Reconnaissance and Tracking

CHAPTER IX

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I. RECONNAISSANCE

(a) General.

RECONNAISSANCE of human beings by a guard dog is based on previous man work. In these exercises the dog has learnt that the auditory signal 'At him' is followed by exciting encounters with hostile people. Such persons were always clearly visible, even in flight, so that there was never any question of tracking them. Reconnaissance is built up on this basis. In teaching it the dog is never given the opportunity to initiate tracking; the 'criminals' being now invisible and, therefore, to be detected. This is brought about by working the dog under conditions in which finding is only possible through body scent. For this purpose the 'criminals' do not actually cross the country chosen for reconnaissance, but approach their hiding places from beyond it. As soon as the dog has become familiar in this way with picking up by body scent, training is transferred to a place where many tracks, so far as possible of equal age, cross one another in all directions, so that the dog is repeatedly prevented from picking up an individual track. It often happens on active service that the ground to be searched has several tracks, and the dog is impeded in its work. This tendency is counteracted by suitable exercises on ground free from tracks or crossed by a number of them in different directions.

Seeking objects, on the other hand, is based on the retrieve. When the dog was being taught to retrieve, it saw the object fall, so that the question of tracking never arose. The finding of hidden objects is, therefore, taught in the same way as reconnaissance of human beings. Further details are given in Section (c).

(b) Human reconnaissance.

Auditory and visual signals are the same as in other man work.

We begin, during initial training, with a sector at least a hundred yards wide and two hundred yards deep. The entire field must be open to view and free from tracks. So that the clog can cover the whole length (fifty yards) of each arm of the zigzag, the directions should go with the wind until the animal has become expert. Unless this precaution is taken the dog will pick up the body scent of the 'criminals' long before he has covered the fifty yard distance. This contingency has to be avoided with the novice dog, otherwise the instinct to cover the whole distance of fifty yards will be obliterated.

An assistant, wearing ordinary clothing, is posted or lies down, under cover, at each side of the boundary of the reconnaissance field. They do not reach these positions by crossing the ground, but from outside it. The dog must not be allowed to see any of these preparations.

Training is begun with the dog off the lead. The animal has hitherto been accustomed, on the words 'At him', to see persons standing or in flight at distances up to fifty yards. This visual stimulus is now absent when the signal 'At him', accompanied by simultaneous bodily movements by the trainer, is given. During the first exercises the 'criminal', invisible in his hiding place, calls attention to himself by making a noise. As soon as the dog hears him the trainer makes the auditory and visual signals, at the same time running a few steps sideways to the right, in the direction of the sound. In this way the dog will rapidly come to recall the familiar events that formerly followed these signals. He will, therefore, run towards the noises, which are repeated by the assistant if the animal does not immediately run forward. The man having been found in this way, the dog will, as before, comer and bay him.

Attention must be paid to teaching the dog to quarter the ground thoroughly. He is to search the sector by a zigzag course running fifty yards to the right and then fifty yards to the left of the trainer, who meanwhile slowly proceeds in the direction A E. We must ensure that this zigzag method is practiced from the start. The dog, as soon as he has cornered the 'criminal' on the right, must not then be over excited by him, otherwise, when the trainer returns with the animal to the main direction to continue quartering, the dog will be too strongly attracted towards the right, whereas the second course must go left. Accordingly, the dog is only allowed to bay the 'criminal' for a short time and is then put down near him, whereupon the animal's experience tells it that no further exciting events are to be expected. The 'criminal' now moves slowly away and the trainer begins to walk back to the starting point with the dog. To ensure that the animal will, when quartering is resumed, run to the left, the 'criminal' who has been under cover may emerge from his hiding place and take a few steps forward. As soon as the dog, if necessary attracted by a noise, notices him, he should immediately run back into hiding, the trainer meanwhile once more giving the necessary signals and running a few steps with the dog in that direction. Cornering, baying and the down follow as in the case of the 'criminal' on the right. Trainer and dog then return to the central direction. The 'criminal' on the right has meanwhile, without entering the area to be quartered, taken up a position at the end of the next right hand point and the dog is again sent off in the lateral direction right. Frequent changes of the persons acting as criminals are essential.

As soon as the dog shows a tendency to take the right and left courses alternately of its own accord, the 'criminals' no longer emerge and make no further noise. Training under these conditions being satisfactory, blind courses, that is, those with no 'criminal' at the ends of them, are introduced. As training advances, more and more attention is paid to the exercises which follow the actions of cornering and baying, so that the dog may become familiar with all the events that follow picking up hidden criminals.

(c) Object reconnaissance.

If the intention is to train the dog in such a way that with certain signals he will search for objects only, procedure win be based, as already mentioned, on a properly mastered retrieve and will be developed by the use of appropriate signals, just as in the case of human reconnaissance.

2. TRACKING

(a) Services available.

In a state of nature the dog hunts in various ways. Some times he finds prey through the body scent directly emitted from it. If he strikes this scent by chance, he makes his way towards it with raised muzzle. He may also find his prey through the track scent it leaves behind and this he follows with muzzle to the ground. At a certain distance from the prey body scent may again come into action, but ear and eye now also play a part. Memory, too, helps: places are looked for that the animal's experience tells him are frequented by prey. Searching and finding in this way we can simply call hunting. As it is advantageous for many human purposes to restrict finding methods to a single type, the dog is trained accordingly. Such is the origin of simple tracking work. The dog in this case finds only with his nose, using exclusively the track scent left by a living creature that is moving forward some distance ahead. Work with the nose can, however, be restricted still further by giving the dog training in persisting on a certain track in pursuit of a single scent peculiar to that particular track.

A human being moving forward in open country emits a number of different scents. In walking, footprints are usually left on the ground. If so, layers of earth are uncovered which are usually damper than the undisturbed surface of the soil. For this reason there is considerable evaporation where the foot falls and the smell of earth is consequently stronger. The character of this earth smell may also be different from that at the undisturbed spots, owing to the uncovering of decomposing organic matter under the surface of the soil. The strength of such a track scent is in itself variable: the pressure of footprints may be different a man may be walking or running, light or heavy on his feet, and the surface of the soil may vary in impressionability. The strength and character of track scents may also vary because of the difference in the types of ground traversed. Such changes in strength and character of a track scent may occur in the course of the same track.

