Thanks Anita. I havent used the harness either. I've been doing like you with the line under.

If you are talking about holding the harness on the dogs actual track, I would not. It may inhibit the dogs willingness to work since you are so close to the dog and holding by the handle may possibly cause you to give corrections that your really do not mean to give.

What length of line are you using?
I use a 15 foot line which is what is comfortable for me and it gives the hound enough space to work the trail on his own.

I did not mention the reward at the end is due to the fact that I have SAR dogs and they need to have victim loyalty. I do not use food on the trail but rather the "victim" at the end IS the reward. So that part slips my mind sometimes....

I also use a variable schedule of reward on dogs that are progressing well and know the "game", which means the reward (food or toy) may or may not be there.

Thanks Carol. I'm hoping to avoid causing any problems so you just saved me one. Varying the reward by putting it in fewer tracks is something I'll try. I'm using a 15 foot line but I'm actually up almost next to him at this stage.

How old is your dog? I noticed you said he's looking up also at times. Sounds like he's losing focus. Are you tracking in a place without distractions?

He's 4. There's no distractions,no wind at all either. It's early Sunday mornings right about the time the sun comes up. He's motivated for food like other dogs are for toys. Once he got the idea there was going to be bits of hotdog there he started pulling for them. Luckily he stays on a track but he'll miss a couple of the footprints over 30 or so yards. I'm not sure if he's looking up for the food or because I'm trying to hold him back.

 Quote: carol boche

I did not mention the reward at the end is due to the fact that I have SAR dogs and they need to have victim loyalty. I do not use food on the trail but rather the "victim" at the end IS the reward. So that part slips my mind sometimes....

Ah, I guess I should have asked what kind of tracking you're doing. I assumed Schutzhund-style, footprint-footprint tracking. If you're doing SAR or police style tracking, ignore my advice. The perp or victim would be long gone if you use that style.

It's sport tracking for Sch. But with Andy being four I'm on a little bit of a short time frame. I don't want to cause bad habits so advice from all experiences is helpful to me.

Hi Steve,

I find that I need to slow my dog down occasionally on the track now too (sport tracking for Schutzhund).

For the last couple of months I have begun to take up some of the food on the track and randomize the placement of what I put down as suggested here. But that has seemed to cause the increase in speed in my case as now Ellie pulls through the steps without food to get to the steps with food.

In thinking through this would going back to laying a serpentine track versus straight tracks with 90 degree turns help any?

Also, maybe lengthening your track Steve in order to give your dog time to settle into a more methodical track. I have seen that work too with a dog that is pretty keyed at the start.

I'm a novice myself, but thought I'd chime in.

Katie

Golly gosh, Katie, did you have to come along and reinforce the point that every dog is different?

Again drawing on my vast personal experience training sport tracking -- I've been at it for almost two years and have competed in one (1) mock trial -- I have a couple of ideas to bounce off anyone.

1. Steve, you said Andy has done 7 tracks. Is that 7 tracks total, or 7 tracks the last time you were out? If it's 7 tracks total, maybe it's too early to not put treats in almost every footstep? What about putting a treat in almost every footstep, and only occasionally (and randomly) skip one? Then sometimes skip 2, then 3, etc. For a long time, make sure treated footsteps come in groups - i.e. never a single footstep with a treat but the before and after footsteps don't have treats. Randomize the number of footsteps having treats so he doesn't learn to count.

2. To slow him down at the beginning, put a lot of food in the first few steps? My dog does articles now, so I almost always put an article within a few feet of the start. That has made him concentrate more at the start and settles him down for the rest of the track. Sometimes I'll put 2 or 3 articles near the start in quick succession.

Again, I am not a tracking expert, nor do I play one on TV. So think real hard before applying my suggestions.

Thanks Katie and Anita. We've done a total of 7 tracks. I'm glad you've both replied, I think somewhere in a combination of the different answers I'll find what will work with him. Thanks again.