May 19, 2011
When should I consider looking at level 2 & 3 (urban/suburban) tracking?
Full Question:
Ed,My dog has worked for some time on the street. I bought your Level One tape and the last two days I had someone lay short known tracks. I just wanted to view the dog after having the knowledge of your tape already in my head. I believe my dog is trying to do the right things and I wasn't paying attention. I am going to try a few short unknown tracks (as you suggested) to see how much work I need to do to bring him up to speed on Level One.
P.S. Would you suggest the level two tape anytime soon, since I will come in contact with a lot of streets, cars, sidewalks etc. in my normal police tracks?
John
Ed's Answer:
John,
At this time the only reason to get the level 2 tape is for yourself and the tactics you will need to know on how to solve city tracking problems. If your dog can not consistently find a 45 minute old unknown county track he is not going to track well in the city. You will then be way ahead of your dogs ability.
City officers always make the mistake of thinking like this. "All of my tracks are in the city so that's where I have to train." The difficulty with city tracking is distractions (other dogs, cats, garbage and normal citizens cross tracks). Tracking in the country is sterile tracking. Its in the country that a dog really learns how to track. In the city he learns to deal with distraction. So if a dog has problems in the country there is no way he can do city tracking.
What the level 2 video has to offer is a lot of information on handling a dog when the dog loses the track (i.e. street crossings etc.) The handler needs to start to think about how to acquire a lost track and how to put your dog back on track after he looses it. Many new trainers don't understand that this is the handlers responsibility not the dogs. So that's why you will need this tape. There is a ton of information here on reacquiring lost tracks. There is an art form to it.
Regards,
Ed
At this time the only reason to get the level 2 tape is for yourself and the tactics you will need to know on how to solve city tracking problems. If your dog can not consistently find a 45 minute old unknown county track he is not going to track well in the city. You will then be way ahead of your dogs ability.
City officers always make the mistake of thinking like this. "All of my tracks are in the city so that's where I have to train." The difficulty with city tracking is distractions (other dogs, cats, garbage and normal citizens cross tracks). Tracking in the country is sterile tracking. Its in the country that a dog really learns how to track. In the city he learns to deal with distraction. So if a dog has problems in the country there is no way he can do city tracking.
What the level 2 video has to offer is a lot of information on handling a dog when the dog loses the track (i.e. street crossings etc.) The handler needs to start to think about how to acquire a lost track and how to put your dog back on track after he looses it. Many new trainers don't understand that this is the handlers responsibility not the dogs. So that's why you will need this tape. There is a ton of information here on reacquiring lost tracks. There is an art form to it.
Regards,
Ed
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