If undergrowth is present, plants are trodden down in walking. The considerable degree of moisture given off by the damaged plants results in a stronger plant smell than at places where no such damage has been done. In this case, too, the strength and character of the plant smell and of the track scent may vary in accordance with the quantity and type of undergrowth present. These changes may also occur in the course of a single track. Further, a booted foot always smells of leather, and particles of the material used in tanning, as well as of shoe polish, adhere to the ground, as the boots press and rub against the surface of the soil and the undergrowth. These scents, too, may change in strength and character according to the type of footwear and the way in which it has been treated. Changes of this kind do not normally occur in the course of a single track. There are no such scents, of course, in the case of a bare footed walker.

The track scent may also involve subsidiary smells, due to contact of the boots with something that gives off odor, for instance dung and insects. Changes in the course of a single track are again possible in this case.

The track of a human being is therefore composed of various scents which may undergo considerable and abrupt changes. Stony or frozen earth covered with snow may also be encountered, as well as ice with or without snow. Moreover, variations in track scent may arise as a result of differences in age and weather.

All such changes can be successfully dealt with by the animal's nose after sufficient practice.

There are, however, other scents on a human track which always remain the same throughout: the specifically human smell that comes through the boots and includes the personal or individual scent. We are aware today that under certain circumstances a dog, may be able to recognize individual scents while tracking and distinguish one from another. This faculty should enable us to keep a dog to a single track.

When an animal has a certain kind of experience, for instance when it notices changes in scent, its reaction may be visible to us. But if no such reaction is, in fact, visible, we cannot be certain that no change of scent has been noticed. It would be an error always to suppose that consciousness of scent changes is at once followed by visible reaction.

Still further from the truth is the view which assumes that all such reactions must be of a character useful to a human being. This attitude is responsible for the belief in imaginary 'crime dogs' which, when set to follow an unknown track, stick to it without changing over to any other human tracks. We realize today, especially while on service, that the apparent ability of these dogs is due to the trainer's previous knowledge of the task in view, and is misinterpreted because of ignorance of the actual sense stimuli that operate on the animal.

If dogs change over from one human track to another, it is not necessarily because they have failed to recognize variations in scent. Before assuming this to be the case we must ask whether these animals have been trained to give a visible reaction whenever there is a change of scent. A dog has now to be trained, as it never was formerly, for the express purpose of keeping to a single track. Even on a familiar track, for example that of its own master, the dog does not necessarily follow the personal or individual scent of the man he knows. The animal must first be specially taught to develop this capacity, which we will call track fidelity. He may learn it either by training or by his own experience. Track fidelity on the track of the trainer, as a consequence of training, can be relied on if the track of the trainer and those which lead away from it are all of the same age; but no such reliance can be placed on track fidelity based on the dog's own experience. As a rule the animal does not have the chance of contracting the habit of following the personal scent in a track to the exclusion of all others. There are plenty of other ways in which the trainer can be located, but these are rarely taken into consideration when explaining how the dog has found. The mistaken opinion that the dog must necessarily follow the track of its trainer because of the personal scent, arose from a comparison of the commonly observed ease with which the dog recognizes its own trainer by his individual body scent. This body scent, however, is neither in strength nor other qualities identical with the personal scent which is conveyed through the boots and mingled with other track scents.

Track fidelity to a stranger's track is still more difficult to develop. It has been noted in some few animals, but fidelity to the track of either trainer or stranger has only been achieved in favorable conditions, which are hardly ever to be found on active service.

Track fidelity should not be used as a foundation for developing tracking ability on active service.

Dogs which do not persist on the initial track and do not reject other human tracks may be called track happy. They change over from the initial track to others as fresh or fresher. These animals do not feel bound to follow any particular scent component of the track. On the contrary, any of the usual scent components of a human track will, as a rule, suffice to initiate pursuit. This will even occur when there is no characteristic or personal human scent. Even then track happy dogs usually pursue without hesitation the track scents which are available, for instance those of damaged plants and footprints.

Track happy dogs are by no means to be considered inferior. They not only do a useful job in tracking the perpetrators of recent crimes, but also facilitate the choice of animals suitable for tracking, improving the breed by natural selection. Finally, they give pleasure to anyone who is in any way interested in tracking.

Persistence upon the initial track is certainly important, particularly in detective work. It is possible to train dogs in such a way that they will, with a high degree of reliability, persist upon old human tracks several miles long where there are few other tracks of the same age. A time interval as short as three minutes between the initial track and the rest may secure persistence, while with a ten minutes' difference persistence on the initial track is, as a rule, assured.

Dogs trained not to switch between older and later tracks may be called track sure. It is not yet quite certain which scent is decisive for the track sure dog. No doubt the variations of scent caused, by the time differences have something to do with it. The track sure dog is 'exclusively concerned with human tracks and takes note of objects lying on the track only if they bear human scent. It does not necessarily follow, however, in such cases, that the object indicated has been in contact with the person providing the track.

Canine nose work has been considerably improved of late years owing to the light which new knowledge has thrown on this field. We may for instance refer to the results obtained in the indication of scent conformity or similarity. We should also mention the new conclusions reached regarding the composition of tracks and their possible effects on training. Today we may speak of setting the dog upon a certain scent component of the human track. Track fidelity is also considered here. Finally, we may refer to the exercises which attempt to achieve persistence on the initial track without the aid of any specific and personal human scent. The result of these attempts has been the track sure dog. With the help of such an animal, as already stated, it is possible to follow for distances of several miles human tracks crossed by a large number of other tracks and dating back much further than was previously considered possible.

In working experiments with track sure dogs the following results were obtained. No tracking could be undertaken on a dry stone surface or on asphalt. If such surfaces are wet the dog can only track for quite short distances. The same applies to dry sandy ground with or without undergrowth. Damp sand, even without undergrowth, will, on the contrary, hold a track in favorable weather for as long as twelve hours. On ground overgrown with grass and vegetation a track will hold in favorable weather, that is in moist air and moderate winds, but with no sunshine, as long as twenty four hours. On the other hand, dry air, a high wind and hot sunshine in regions without shade will sometimes obliterate a track after so brief a period as three hours. In the same weather conditions, with shady trees and protection from the wind, tracks as old as twelve hours can be followed up. In open country, unprotected from the wind but otherwise favorable, a high wind may obliterate tracks in three hours. In the same conditions, but with trees and wind protection, tracks will hold about seven hours. Tracks laid after sunset will frequently remain in good shape until the next morning, before the ground dries. These are called overnight tracks. In frost, tracks on snow last longer than tracks where the snow has melted. If snow falls on tracks they may sometimes hold till the fresh snow is about an inch and a half deep. Depths exceeding this level mean that the track scent has been obliterated. Downpours and rains of long duration extinguish track scent, while light showers facilitate tracking. A heavy frost has no unfavorable influence on such work.

