I have a new GSD pup that is now 5 months old, father is West German and mother is a Checz. Father is Dave Koyers dog Rasta http://www.pedigreedatabase.com/gsd/pedigree/444422.html and mother pedigree is http://www.pedigreedatabase.com/gsd/pedigree/502987.html Supposedly a lot of dogs on the mothers side are Chez police dogs, but aren’t all Checz dogs(g). Things look good so far so that means it must have bad hips. Here is a video of some of his foundation tracking work. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8UUIlKcYv2c Now I don't suggest you train like I do but thought you might pick up something you can use in your training. Norman
Will Rambeau Moderator Reg: 01-25-2003
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This is a solid video to show how a skilled handler/trainer motivates his young dog during a training session.
Notice how Norman's speech pattern at the beginning of the vidoe revs the puppy up to the point where it's going "ohboyohboyohboy!! Something cool is gonna happen!" .
And by the bouncy and excited mannerism of the pup, you can just see how much it enjoys the work. Nice!
Also, please notice how Norman's verbal reward is very enthusiastic, just the way it should be ( I just hate when people are so flat in giving praise - that drives me bonkers with my students ).
Your prasie is part of the dog's "paycheck" and most people just don't give enough of it during training ( especially men ) but Norman's level is ideal for this high-drive dog.
Overall a first rate example of filming a training epsode.
This is how I got to that point. I first start out with scent pads (a defined area of crushed grass with a lot of small pieces of hot dogs) and stay with scent pads until the dog knows what your track command means, by that I mean when you give the command the dog will put its nose down, and on his own will go back in the scent pad when he ventures out looking for food. I generally put in around 3 at one training session. During this same time frame I also play a game where I toss a small slice of hot dog in high grass and tell the dog to find it. I do this in order to teach the dog to hunt when it doesn’t find the food immediately that game also helps a weakened hunt drive. Be sure to praise the dog a lot when he finds it and when he comes back to play again. Hold him by the collar and toss another and do this a few times, but when the dog is most ready to continue, quit. This will make him more eager next time. When you begin to track, even if your dog wants to quickly get down the track, don’t let him pass up any piece of food as this can cause a dog that tracks too fast. Oh did I mention that a well bred dog doesn’t hurt.
Erm Norman............That's an awesome pedigree and some nice drive on that dog!
I have a very nice tracking dog but she has too many problems in tracking for my experience level. I keep meaning to do a video of her to get opinions on how to make things better but I fear that it's more my handling that's at fault than anything else.
What did you use to compress/transfer the video for the web?
steve strom Webboard User Reg: 03-17-2006
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Hey Norman, after scent pads did you also do 3 short tracks in the beginning? Also to keep him from passing up any food, are you just holding him back until he comes to that missed footstep, or do you re-start him or something? Is the length of your stride any help? The video looks like he's tracking nicely on changing ground cover and terrain with that sweeping, side to side movement I wish I could get.
No I just do the scent pads then when he shows me he’s ready to progress, I take him to the short tracks and yes I hold him back until he picks up the food in each foot step. I have found if they come to a footstep with no food they look for it but finding no food they go on to the next footstep. They do this IMO because of the many tracks you have had him run before when he did get food. The same holds true for heeling using food, if they don’t get it they keep heeling till they do, and how long the dog will wait is directionally proportional to how often you train when he did. I think the sweeping motion you made reference to is, in part, learned by that game of finding a piece of food in high grass in that he is looking for his food. That said I do have a short stride just because my legs are short (g). Understand there are many ways to teach tracking this is just what I do. What someone else does may be as affective or more affective. Or it may be that some dogs are just better at tracking than others.
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