Ok here is my question. I have a female GSD 4 ears old. I purchased her when she was 2 1/2 and I have been tracking with her since then. She had no previous work done with her until I bought her. When I started I worked with a trainer who I thought was very good (his dog was great at tracking). He had me for the first year and a half working her at a prety fast pace. Basically I was jogging. When I move to Cali I bagan working with a SAR team and one of the trainers said I had to slow her down to a walk. I've tried to do this but she (I think) loses interest and will become distracted stopping to smell excessively. Should I continue to slow her down or go back to a faster pace. The guy told me the reason I needed to slow her down is so she would become mathodical (sp I even tried the dictionary!!) To slow down or not to slow down?
Wendi
I may be wrong, but I would say that it would be best if you could find a happy medium. You want the dog to be motivated, but you don't want to be dragged through rough terrain, gripping the tracking line for dear life. You want the dog to be excited, but you don't want the dog to be frantic. Most dogs will naturally slow down as the difficulty of the track increases. Trying to slow your dog by other means *may* send mixed messages, and interfere with the communication that happens through the tracking line, resulting in reduced drive, frustration, quitting. I would say, find a pace that is comfortable for both the dog and yourself. You have to work as a team. The tracking line is a line of communication. Don't suddenly change anything, or it will only serve to confuse her.
Do you think that if the dog *thinks* that speed is part of the game, then it will tend to guess in order to get to the end faster? If so, how would you correct that?
To answer the question: she is right on the track but she is more likely to wander off the track checking back in to it every few steps. When she goes off track I stop and when she is on it again I proceed. When I stop she will then either go right back to the track or she will stop to sniff something. When we were jogging the track she was very motivated to stay on it with less wandering off from it. I guess I'm concerned because she doesn't seem to be as motivated and eager to get to the person at the end.
Holy smokes... if she is on track... why mess with it? If you get tired just take a break and then continue. This may confuse her at first but she will catch on.
LSwanston... There are several approaches... but I personally would begin by immediately downing the dog when it gets off track. It will soon learn that "guessing" will not lead to success.
Dave,
I'm concerned about downing my dog while tracking. I try to limit obedience on a track, in an effort to keep tracking "fun" for him. I don't have him down at articles at this point either. What other suggestions would you have? I guess the obvious is to not move if he's off, and stand firm until I know he's picked it back up. Probably drop back a little in difficulty, do some easier, motivational tracks, and work on my lead handling in case there is something I am doing that may be encouraging the guesswork. Don't increase difficulty until I see solid performance with no guessing. ALWAYS know where the track is so that he *can't* take me for nature walks. Does that sound right?
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