Police tracking dogs have rendered outstanding services in detection but their abilities may be said to be capable of further development by additional research on tracking and by scientific breeding. Tough dogs of good constitution, which take intense pleasure in retrieving and tracking and show first rate judgment in distinguishing between scents, are needed for this work. To ensure good performance the appropriate building of the character of the dog while it is performing other duties is essential. In this work the proper training in service requirements of the handlers plays an important part.

(b) General.

Methods of training for tracking are dictated by the object in view. In all this work the dog must learn to use only his nose and not his eye or ear.

In the fourth edition of my Introduction to Dog Training published in Germany in 1917 1 wrote:

'In tracking, the service which the dog should perform is the provision, after a crime, of clues to identify the culprit. Neither pursuit nor seizure nor any baying of the male factor is feasible. All that is possible at present is the following up of the track or parts of it. The game of looking for lost objects could be used for this purpose. This exercise does not stimulate the predatory instincts of the dog and is, therefore, undertaken by the animal with less impetuosity and more careful use of its sense of smell. If, in such a case, the dog were set to work by signals (sounds and gestures) associated with looking for lost objects, he would naturally also pick up anything lying within the scent range of the track, which would be by no means a disadvantage.' In the same edition the topic of tracking for objects is treated thus: 'Looking for lost objects is of value because it perfects the dog's tracking work. In looking for persons, finding conditions are easier. The dog will succeed in finding by merely keeping cursorily to the course of the track, for the scent given out by a human being is so strong that the animal cannot fail to notice it. Scenting conditions are considerably modified, however, when objects giving out a good
deal less scent lie on the track. To find these articles the sense of smell has to be more powerfully exerted. There is another circumstance which will improve reliability in keeping to the track when objects are being sought for. The exciting anticipation of meeting an enemy is lacking and consequently the search for objects is carried out at a gradually decreasing rate of movement.' These principles are still valid today for work in tracking human beings. At that time the training of the guard dog was not separated from that of the tracking dog. Since then this separation has followed on efforts to improve canine capabilities. (Separation of the training of the guard dog from that of the tracking dog was instigated by Bottger in 1915.)

The tracking instinct of the dog is affected by other canine instincts. For example, tracking may be instigated by the instinct for prey. In tracking human beings hostility to the persons concerned as well as the track scent would be the original inducement, as would inanimate objects regarded as prey, the seizing and fetching of which are familiar to the animal through his previous training. The best work in tracking human beings is achieved by means of the finding of objects and with application of compulsion.

The tracking instinct can also be aroused through the pack instinct, if either the trainer or an acquaintance belonging to the dog's pack circle acts as a primary inducement by moving away from the animal and then letting it find him. But this type of training is, like the finding of hostile persons, only feasible when the dog is on the lead. Otherwise it will dash off at full speed and there will be no chance beforehand of applying inducement to use the nose only on the track.

In this connection the difference between body scent and track scent when using the nose should be noticed. The difference is worth illustrating. Fig. 18 indicates the influence of body scent on the use of the nose upwind. The dog should be set to the track at A. At this point the animal can only make use of the track scent left on the ground. It must, therefore, put its nose down in order to track. But this will not be necessary when the dog gets as far as L. For there the contrary wind has driven the body scent down the track. With a high wind this may be the case over long distances. It would be absurd for the trainer to attempt to force the dog to keep its nose to the ground, since, from the animal's point of view, it has already located. its quarry by body scent. It will follow the scent with lifted muzzle and find in the same way. This will happen even if the concealed person is sitting or lying down, and can be obviated only by the use of very small and very slightly odorous objects.

The position is quite different when the track is laid downwind. As shown in body scent is now blown up the track, so that the animal does not become aware of it till he is directly in front of the concealed person or object.

Understanding of the influence of body scent on the dog is important. On the one hand it will prevent the trainer mistakenly requiring the dog to hold its nose down to pick up track scent when body scent is available, and on the other will show him the necessity of laying the track, or the end of the track, downwind, for otherwise he will not be able to achieve use of the nose for track scent alone. Since the wind at ground level often shifts, great care should always be taken, especially at the beginning of training, to check the direction of the wind.

A dog that is often given opportunities of finding by body scent in wind will contract the habit of raising his muzzle to sniff the wind. Other undesirable consequences are that eye and ear are too readily resorted to in the work.

If in the course of training tracks are laid in curves or with comers, due attention should always be paid to the influence of body scent. If, for example, a curving track has to be followed, a dog set on at A will, unless the distance from L to E is too great, already be in receipt, at L, of the body scent of the persons or object at E. The animal has therefore found on arrival at L. It will, accordingly, thenceforth make directly for E without following up the curve of the track and should, of course, be permitted to do so.

Even if the curve of the track had been laid downwind, the dog would still have found by body scent, as shown in Fig. 21. For if a wind at ground level is blowing laterally across the track and the track is fresh, the dog will follow not along the track but to one side of it. Consequently he will not find at E but at h, where he gets the body scent. He would, however, have found by track scent if the end of the track had been prolonged from E to cross h. The pursuit of wind blown tracks to one side instead of along their courses is, perhaps, accounted for as follows. The dog does not keep his nose at the center of the track scent area but at its edge, because there the scent can always be picked up afresh by snuffing up 'non stimulant' air. The dog does not, therefore, keep his nose down when working on powerfully odorous or fresh tracks, but does do so when the tracks are weak or old.

So called overshooting, of fresh tracks in particular, need not be regarded as a fault. Fig. 22 illustrates this point. The dog is working up the track from A and overshoots it at B, as the wind is driving the scent some distance beyond B. At C the scent is lost. The dog then doubles. In doing so it may very easily happen that he does not take the direction towards D but follows a lateral one which is not that of the track, with the result that the track must then be sought and found afresh before work can proceed. Overshooting is also possible in the case of old tracks which are being worked by dogs at speed, without leads.

Irregularities in terrain often influence wind direction. The direction of the wind on slopes, in valleys and hollows and behind woods is often entirely different from that which prevails at higher levels. These circumstances influence nose work and sometimes cause the dog apparently to deviate from the track scent when the track is strongly odorous. It may be noted that if there is no wind, body scent will hang in the air for a brief period, especially over ground protected from air currents. It lasts, however, for a few minutes at most. Body scent is then dispersed and loses its effect on the dog. Body scent which may drop from body to ground is also ineffective in the production of track scent. But the parts of the body above the feet have to be considered among those retaining body scent when they come in contact with features of the terrain, for instance vegetation when high enough. This type of ground should be avoided while teaching tracking.

The trainer will soon get into the way of looking to see whether the dog has its nose to the track scent or not. He will also soon be able to judge whether the dog is holding its nose high to assist seeing or hearing, or whether this attitude is a sign that the animal has picked up body scent.

