eager to get to the end for the reward.

I hope this helps Here is a bit of a guid I did up for a friend of mine who's Wei's name is "Colt"

Track for Beginners


• Do tracks to begin with on grassed areas as this leaves a stronger smell.

• Start off with doing only straight tracks only 20 metres long working ur way up slowly to 200 metres over time just on a straight & have always someone hiding at the end.

• Don’t harness Colt up until ur about to start ur track & make sure u take it off him once finished the track. Don’t put it on him any other time besides when tracking.

• To start with all u want from Colt is to learn to have his nose to the ground to try & pick up the scent & to go with it, due to winds etc the scent does tend to blow in the direction of the wind moving the scent causing a bit of confusion to the dog.

• Its best to do a track in the morning when the ground is damp as this holds the scent better but any time will do.

• Have the person who will be hiding to have had articles socks etc on them for a couple of hours before u start.

• Have the articles touching that persons skin if can for that duration (Mick puts them in his t-shirt than tucks him t-shirt in his pants & looks like a fat Santa Claus & I just tuck them into the socks I’m already wearing or stuff them up the leg of my tracksuit pants).

• Let Colt see the person start at the beginning by putting an article down & walking in a straight line stopping now & than enticing Colt to soon follow while the person holding colt saying “Where have they gone!”.

• Drop say 3 articles along the way letting Colt seeing them be dropped but don’t stand still for too long while doing this.

• The harness bit is the person handling Colt to read him, by knowing when to trust him & to go with his pull. You will have to down the track recognise the difference between an animal scent pull & the person who has layed the track pull.

• When the person hides at the end of the track have them to have some food ready to feed Colt & a you or the person hiding to have toy ready to have a play with him. Take the harness off once he finishes then have the play.

• Don’t say the word “NO” when tracking to ur dog as that word is pretty common around the home, instead ignore & say nothing at all if he is pulling in the wrong direction than verbally praise when pulling in the right direction but not too over the top to distract him.

• If he does smell something that he is not suppose too & won’t leave it use the word “Leave It” & when he does verbally praise.

• When starting pick the article up & say to Colt to scent, all he has to do is put his nose to it for 1 second for him to get all the information he needs on the smell.

• Practice in a area where no one has walked over it for about 24hrs.

Here is a beginners Map of a track to do



I don't know everthing about tracking as I have not been doing it for long but feel free to ask any questions

[jai]

hi Heidi,
OMG Your directions and pictures are so detailed!! I see it very precise to do tracking. I just have a question.. Thanks for all the great work.
I am really new to all of this.. So, you leave somethng that belongs to the person who is hiding. and then before does the dog get that scent and go from there? I have seen plenty of "tracking" in movies, just never understood the process. Thanks, Jai

[jai]

Hi again.
i misread a part.. so when I copied it and printed it I saw it.. sorry. But really, those directions are so wonderful and explicit. jai

[rute_paredes]

Jeez Heidi that's just SUPER!
Thank you so much for the directions and picture!
Will come in handy for sure
Thanks!!!!

rute

[heidi]

No problems, my pleasure guys

Let us know how u go!!

Send me ur email address if u would like further reading as I have some more but its too much to post up

[indy]

So how DO you do when you compete in tracking and what do you have to do to get a trackingChampion title?
Do you have obidience aswell or "just" the tracking and how long are the tracks in the different classes??