May 19, 2011
Is tracking thru drive stressful on the dog?
Full Question:
I have just bought and looked at your Level I and II & III RCMP tracking videos, and found them very well made and interesting. A few questions, if you have the time and possibility to answer them:1. You work with very high motivation, and the dogs are selected for very high drives. Are there generally any stress-related problems on the track due to this? Like dogs not being able to concentrate enough at track losses, difficult conditions, etc.? Do you think stress management is an issue in this style of tracking, or do the dogs get this by themselves by self-discovery as to how to solve the track?
2. Does the RCMP have problems determining the direction of the track when they dog finds the track, do they train this separately? This would be a very interesting topic. Is stress an issue here? What do you do if the dog chooses the wrong direction and commits to it (in training / real tracks)?
Best regards,
Jorgen
Ed's Answer:
There is ZERO stress on the track. You have missed the biggest factor in this style of tracking. There is "no force," therefore there is no stress. There can only be stress if there is a threat of force. Sport dogs that are trained with force have stress, police dogs trained with "Tracking through drive" have no stress. If the dog is properly selection tested it has fun on the track.
The RCMP does not train scent identification, they train the dog to follow a "hot track." If the dog picks up a track of someone other than the suspect at the beginning, this is the track the dog will follow.
Tracking is a team effort. Police tracking is the most difficult exercise that human's train dogs to do. It is far more difficult than obedience, protection, agility or any other dog sport. Those that do not agree with this lack experiences and have never trained a good police service tracking dog.
Tracking through drive is stressful on the handlers, but it's not stressful on the dog.
The RCMP does not train scent identification, they train the dog to follow a "hot track." If the dog picks up a track of someone other than the suspect at the beginning, this is the track the dog will follow.
Tracking is a team effort. Police tracking is the most difficult exercise that human's train dogs to do. It is far more difficult than obedience, protection, agility or any other dog sport. Those that do not agree with this lack experiences and have never trained a good police service tracking dog.
Tracking through drive is stressful on the handlers, but it's not stressful on the dog.
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