To ensure that the nose alone is used in tracking, a few further points should be borne in mind.

Finding by aid of eye or ear should not be allowed. Consequently, the object to be found must always be rendered quite invisible. If track layers are being used they should take care not to reveal themselves by either movement or noise.

To prevent the dog finding by memory, training should take place in extensive open country or, if only smallish areas are available, the site should be frequently changed. To avoid the association of external stimuli with the exercise, the dog should only rarely be permitted to find where there is some conspicuous object in the landscape, for example a house, a solitary bush or a tree.

Distractions should at first be avoided, so far as practicable, unless under the direction of an expert trainer. Dogs learn to track while on the lead. If left to itself the animal would often take to hunting and might then easily find by body scent or by eye, which would render it less amenable to the habit of using the nose alone in tracking. Until this habit has become second nature, the following should be borne in mind. Training should take place on terrain where ground conditions (woods, meadows, fields, patches of grass) are extremely favorable. The trainer must then know the course of the track down to the last detail, otherwise he will be unable to apply the proper inducements to the animal. Certain points on the terrain should be chosen for marking the path taken by the tracklayer. His starting place should be precisely known. Care must be taken, however, in any such marking, to prevent the production of visual or olfactory stimuli

A start is made with short tracks of about thirty paces, which are at first laid in a straight line. Zigzag tracks should not be laid if tracks are no more than an hour old, otherwise they will create a whole field of scent, which will impede the dog's attempts to follow up the track. He would be more or less likely, depending on the air currents, to cut the comers.

In the case of track happy dogs one must continually remember that persistence on the initial track can only be relied on when the other tracks within scenting range are considerably weaker in their odors. Careful attention should be paid to this point during training. During training a dog should only rarely be allowed to follow up a track without finding anything, otherwise his interest in tracking will diminish. Cases when nothing is found may well be left for active service; the exercises in which the animal finds regularly will prevent the association established from disintegrating. The objects to be found during tracking must always be carefully laid on the track itself, not to right or left of it, for should the dog find, by body scent, objects off the track, the requisite concentration on track scent would be prejudiced. Objects should not be laid where the track takes a turn, otherwise two disadvantages will ensue. In the first place, an undesirable association might easily be formed between the finding of an object and the turn of the track, while in the second place a dog may often fail to scent an object lying at the turn, particularly when the direction of the wind, if the track is fresh, causes the comer to be cut. In the case of a fresh track this may also occur when the object lies just in front of, or just behind, the bend. A dog often fails to find an object just behind the bend when the track is strongly odorous, because he overshoots (see Fig. 22) the track. He then has to cast about before he can take it up again. In this process he will often end up on the regained track several paces distant from the comer.

The objects should be as inconspicuous as possible and not easily distinguishable in color or shape from the ground.

The purpose of training is to teach the dog to notice and pick up only objects bearing human scent. To prevent the dog reacting to canine as well as to human scent we should not use any objects which the dog has brought in before.

The following Sections include the necessary information on the use of the trainer's own track for making the dog familiar with this work:

(c) Training the track happy dog.

Training must proceed on the lead until the dog has been fully trained to the work, otherwise it will be impossible to apply the compulsive inducements indispensable for ensuring first rate performance. If we achieve our purpose we shall be able, very occasionally and in special cases, to work with a lead dragging on the ground or, in the case of dogs that move slowly on the track, in the absence of inducements from the trainer, who can follow on foot without exertion, with none at all.

A large number of the dogs trained for tracking have previously been used to working with eye and ear as well, and to finding by body﷓scent. Such animals have to be induced to use the nose exclusively. The dog must not be allowed to relapse into his former method of hunting but must be made to keep his nose down, without dashing ahead, and may have to be given special training before he will go forward at all.

For this purpose the equipment recommended by Bottger is admirably suited. A thirty foot lead is hooked into a ring immediately behind the chest harness and carried between the dog's hind legs. This arrangement best enables the requisite jerking inducements to the lead to be applied. A jerk on the lead brings the animal's head down if it is using its eyes or ears and prevents it from relapsing into hunting. If the dog dashes forward at speed the chain collar automatically causes pain, since the trainer always follows at a normal foot pace in order that the animal may gradually learn to work slowly.

Finally, an upward jerk of the lead induces the dog to go forward if it has come to a halt. Distractions are avoided so far as possible until the dog has reached the stage of training at which the exclusive use of the nose for tracking can be brought about by compulsion. The dog must never be allowed to watch or listen to the tracks being laid, or to observe the placing of the objects, by the track layer. The best plan is for the trainer himself to lay the first tracks. The setting of the dog on the personal human scent (individual scent) included in the track is arranged as follows. The animal can only be so set if it is trained in such a way that it does not switch from the trainer's track to strangers' tracks of the same age, otherwise it will never develop track fidelity. Moreover, unless the animal is given practice in not switching to older or newer tracks, it cannot be set on the scent of a track of any given age. The dog will, therefore, never be track sure. A track happy dog is guided by the most outstanding odors of the track, as a rule those of downtrodden vegetation and foot printed earth, and not by those of human type and still less by individual human odor. Nevertheless, the track laid by the trainer has the following advantages. The trainer needs no assistants. He has the best possible practice in tracing the course of the track. He is bound to give the course of the track careful consideration, if only because it is his own dog that he is teaching. We must not assume that the use of strangers' tracks, which is taken up as training proceeds, confronts the dog with a new lesson. It will take to and follow up the track, from the first, exactly as if it were the trainer's. For the animal, after all, has not been by any means concentrating on a personal scent.

Among the distractions which should be avoided, in addition to those of visual and auditory type, are those of an olfactory nature, for instance tracks of game. To begin with, country as far as possible free from tracks should be found. In the case of the track happy dog, constant care must be taken that the scent of the initial track does not include that of any fresher tracks or any of the same age, but only such track scents as are at least half an hour older than the initial track.

Training is begun with fresh, and consequently strong-scented, tracks from five to ten minutes old. In order to arouse a powerful tracking instinct in the dog the layer of the track should walk to and fro, without shuffling, in a circle of about half a square yard and then, immediately afterwards, begin to lay the track. Shuffling has to be avoided to prevent the production of excessive odors such as those of damaged plants and pressed down earth. The track layer then goes about fifteen paces in a straight line, lays an object on the track, then goes ahead again for about another fifteen paces. He then turns back, making a detour, to ensure that the return track lies sufficiently far from the initial track as not to point in the same direction. Distances should, of course, differ as required with lateral, head or following wind.

