I'm thinking about changing my tracking training method, I have been shown that using a scent cone brings about a wider area of search and a faster/higher rate of live recovery. The dog learns to work at his pace (yet staying in sight or coming back checking with the handler) without the handler pointing and following slowly behind him/her. It seems to be hold true weather its article or human recovery.

Can anyboby give me some light (should I stay with foot steps or scent cone) on this subject, and is there a way to train foot steps tracking and the use of this marvelous idea the scent cone.

The trainer that showed me the scent cone method, stated you need to teach one or the other a dogs can't do both, Why?

I'm not interested in Schulthund tracking titles (I'm not good enough as a trainer to make my dog do something thats not fun for him, its too tedious) but maybe training/competition for a real event.

Working the scent cone isn't tracking. It's air scenting, which requires the dog's head to be up, sniffing the air currents, working the scent cone to pinpoint the location of the subject. Tracking requires the head to be down, sniffing for ground scent left behind by the subject. They are two different behaviors, with different sets of challenges. It is best to train them as two separate behaviors. The general school of thought is to train tracking first, and air scenting only when the tracking is solid. If you want a dependable dog, you do not mix the two. The dog needs to know, in black and white, exactly what behavior you want.

I understand that working a scent cone is air scenting and hads to be done downwind of the subject/item.

Going by your answer you feel that tracking should be solid before air scenting can be attempted. But you are saying that one dog can do both, but the dog needs to start with basic tracking, learning to use his nose to follow a scent on the ground?

Thats what they do now, but having seen wolves in the wild use both technique when following the prey or K9s doing a building search.

I watched a live demo that proved the faster recovery rate of air Scenting vs. Tracking.
I plan to swicht to air scent training. Got any advice, besides solid foot step tracking, we are at the begining stages of tracking where they are finding food under items left in the tracks.

What are the advantage of step Tracking vs Air scenting? Effiecency is what I'm after. You seem to be perfectionist, I want results, do we clash?

Perfectionist? Hmmmm. Not really. I just want to be successful. What I did find, when I relaxed my requirements for my dog (started allowing fringe following), was that he became harder to read, and started taking me for nature walks. I want "head down + moving = on scent". Period. We're still tracking through drive, but I'm keeping him close to the actual track, and making him move slower. In training, we train as close to perfection as possible. In a real situation, I won't know where the track really is, so I have to be able to read my dog and rely on him. In order to do that, I need clear signals from him.

If you want to do air scenting, then do air scenting. If you want your dog to be capable of doing either or, then the common school of thought is do tracking first.

Wolves may behave a certain way when they trail quarry. But, I'm just a puny human training for SAR. I need my dog to be a partner that knows exactly what I want from him, and who I can read and know what the heck he's doing. For me, that means keeping it simple. If I want him to track, I teach him tracking. If I want him to air scent, I will teach him that later on. But I will not mix the two and teach them as one behavior. I keep them separate, because that's what my puny brain needs.

Generally, air scenting has advantages in SAR that tracking lacks. You can deploy air scenting dogs into search areas, and they will pinpoint the location of the subject if the subject is in the area. They do not need a scent article, and can be sent in days after the subject was lost, since they are looking for airborne scent and not for a trail, which may be very aged or contaminated by the time search and rescue is called out. The advantage that a tracking dog has, is not neccessarily making the find, but rather, establishing a direction of travel, which will help to determine where to best place which resources. Say Uncle Joe goes hunting and hasn't returned when he's supposed to. You can take a tracking dog to Uncle Joe's car, cut for a trail around it, and hopefully, show which direction he took off in. The air scent dogs are more likely to actually find Uncle Joe, but without the tracking dog to tell them where to look, the search will likely take longer and require more resources.

Of course, you can use mantrackers for the same purpose as a tracking dog, but why not have both?

It boils down to what works for you. We're the only tracking team in our dog team. The others do airscent. I'd like to do airscent, but feel that it's important to a) have at least one tracking dog on the team, and b) succeed at tracking before training something new.

Great Post L.! That is very good thinkng IMHO, I don't do any SAR but that sounds very logical.

Puny... yeah right! We arn't that gullable..well mabey Butch is ... but we arn't that gullable!

That was my Caveman Lawyer impression. Remember that from SNL? "Of course, I could be wrong; I am just a cave man.".

Gooddogu, is this what you are asking? L wrote a great response, but I thought I might clarify just in case.

A dog can airscent on a track if there are lingering odors "in the air", like on a very fresh track. Some call this trailing where the dog will use any and all scenting behaviors to follow the track/trail. Just like a wolf in nature hunting. Not necessarilly practical for all SAR deployments, mostly good for finding a bad guy on the run that has left a new fresh trail. Footstep tracking has the potential to leave a much longer lasting track for a dog to follow, so it is more important.

When talking about airscenting, in SAR, most people are not talking about tracking or trailing. They mean a dog that will search a large area with no track to follow, instead "airscenting" as they go for any human scent that can be detected. Then the dog will zero in on that scent to find a person.

And yes, just like a wolf in the wild who walks about airscenting and groundscenting, then locating scent and maybe airscenting, or footstep tracking to the prey, a dog can be trained to do both. it takes a lot of work and natural ability in the dog.

Originally posted by VanCamp:
And yes, just like a wolf in the wild who walks about airscenting and groundscenting, then locating scent and maybe airscenting, or footstep tracking to the prey, a dog can be trained to do both. it takes a lot of work and natural ability in the dog. Weeellllll, yeeesssss,I suppose it's possible that one could teach the dog to do this, IF you really know your stuff.........but.....I'd rather have a dog who is reliable in one particular behavior than halfway reliable in two or three behaviors.....I think you'll get a more reliable dog if you train one thing at a time; and a more readable dog. I could be wrong, I am just a simple cave woman.....

It is not difficult to train one, then the other, if you have an intense, well selected dog. It takes time and dedication that most people are, unable or not willing, to invest. That is one reason some folks will usually choose one over the other, not because it is impossible.

VanCamp, I think we're getting our wires crossed here. I "assumed" that you were talking about a particular tracking "style", where the dog is not focused solely on ground or air while working the same problem, but rather, chooses what's available at the moment and works that. I'm not really for that, at least, not *in training*. I don't think the benefits outweigh the potential for screwing up. If I'm out on a search and my tracking dog suddenly hits a scent cone and wants to work it, I'm not going to stop him, because it could be the subject. Vice versa if the airscenting dog picks up a track. That's where reading your dog comes in real handy, so you can tell if he's just goofing off, interested in a critter, or really on scent. Regardless, in training, you always train what you want to see in the field.

If you mean that you can train a dog to both track and air scent, as separate functions, absolutely yes. I plan on it, for sure. After tracking, we will do water, avalanche, and cadaver, and probably air scent wilderness. Nothing wrong with keeping the learning going, as long as you train train train what has already been learned, too.

Actually, come to think of it, I think we're saying the same thing....