May 19, 2011
I have a dog that has no interest in tracking. What can I do to train him?
Full Question:
I have a dog that has no interest in tracking. What can I do to train him? Even when he is not fed and we use hot dogs and food it is put in plain sight but he does not leave the pad. What can be done to get him started? ![Ed](https://leerburg.com/Photos/articles/authors/edfrawley.jpg)
![Ed](https://leerburg.com/Photos/articles/authors/edfrawley.jpg)
Dogs are going to track for food or for the love or drive of following scent. Obviously food is "out" with this dog. You can check his scenting ability with handler tracks - where a stranger holds the dog and you run off in the woods. From the sound of your e-mail, this is not going to make much of a difference with this dog.
To be brutally honest, my advise is to sell the dog or just keep it as a pet. If the dog has no drive to track why try and train it to track. It’s going to be a hassle from day one. You can't make a working dog out of something that does not want to work.
Sometimes we need to be honest with ourselves about the abilities of our dogs. We Americans have a problem with this. I like the Dutch KNPV approach. If a dog will not work - he is out the door and a new one is there to take his place.
To be brutally honest, my advise is to sell the dog or just keep it as a pet. If the dog has no drive to track why try and train it to track. It’s going to be a hassle from day one. You can't make a working dog out of something that does not want to work.
Sometimes we need to be honest with ourselves about the abilities of our dogs. We Americans have a problem with this. I like the Dutch KNPV approach. If a dog will not work - he is out the door and a new one is there to take his place.
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