Tracks are at first laid upwind. This arrangement causes the track scent to reach the dog, thereby arousing its tracking instinct, as soon as the animal nears the track and also facilitates following up. Another advantage is that the dog very rapidly picks up the scent of the object coming downwind to him. Initially, this experience should ensue soon after the start of tracking, so as to arouse the tracking instinct by means of the disposition to retrieve. As training proceeds what was said on the subject of wind direction should be borne in mind. Olfactory awareness of the object may at first be facilitated for the dog by the use of articles that have a fairly strong scent. Leather, for instance, emits a powerful scent. Apart from this point, objects should be chosen to begin with which the dog enjoys picking up.

As soon as the track has become from five to ten minutes old, the trainer takes his stand with the dog, held at first on a short lead, behind the place where the track starts. When the animal begins to sniff, a loud, caressing 'Seek' is uttered, accompanied by the particular gestures appropriate to tracking. At the same moment the lead is allowed to run out. When united with the auditory signal 'Seek' the gestures will, in the course of training, come to form secondary inducements and signals for the start of tracking.

If the animal takes to the track at the inducements given, the trainer follows, holding the lead loosely. If the dog neither sniffs at the starting point nor takes to the track, the trainer walks, holding the animal quite short on the lead, along the track, repeating the word 'Seek' in a friendly tone and making the necessary gestures. In many cases the dog, by reason of its previous habits, may at first show little inclination to track but keep its head high, so as to use eye and ear. If the animal shows the slightest sign of using its nose, the sound of encouragement should be uttered, together with a friendly 'Seek', but replaced by a harsh tone if the dog lifts its muzzle, while looking and listening as though scenting the wind, provided this behaviour is not associated with becoming aware of any object laid on the track. The noticing and picking up of the object is always to be made agreeable by prolonged fondling.

In this training the stage reached by the dog in retrieving must be taken into consideration. We may, for example, to save time, begin tracking even with a dog that is still not quite reliable in the retrieving of small and uncongenial objects. In this case we shall have to dispense with meticulously accurate picking up and surrendering of the object. Were any kind of compulsion to be used in connection with picking up or retrieving during tracking work, the tracking instinct would be impaired. A dog, therefore, which is not yet reliable in retrieving must be treated as follows.

When the dog approaches the object, his behaviour on picking up its scent is observed. If he picks up the object of his own accord, the phrase 'There's a good boy' is uttered and further enthusiastic expressions of satisfaction are used. If the dog then drops the object, nothing should be done to cause him to pick it up again, but inducements should continue to proceed with tracking. If the dog retains the object in his jaws, he is gently instigated to give it up and then at once induced to proceed with tracking. The animal should never be allowed to associate the finding of an object with the cessation of tracking.

For this reason tracking should never be concluded on the finding of an object. It should always be taken a stage further.

If the dog does not pick up the object, the auxiliary sound 'Fetch it' should instantly be uttered. This sound must only be made at the instant when it is desired that the dog should seize the object; never at the start of tracking or at any other time during tracking. The auxiliary sound is dropped altogether as soon as the dog picks up of its own accord. If 'Fetch it' has no effect, an inducement used in retrieving exercises should be revived. The object is immediately kicked, so that it moves and becomes active to some extent. It may also be thrown a little way up the track. If this action, too, proves of no effect, no further inducement should be made to pick up. The training should be stopped and exercises be renewed later with a fresh straight track and the object laid in the same way. The activation of the object is regularly resorted to, in rapid succession if necessary, if the dog does not pick up either of its own accord or on the words 'Fetch it'. If after two or three days our efforts are still unsuccessful, the dog is not yet sufficiently reliable on retrieving and the training will either have to be abandoned or we must be satisfied with the mere persistence of the dog on the track. In any case, the retrieve will have to be brought up to the necessary standard at a time and place unassociated with tracking.

If the dog's progress has been sufficient to enable it to pick up different kinds of small objects, tracks may be prolonged in proportion to the progress made. They can also be laid with curves and comers. The same track must never be used twice running, or the dog will become accustomed to set tracks and memory will then play a part in its work. Regular, methodical changes of tracking plans are essential.

When tracks are prolonged, the lead may be let further and further out. Several objects, too, may be laid. They should always be arranged at irregular distances from one another but never less than fifty yards apart. Objects should be progressively restricted to those having a weak scent.

Something remains to be said about the over running of objects. If there is a current of wind at the spot on the track where the object lies the dog often fails to find it. This may occur, for instance, when the object lies close to the bole of a tree. Finding is often also impossible because the dog, naturally, does not scent when it is breathing out. Capricious winds or changing currents of air produced by a ground wind are also frequent causes of the dog over running.

If the dog overshoots the object, counter inducements can only be applied if the trainer is quite certain that the animal has noticed the object but has not picked it up. In that case the measures previously described are undertaken. If, on the other hand, the object has been over run for normal reasons, the track should be quietly followed up to the end, for the continuity of tracking should never be interrupted if it can be avoided. Another reason is that if the dog has, in fact, failed to scent the object, that is, not noticed it at all, any kind of compulsion to pick up would prejudice the dog's enjoyment of tracking. This disadvantage can only be accepted if the dog does not pick up the object although he has noticed it. Particular attention should be paid to the fact that, as indicated earlier, the dog does not invariably work exactly on a fresh track; for example when there is a lateral wind or he overshoots a comer. This behaviour must be distinguished from cases when the dog, as for instance after overshooting a comer, does not resume the lost track, but takes to hunting. In the last case a sternly uttered 'Seek' or stronger compulsion by tugging at the lead should be instantly employed, followed at once by 'There's a good boy' if the dog makes an effort to pick up the track again. This sound of encouragement is once more repeated, in rapid succession, if he resumes the track.

Compulsion, in a stronger or weaker form, will be found essential with many dogs if good service in tracking is to be obtained from them. It is not only a question of achieving the exclusive use of the nose. The inclination to track can itself be increased by properly applied compulsion, once the dog has arrived at a stage when he is aware that he can at once escape compulsion by the use of the nose. As training proceeds, compulsion must also be applied whenever inclinations, if he sniffs at a mouse hole, for instance. If a dog is fairly capable a flick with the switch and a 'Bah!', followed by 'There's a good boy' as the tracking is resumed, is perfectly legitimate.

As soon as tracking is carried out reliably the type of objects used should be changed, as should the distances between them. Objects which are conspicuous on the ground owing to their color should only rarely be used. The finding of buried objects presents no difficulty; on the contrary, if the objects have been buried by hand or foot, it is simple, for the human scent is then far stronger at the spots where they are concealed than elsewhere. Even if objects are buried with a spade, the hiding place is closely surrounded by footprints, so that if a dog has occasionally to dig up objects hidden on a track the experience, though new, is not one of special difficulty. But such exercises should be practiced only occasionally.

