I have a PSD 3yr male mal we have only been on the road since October 2006. That first winter was very light..not alot of snow or very cold temps. This winter has been much different temps in single numbers and alot of snow. Due to the temps we have doing alot of inside stuff during weekly training...ie drugs, building searches,aggression inside. Well today I wanted to do some tracking today due to not having done alot for awhile either training or deployments. I got together with the guys and I had the decoy lay about a 1/2 mile track with plowed pavement, snow covered woods, and sides of streets. My dog as always been know as a pretty good tracker and has some finds to his name. He came out of the car like he never tracked before.ie...head up, looking at every noise, for no reason would just get off track. I feel if I did not know where it went we would have never found him. The only time I saw him tracking was through the woods(when I could have tracked the bad guy) I did three tracks througout the day and only the last track which was only about 300-400 meters long and I had the decoy leave tennis balls along the track. That seemed to bring his focus back a little.

Do the officers out there find that thier tracking goes down in the winter with low temps and snow and ice??

Dave,

Winter tracking absolutely has some of its own challenges. With the lower temperatures the scent is going to really stick to the ground and disperse at a very low level. In the woods where the snow was probably a little deeper the foot prints will help pool the scent and hold it a little longer not to mention provides a visual cue for the dog. Add to that the absence of crushed vegetation and disturbed ground scent and yes it becomes more difficult and requires the dog to work harder and focus more.

You may try (during training) run a very short track first just to get his head in the game if you haven't tracked for a while. Nothing elaborate, 30-40 yards into the wind. It's like anything if you don't use it you loose it. I also like to get into the habit of a routine I go through with the dog each time I'm going to track again nothing elaborate but just the process of getting his harness on gets his mind set on tracking. Obviously in a deployment situation things are going much faster but if you’re tracking someone you’re still going to take the time to get your equipment together. The dog will quickly associate that with tracking.

At times I have had my dog act the same way in the snow (just wanted to play) acting like he had no clue. If I add a little obedience by downing him until he’s focused again on the track he usually focuses again quickly.

Good luck and stay safe,
Jason

Usually the decoys have a lot of heavy clothes and are wearing rubber boots or snow packs. I think this limits the amount of scent left by them. I have tracked individuals on ice and snow that had been gone several hours. A dog is not even needed in most cases if there is a complete snow cover. A one eyed candy peddler can follow a man in the snow, however solid ice or patchy coverage can be tricky and a good dog is invaluable.