Danny is 5 months old now and growing up fast. He is shedding teeth like crazy. He also has this crazy newbie owner trying to train him (me). I am trying to come up with a plan for his future and a direction to our training. Of course I know right now the main thing is to just get obedience basics down.

But I need a goal, a next step for us. He really seems to love tracking. We play hide and seek with my kids in our community greenbelt area. I almost think that he likes it more than food and he really loves food.

He is a golden retriever and I don't imagine he will a candidate for something like Schutzhund.

Search and rescue seems like something that he would really do well at but how would I know? Besides that I am uncertain if I could ever be an adequate handler for a SAR dog. I am not the healthiest or most physically fit person.

I plan to continue training obedience. For fun I am planning on training agility. I have some plans to teach him some assistance dog skills as well.

When Dan was 3 months old I took him and my 5 year-old hiking in a place that was new to me. It was a wooded area riddled with trails and when we headed back to the car I took a wrong turn. Dan had his nose to the ground and tried to go down the right path but I overuled him. He complied with me and lifted up his head and followed me.

A short distance later I realized that we were indeed on the worng path so we went back to the fork to pick up Danny's path. Again his nose went to the ground and he pulled in front of me.

It turned out to be the right path, of course.

I never get lost in the woods when I am with him. He always takes me back home when I ask him to.

Maybe we could do something like competitive tracking? I have been working more using the tracking thru drive method.

What would a golden retriever do with tracking thru drive if isn't using it to search for something or someone lost in the woods?

I'm definitely not an expert in this area. I just came across this post and thought I'd suggest something since it doesn't seem that you have any responses here...you could look into something like AKC tracking competitions: http://www.akc.org/events/tracking/

Also, try and call a few of the SAR teams in your area. There are quite a few here in TX. Talk to them about your dog and tell them your concerns and see what they have to say about them.