It was recently suggested to me that one solution for solving a problem with poor article indication position (specifically early indication) could be addressed by putting more pressure on the dog and making the article a "safe place".
Personally, that is an issue that I have corrected and moved past, but I was surprised at this suggestion and thought I would present this issue for discussion. To me, a dog that is indicating before it gets to the article is already overstressed. It was in my case.

When I feel my dog getting stressed, I ease off, back-up, and build back to that point. I'll have days with missed articles, but my dog's position is improving nicely, so, rather than stress her over the missed articles, I reward the good positioning. Later, I'll do an article-training session off of the track which revolves around correct position. Then, on the next track, I'll make it easier for her to find the articles. Our forward progress may be slower, but the overall picture improves steadily.

I wouldn't correct the dog there. I'd start putting food back under the article so the dog will go all the way up. If there's already food there I would use higher value food, like a small can of cat food.

I train all of my articles on the track.

Good suggestion, Katie. I place food under the article to help improve position.

When I said correction, I didn't mean I corrected the dog, or did anything at that moment to address it. I don't want to add more stress. What I did when MY dog indicated prematurely, which happened only a few times early on, was to give the dog another attempt and help her with a command if she was still unsure. This kept her confidence up. In a separate session, I brushed her up on articles away from the track.

I taught my dog articles away from the track. Once she was solid there, I added them to the track to keep her motivated but steady on the track. Technically, FST (IPO) tracking is about finding the article, and that is the approach that I have imparted upon my dog; this lets her know when she's been successful, and is therefore more gratifying for her. She looks forward to tracking because it is so self-gratifying.

I can say the same about my dog. I think she looks forward to tracking as well. The nice thing about the way I taught articles on the track is that it's nearly impossible for her position to be anything but great. I think she's only overshot once. In the beginning she anticipated the food and downed early but I just told her such again until she reached the article. Then I started putting food back under the article to make sure she got all the way there.

"Stress is an adversary to all good trainers for it prevents the dog from concentrating on the task at hand. With the creation of stress, the dog's natural defense mechanisms build with the effect that the dog is more worried about itself than performing the training. If our goal in tracking is to develop confidence and concentration, stress must be minimized during the teaching process."
Gary Patterson, Tracking From The Beginning, Chapter III

How is that book? I've never read a dog training book in my life. You'd think I would have. Our tracking has been pretty phenomenal, knock on wood. As well as our obedience and protection!

I'm not to the meat of it yet, but I am pleased that the author's philosophy of training pretty much follows what I've been doing. His explanation of classical and operant conditioning lacked a little and were slightly off-base, esp when compared to the lecture by ME, but at least he recognizes that that is what he is doing!

 Quote: Katie Finlay

I've never read a dog training book in my life. You'd think I would have.

That is fascinating. How do you learn? I'm genuinely curious, because I read books on EVERYTHING (I hate trial and error).

John, FWIW and IMO;

For awhile, I was leaning heavily on the tracking book I referenced earlier. I ended up abandoning most of that philosophy, through trial and error, and going back to what worked for me originally.

The best way to learn tracking is from a seasoned tracker. The best way to develop your tracking is through practice and learn what works FOR YOUR DOG. The best way to solve problems with your tracking is to ask a seasoned tracker.

Leaning too heavily on a specific school of thought on tracking stalled my progress.

BTW, the post you quoted is from July of last year. I've seen video of Katie's dog tracking, and she did an excellent job of training her dog to track. Through trial and error, my approach to tracking has changed since this thread was active.


ETA: Training FST is different than any other training that I've ever done. Specific approaches work well in some areas of training (say, using the ME or Bellon approach to OB), but I've had to be very flexible in FST. It's about teaching the dog to reach a goal and letting the dog work, whereas , in other disciplines we can guide the dog through the process until he can memorize the routine.

Edited by Duane Hull (02/04/2013 03:32 AM)
Edit reason: eta

 Quote: Duane Hull

John, FWIW and IMO;

For awhile, I was leaning heavily on the tracking book I referenced earlier. I ended up abandoning most of that philosophy, through trial and error, and going back to what worked for me originally.

The best way to learn tracking is from a seasoned tracker. The best way to develop your tracking is through practice and learn what works FOR YOUR DOG. The best way to solve problems with your tracking is to ask a seasoned tracker.

Leaning too heavily on a specific school of thought on tracking stalled my progress.

BTW, the post you quoted is from July of last year. I've seen video of Katie's dog tracking, and she did an excellent job of training her dog to track. Through trial and error, my approach to tracking has changed since this thread was active.

Please don't misunderstand: I have the utmost respect for everyone posting in this thread. I only question because I'm HORRIBLE at figuring stuff out on my own. I understand that practice and trial and error are crucial learning tools. I personally just like to start from a base of those that have done all the initial work for me lol.