# tracking?



## BorderKelpie (Dec 3, 2011)

That was probably me. lol When I say tracking, I mean footstep tracking - the dogs find/follow a trail made by a person. In scent work, I usually mean looking for a particular scent hidden in a room or something - much like a drug or explosives detection dog might do. They (whoever 'they' are) are attempting to make a sport out of scent detection and I am so looking forward to trying my hand at this. 

I got involved with FST decades ago doing Schutzhund with my Dobe. Back then, I hated the tracking part, but as I have grown up a bit, I have learned not only to appreciate it, I prefer it to the rest of the Schutzhund work. It's a nice, quiet way to spend one on one time with your best buddy. 

The scent dection part has always fascinated me and several of the ******* in our bloodline have gone on to do SAR and HRD work. Now I want to do the other scent detection work with them and see what else they can do. In Australia (where ******* originated) they are starting to use them for police scenting. (explosives, etc) ******* are similar to poodles as they have no real 'defense' and are therefore not very good at felony apprehensions, but are excellent at scentwork. 

It's a fun little hobby either way and helps use their special skills and a goodly bit of brainwork to help wear them out.  Always a good thing with a pack of high energy, hard working, intelligent dogs that can drive me to distraction if bored.

(hope this is ok to add, this is Huck. His mother is the grandmother to my *******: I'm proud of them, can you tell?) All of them in this bloodling use their noses ALOT! 
http://www.germancoolies.com/Huck.html


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## Poodlebeguiled (May 27, 2013)

I dabbled in tracking with my Doberman too. It is fun, isn't it. I had a lot of land when I lived in Idaho and used my neighbor's pasture too and would rotate so as not to have too many fresh tracks when training. And you're right....it keeps a working dog happy and it's such a great feeling to have your dog doing a job that could turn into something really productive. That's cool that you got involved with Schutzhund. I didn't but always admire that sport and how capable dogs can be.


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## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

We have a dedicated thread for tracking and nose work in the performance sub forum. Lily tracks.


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## ivy6 (Jul 1, 2014)

Thanks, Lily. Being new to these forums, I "lost" the obedience etc forums, but have found them now, and will post in the appropriate place next time.

So how does it work, logistically? Do you need to own a farm, or have a friend with a farm, to have access to an appropriately enclosed large tract of land like that?


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## BorderKelpie (Dec 3, 2011)

I started off just looking for vacant lots and parks. You want to get there early in the morning so as to avoid recent traffic in the area you are planning to use. I have a decent sized yard now, but I have found that I need to wait about 24 hours after mowing to track well, too.


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## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

ivy6 said:


> Thanks, Lily. Being new to these forums, I "lost" the obedience etc forums, but have found them now, and will post in the appropriate place next time.
> 
> So how does it work, logistically? Do you need to own a farm, or have a friend with a farm, to have access to an appropriately enclosed large tract of land like that?


When you start you will have the dog wearing a harness but use a short leash and the tracks can be short so you can work on things like starting, article indications and keeping your eye on how the dog tracks (nose into each step, casting, etc.). You can do all that in your yard or at a park. Once you want to introduce turns you will need a bigger space like a park or school yard while school is out. Make sure that there are no chemicals applied to the surface.


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