This 2 hour video was also done with the RCMP. In it we train a dog
to track in a suburban and urban environment. In Level 1
Tracking (Video 205) we taught the dog to track in the country. The reason
all police dogs must first learn to track in the country is because the country
is relatively distraction free. We actually teach the dog to track in the country
and then use a large part of the Level II & III teaching the dog to deal
with the distractions of the city.
In this video the dogs learn to deal with extreme distractions
(ie. dogs barking on the other side of a fence, cats in back yards, kids following
along). The dog's also learn to deal with much smaller scent pictures, more
cross tracks and extreme cover changes.
Most people think that handling a tracking dog simply means holding
on to the line and just following the dog. In fact, completing a successful
track is the result of 75% proper handling and 25% good dog work.
This tape teaches hard surface road crossings along with extended
periods of track loss (where the dog must search and search for a lost track).
We teach the handler the true meaning of "reading your dog". Every
successful K-9 handler is a master at recognizing negatives and assisting his
dog in reacquiring the lost track.
If you are a canine officer in a large city, do not buy this
tape thinking you can skip the Level I country training just because you never
track outside the city. The country work is critical to the development of
a good tracking dog. Dogs must first learn to track the country before they
are exposed to distractions of city tracking. If you try and skip country tracking
you will fail. Guaranteed.