The age up to which tracks are worked will depend upon the service required. Tracks up to two hours old are considered fresh.

(d) Free tracking by the track happy dog.

Provided the general purpose of training is not prejudiced, where it is desired to let a dog track while off the lead, a single object only should be laid on any one track which is to be worked out, for the finding of this object always ends the track the dog returning forthwith to the trainer with the object it has picked up. It is recommended that work should begin on the lead, to facilitate inducement to perform as required. An intermediate stage may consist in allowing the lead to drag along the ground. With this procedure the dog continues to feel dependent upon the trainer and will behave in a more orderly fashion than it would if working in complete freedom. A preliminary condition for work at liberty is that the dog should already be reliable in retrieving the kind of objects placed on the tracks. To begin with, the object used is similar in color to that of the ground but possesses a strong scent, otherwise the dog, which at first often tracks in a very slapdash manner, will be very liable to over run the object. A small piece of wood, for example, covered with earth colored leather, would be suitable. We must put up with the disadvantage that the dog will at first be concentrating upon one particular object and, in addition, upon his own canine scent, which is, of course, borne by the repeatedly used object. This method is unsuitable in teaching a dog to be track sure.

The training begins, as described in Section (C), with short, straight tracks and proceeds until retrieving of the object can be relied on. Tracks should not be laid in the neighborhood of distinctive environmental stimuli.

If, when free tracking commences, the dog tends to relapse into hunting, the objects are arranged in such a way, so far as may be possible, to prevent his finding by this means. For example, the track may be laid straight to begin with then be made to turn right at a right angle and finally, after a suitable distance, to end with another right angled turn to the right. The object should be laid on this last lap, so that it is to be found in the opposite direction to that of the first lap of the track. The dog should always be called off immediately it starts hunting.

Should it be the intention to use the dog for tracking male factors, no track layer should ever be allowed to remain any where about the territory when objects are being tracked free. He should turn back to where the trainer is standing. This is necessary because were the dog to catch up with the track layer as he might when over running an object, the animal might easily be reminded of past experiences which occurred after persons were found during tracking. The consequence would be the baying of the cornered man.

Since in free tracking it frequently happens that the dog at first over runs an object owing to impetuosity and inadequate use of the nose, we must beware of treating the animal, when he comes up to the trainer, with any degree of severity. Quite apart from the fact that over running is easily possible for reasons given in Section (c), any show of severity in such circumstances would be likely to produce an undesirable association with the recall. The dog must, therefore, always be received with 'There's a good boy', though he may have over run the object and completed the rest of the track. If one is uncertain why the object was not picked up, one should allow the dog to work the track to the end, for in the case of an over run object a disagreeable experience, e.g. a 'Bah !' or a call off, would be prejudicial to the working out of the track itself. On any occasion when the dog fails to pick up an object, whether he over runs it or leaves it owing to insufficient training in the retrieve, it is always advisable to put the dog on the lead for the second working out of the track. If a second working out takes place without the lead, the animal may be expected to make imperfect use of its sense of smell for, of course, it already knows the way, and may even at the second working out of the track fail to find the object. But if the lead is used the trainer can, by resorting to the sounds of correction and encouragement, induce the animal to work much more effectively.

If the dog leaves the track again we must ascertain whether such action is due to any dispersion of the scent, owing to a side wind, for instance, or to the animal ceasing to follow the track scent and relapsing into hunting. The question can be decided according to whether or not the dog, on leaving the track after over running a comer, immediately begins to search for the scent again, keeping his head low. If he starts hunting, a harsh 'Seek', several times repeated, is uttered, followed by a 'There's a good boy' as soon as the dog makes an effort to pick up the line again. The sound of encouragement is again repeated as soon as he reaches the track and begins to follow it up once more. If the harsh 'Seek' has no effect, the dog must be called off, agreeable experience only being provided on this occasion, and after an interval tracking with the lead should be resumed.

(e) Training the track sure dog.

If we wish to achieve the highest degree of perfection in tracking we must renounce versatility. The police dog on track duty should only employ the nose. His instinct to guard is completely in abeyance. During training he should never experience hostility from those who accompany him on the track.

The purpose of training is that the dog should use its nose as continuously as possible and with complete concentration on the scent belonging to the initial track. To do this he must scent the track step by step, for which object 136ttger's track harness is the best method of teaching (see Fig. 23). The course of the track should be arranged to include plenty of angles and comers. Further, the exclusive use of very small and quite lightly scented objects, differing as little as possible from the ground in color and shape, is desirable. Again, after training has reached a certain stage, practice should take place on tracks which are not less than two hours old and which oblige the dog to make the most painstaking use of his nose. In this connection, too, care should be taken to practice on ground which varies both in type and vegetation. The dog should be given plenty of opportunity to pick up the scent at the start of the course. Persistence on an initial track being a prime object of training, it is particularly important always to have a precise and detailed knowledge of the course, to avoid unsuitable inducements. The finishing touch to training comes when the trainer knows neither the start of the track nor anything at all about its course. When that stage is reached trainer and dog have been welded into a perfect unity and are capable of performing the best type of service. On active service the method of setting the dog on the track will depend on the ability it shows, an essential preliminary condition being the availability of scent from human footprints. The track is provided by a series of advancing footsteps, whether each individual imprint is visible or not. We always speak of tracks and not of traces, since the latter expression covers all indications left behind by the malefactor or created by him. Before the dog is set on the track the scene of the crime must be searched to discover what kind of ground the perpetrator has stepped on, such as earth, grass, wood or stone. If the dog has to be set on invisible tracks its persistence on the initial track cannot, of course, be checked with certainty. Consequently, it is of special importance in such cases to discover whether other persons have visited the scene and covered the malefactor's scent with their own.

Appropriate districts for practice are flat and easily surveyed, with a few landmarks, such as single trees or bushes, to show the course of the track. Dry flat, sandy places, without undergrowth, and stone or asphalt pavements or the like, are unsuitable.

The experienced trainer, or pupils attending a course of training, may undertake even initial training under the following distractions.

Strangers may be allowed to wander about the district selected for training. Fairly loud noises, such as those of heavy lorries, may be heard. Tracks and droppings of game, as well as strange dogs, may also be present.

The inexperienced trainer, working to a book, should delay training with distractions until the dog has worked out shortish tracks and can be relied on to retrieve objects of its own accord. Such a trainer should not at first include distracting tracks in his work and should abide by the principles laid down in Sections (b) and (c).

