I have been trying to teach my service to track using food drops and a pile of food at the end of a 20 year track. I have some problems. Can you help me?

My department recently purchased a dual-purpose police dog. The dog is a 3-year-old IPO 1 Belgian Malinois and is a really nice narcotic detector and handler protector. I have been working on tracking with the dog for about 4 weeks now. Initially, I started laying 20-yard straight tracks with dog food on the scent pad and along the track with a pile at the end for the reward.

The dog would track to the end with his head down. He eat the food along the way along with the pile at the end. I also made sure that the wind was at my back. After a week or so, the dog began to literally run to the end of the short track with his head down and would skip the food along the way to get to the pile at the end. He also began to drift off of the track while running so I would have to stop and pull back on the tracking lead to get him back on the track with his head down. This would cause him to start to bracket from side to side and he would come back to me. When I give the command (TRACK) his head automatically goes down and he starts smelling well.

I've tried using a ball and a tug toy instead of dog food and I have even tried using hot dogs. The dog wind scents very well and has even had a couple of bites at the end of some tracks in hopes that a light bulb would turn on.

I know it would be a lot simpler for you to view the dog, but my question is that in light of the information given is it possible to teach this dog to track? I work for a small agency (small budget included) and I would like to know if I'm wasting my time? I've also tried food deprivation and all he did was lose weight and showed no improvement. I'm saving my money for the tracking videos in hopes that I can maybe change up my training tactics.

Respectfully,
Kevin