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May 19, 2011

My dog has problems tracking cement. It does very well on vegetation. What can I do?

Full Question:

Mr. Frawley,

I have a 1 1/2 year old female Malinois. She has her TDX. I am training her for TDX and VST. She is fine on aged tracks, but doesn't do very well on concrete or asphalt. She has no problem following dragged food items on concrete or asphalt. Do you think Level II-III will help me with this? Also do you think I need Level I since she has no problems with any surface other than concrete or asphalt? I don't have a lot of money to invest and if you think I don't need Level I, it would help me out financially. Thank you and have a nice day. I really love your web site

Ed's Answer:

I do believe that Training Urban and Suburban Tracking Dogs - video 208 will help you. If the money is not an issue I would also say that you need Training Police & S&R Dogs to Track - video 205. There are a lot of details that go into this training - skipping training steps causes problems.

With this said I will say that hard surface tracking is not easy. You need to start on pavement and stay on it in training - not progress from grass to cement. Start by laying your tracks without socks or shoes, then when he is good put the socks on , then sandals on, then leather shoes on. Do not age the tracks too much in the beginning - 10 minutes. I would also recommend the video I filmed in Holland with the Dutch Police titled Hard Surface Tracking - It's Not Impossible.

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