The dog can also be trained in such a way that instead of picking up objects found in the scent area of the track he will merely indicate them by standing still or sitting down.

The first tracks are laid as recommended in Section (c). As soon as the dog will start on a track of its own accord a straight track should be laid downwind or in an area protected from the wind, so that the body scent of objects is not carried to the dog and its nose, especially on fresh tracks, must be kept close to the ground. One must be particularly careful in the choice of objects, which should invariably be quite small and inconspicuous. In order that they may carry human scent, they should always be kept on one's own person, in the trouser pocket. They should never be used more than once and should be put away in a place where the dog will not be able to notice them again in future training. If used more than once they naturally come to bear canine scent after being held in the dog's jaws. Pieces of bark an inch or two long and about half an inch thick, such as may be found lying about in woods, are very suitable for the purpose. Fallen twigs of about this size are equally suitable. Their ends, however, should not be cut off, in case some color contrasting with that of the ground should then be exposed. Buttons with a dull surface and of inconspicuous coloring are also quite useful.

We begin with fresh tracks ten or fifteen minutes old, which may be those laid by the trainer or handler. Concentration on individual scent does not accompany the type of training given.  Work on the trainer's track may continue until we reach the stage at which the dog is so far advanced that thenceforth the courses of the tracks are unknown to the trainer.

As soon as sufficient progress has been made in the use of the nose for tracking to be attained by compulsive inducement, the inexperienced trainer working alone may deal with cross tracks, at first only with those not more than half an hour older than the initial track. This chronological difference is gradually decreased to a few minutes. Not till later should cross tracks that are fresher than the main track be introduced. The dog should then still be only working tracks more than two hours old. Once he reaches tracks of that age he should never again be put to work on fresher ones. We may again emphasize that in dealing with this stage of training it is most important to have a precise knowledge of the course of the initial track. Otherwise one might not apply the correct inducements when the dog at first shows an inclination to pick up cross tracks. The degree of compulsion required will depend upon the temperament and capacity of the dog in question. The weaker form consists of a harsh 'Seek', while the stronger is accompanied by a jerk at the lead. Strong compulsion should not be used to induce persistence. Compulsion must always be followed by agreeable experience immediately the dog behaves as desired.

In training for persistence on the track the dog should be made to concentrate on the scent relating to the initial track; this probably being of a different age from the rest. Consequently, cross tracks of the same age should be avoided as far as possible during training.

Persistence is facilitated if fairly fresh cross tracks are left out and only those older than the initial one are used. On the dog's arrival at a cross track, he must be given a chance to learn how to distinguish its smell from that of the initial track. For this purpose he must smell the cross tracks, for otherwise he cannot register the differences of scent. The smelling of human cross tracks not of course of those of animals is, therefore, necessary. But on each occasion the dog's behaviour, as it smells and compares scents, must be closely watched.

Such reaction to scent difference as we can see does not begin, in the case of a fully trained dog, until the animal has followed the scent of the cross track for a short distance. His initial behaviour does not therefore indicate whether the dog has made an erroneous change over to the cross track and is following its scent, or whether he may yet reject the false track. The dog may be merely testing the quality of the scent of the cross track. The answer will depend on whether after this test he turns of his own accord, thus abandoning the cross track, and spontaneously takes up the initial track again, or whether he continues to follow the cross track, not declining its scent but pursuing it exactly as he would that of the initial track.

A dog that has still to learn that it should decline strange tracks will at first, especially when differences in age are slight, change over to them and follow them up methodically. The main object of training is to break him of this habit.

Here the question arises to what distance the dog should be allowed to test the strange track, to give him time to register the difference of scent, while preventing him from taking up and working out the cross track. It may be observed that the shorter the time difference between initial and cross track, the more intensive will be the smelling of the cross tracks, thus the longer the delay and the greater the distance covered during testing. It follows that the trainer must freely permit the smelling and testing of cross tracks. He should only interfere when it is evident that the dog has taken up the cross track and is working it out. If age difference is slight, a novice dog should be allowed at most ten paces to test a strange cross track.

The choice of ground in practicing with cross tracks is of great importance. A ground on which the dog is given the chance to use his memory in addition to his nose for finding is unsuitable. The course and its conclusion must always be so arranged that recollection of events daring previous exercises cannot be turned to advantage. This can be done by working in territory where a very large number of cross tracks run together in disorderly fashion within the scenting area of the course (though not at the start of the initial track) while the latter is always so arranged as to differ as regards length, direction, corners, curves and conclusion from that of its predecessor.

We have still to consider how persistence on the initial track can be facilitated for the dog at an early stage. An individual scent laid by a series of footprints can only be held by a track sure dog if the track runs for some distance and in isolated fashion into the surrounding territory, so that the scent in question remains for a certain length of time free from other human track scents. A strong scent for the initial track is, therefore, established at the starting point. The track layer walks to and fro for one or two minutes, without scraping up the ground, in an area of about half a square yard. Then he paces the first ten steps of the track in very short strides, thereafter resuming his normal stride. This method of starting the track begins from the very first day and from this the dog will proceed by stages from a powerfully scented area to the degree of strength provided by the normal track. A thorough scenting of the olfactory field at the start of the track is important. It is effected firstly by the strength of the initial scent and secondly by the fact that the continuation of the track is not laid in the direction in which the trainer sets the animal. The dog is therefore obliged to search the scent area for an outlet and consequently has to work it thoroughly.

These formal arrangements should make it clear to the trainer how important it is to teach the dog to make a thorough exploration of the track scent right at the start of the track. An essential condition for success in practical tracking work is the presence of enough olfactory stimuli at the start of the track to enable the dog to become familiar, at this early stage, with the specific track scent left behind by the maker of the track. It will then be possible for the dog, from the start of the track, to follow this specific track scent across other human tracks, even those of the same age or fresher. If the trainer is obliged to set his dog at only one footprint, the animal will then need a fairly long stretch, which may be from thirty to sixty yards, depending on the nature of the ground, before it can pick up the quantity of olfactory stimuli required to render it familiar with the track scent. If this section of the track should be cut by fairly recent cross tracks, especially at acute angles, or blocked to any extent in its course, the success of tracking is likely to be imperiled.

The trainer must also teach his dog to track when only a small quantity of olfactory stimuli are available at the start of the track. This, for example, would be the case if there were only a single footprint at the starting point. As has already been stressed, it is most essential in laying tracks to make sure at the first lesson that both the start of the track and all the details of its course are precisely known to the trainer. As soon as tracks exceed fifty paces a number of objects are set down, always at irregular intervals and never less than fifty paces apart.

Not until the track has been laid does the trainer fetch the dog from its position at a distance and lead it close up to the start of the track. The tracking harness is now adjusted and the line fitted. These manipulations, always carried out in the same way, come in time to form, with the word 'Seek', a secondary inducement or commencement signal, and consequently an incentive to the picking up and following of the track. This procedure is of special value in cases when, as on active service the starting point of the track is unknown to the trainer or handler.

Training begins with the dog, as mentioned in Section (c), being held on a short lead, lengthened as soon as the animal begins to smell over the start of the track, to the sound of 'There's a good boy' and 'Seek', accompanied by the gestures appropriate to tracking. A dog which may at once dash forward is followed at a normal pace. The remaining inducements are noted in Section (c). Any erroneous attitude of the dog to the track scent, whether by using sight, keeping the nose high, listening, picking up animal or other scents which may attract it in any way and so on, must be repressed. The severity of the correction may be increased proportionately as the dog's ability to track improves. The encouragements given when an object is found must, however, be all the stronger, so that the animal's pleasure in the work may be constantly renewed and intensified.

If the dog works out training tracks with two corners about 100 yards in length satisfactorily, the number of comers is increased their direction being constantly changed and the tracks are gradually brought up to 400 yards in length (see Figs. 25 and 26). The inclusion of several angles encourages the incessant use of the nose, for the many abrupt changes of direction enforce a lasting tension and impose greater strain on the power of scent. If the dog over runs a comer, the trainer at once stands still and watches the animal. If the dog starts hunting instead of searching for the lost track scent, the trainer applies inducement by means of the lead and the word 'Seek'. The main point is that the dog should learn to decline strange track scents. With a track length of about 400 yards the age of the track may be about an hour.

When the dogs have reached the track sure stage, when they can be relied on to follow the initial track without switching to fresher or older cross tracks, initial tracks are gradually increased to about a mile and a quarter. Work is then taken to a different territory.

This transfer is first arranged by starting the tracks on the ground hitherto used for training and continuing them on territory unfamiliar to the dog, where they are laid over paths and roads, including built up areas and those used by pedestrians and vehicles. In this way the animals are not only kept concentrated on their task of declining cross tracks but are also familiarized with other distractions of an olfactory, auditory and visual character, due to pedestrian and vehicular traffic. When an advanced stage of tracking is reached, tracks may be gradually extended up to two and a half miles, and their age increased to about three hours. Trainers have eventually to become accustomed to tracking work in which they are entirely ignorant of the courses laid and are obliged themselves to provide the starting point. An accurately drawn plan showing the course of the track must be available to enable inducements to be applied to the dog and, in this case, to the trainer as well. The trainer being entirely ignorant of the course, now learns for the first time to make certain observations regarding his dog's behaviour which formerly often escaped his notice. He learns, for example, to judge much more accurately whether the dog is following the initial track or not. Since, however, the dog is still at the novice stage, he must only be allowed freedom while he sticks to the initial track and declines strange ones. If the dog slackens in making this effort, the instructor must immediately notify the trainer to that effect and the latter must at once intervene. At this point, if the dog again assumes the undesirable attitude, work will continue with the instructor keeping the trainer acquainted with the course of the track. For the main point is now the prompt application of inducements to the dog under instruction. Work on the usual training ground must also be continually repeated and tracks of a thoroughly complex character be laid there and worked out by the dog, if necessary, under compulsion. At a certain stage of learning many dogs work extremely well under compulsion. But they cease to do so when given a considerable degree of freedom in tracking, for example if the trainer does not know the course of the track they are on. In the case of these dogs compulsion has not yet had its full effect and for the time being further compulsive inducements must be applied while working on tracks the course of which is known to the trainer. On active service consistently reliable performance can only be achieved by a trainer whose dog has learnt to work out a track, even in the absence of compulsion, by a most painstaking use of the nose. Such is the object of training, and in order to achieve it compulsion must have been previously employed for an adequate time. The excuse that 'my dog is not in the mood for tracking today' will not do and would not be necessary had training been properly carried out. There must, of course, be a frequent return to compulsive inducement on the training ground. It is quite a different matter if the dog is unable to pick up the track of a malefactor at the scene of the crime owing to the place having been visited by other people, or to the track being so old that it can no longer afford sufficient traces of scent for the dog's nose to work on. In such a case, of course, the failure to pick up a track cannot be held to discredit either the dog or his trainer.

Training at this stage is more and more assimilated to the conditions of active service. Tracks are no longer started on the training ground but beyond it. Wooded country and isolated houses give both trainer and dog good opportunities for following tracks. 'Burglaries', for example, may be staged in isolated houses, outbuildings, etc. Tracks are laid from such points, the dog and its handler arriving there hours afterwards. In this connection it may be added that in practice success has never yet been achieved in the detection of robberies which have taken place on other than ground floors. Apparently, so little scent is left on wood that the trail cannot be picked up. Tracks also have to be worked out in the dark. It is important in such cases to keep the dog under observation to take note of any significant movements he may make. A pocket torch carried by the trainer is not much use, for the beam must be at least ten yards long to illuminate the ground in front of the dog, since the dog's handler must be able to observe the territory ahead as well as the animal's own pursuit action. It would also be impossible in such instances to follow every movement by the dog, as one would have to be constantly directing the torch upon the animal. An illuminated harness, which can be used when dogs are put on the track, has been found effective. This harness is fitted with a lamp that throws a diagonal beam forwards and downwards. It illuminates about four square yards of ground in such a way that the handler can not only see his dog but also discern all the necessary ground indications. Whichever way the dog turns the beam always points forward and adequately illuminates the ground immediately in front of the animal. The handler himself remains in the dark but is enabled to follow the dog with certainty and without dashing about. Moreover, he has his hands free to deal with any possible eventualities.

Some hints may be added for the handler of track sure dogs. It may happen on very long tracks that dogs become reluctant, owing to overstrain, to go on working. If the signs of such overstrain are noticed a note should be taken of the place at which the dog was still hot on the track, and the animal allowed to rest for about a quarter of an hour. When a fresh start is made a well trained animal will immediately pick up the track again and resume work. If the track being followed by the dog is interrupted at a certain point, where the ground might be paved or much frequented, an attempt must either be made to get the dog itself to resume the track, or, if this expedient is impracticable, the handler himself must undertake the task.

Finally, it should again be emphasized that the track sure dog neither follows the individual human scent on a track nor gives notice of conformities in scent between track and object or track and man. He follows the specific scent given off by a track of a certain age and takes note of all objects contained within the scent range of the track if they bear scent of human type. The individual human scent, therefore, plays no part in this process.

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