I would love to see the documentation of her progress, for my education as well as for just plain being interested since I too want to train my pup eventually for protection and possibly even tracking, so I hope you remember to post the website when the time comes. My son thinks tracking is very important, since as he says, he would probably be just as able to protect himself as the dog would be to protect him, but tracking is something he (my son) cannot possibly do and he would want a dog that is trained in tracking in case it's ever needed. (Like if we're in the forest with one of my grandchildren and one should wander away.)

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.......... and he would want a dog that is trained in tracking in case it's ever needed. (Like if we're in the forest with one of my grandchildren and one should wander away.)

While it is noble to have a vision that the family dog with a little training in tracking will find the grandkids when they are lost, more of than not, family members waste valuable time and destroy clues looking for lost relatives.

Training a dog to RELIABLY locate missing persons is a lot different than training a sport tracking dog.

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more of than not, family members waste valuable time and destroy clues looking for lost relatives.

How so? I'm really curious about that. Do they just start wandering in circles before sending out the dog immediately as they should? How do they destroy clues? It'd be good to know all this to know what to avoid. And I'm curious. <img src="http://www.leerburg.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

By that I am saying you need to get LE or Ranger involvement ASAP and not mess around trying to find them yourself. If my kid was lost, I would want to be right out there but - common sense before you start call for help FIRST.

Need to realize that a bunch of people stomping through the woods not trained to look for sign (e.g., broken twigs, footsteps, bent grass, etc.) may obliterate visual evidence that that child had passed by. How trained those who respond are is going to vary so it would help to know what resources exist where you are going. I think many state and federal parks have highly trained reources on hand.

The dog may not be adequately trained - sure any dog can trail but they can also trail a deer or another animal and take you away from the missing person. There is a lot of work to ensure reliable performance and my point was I would not depend on the family pet to find junior unless the dog and handler were extensively trained and the emotional stress hunting for your child may cause you to impact the dog's performance and your capability to work that dog.

I think the most important thing you can do is watch the little ones like hawks and train the older ones what to do IF they do get lost. There are, in fact, a lot of dangers in the woods particularly for young children.

IOW I am saying that having a dog that can track a bit should not bestow a false sense of security. The dog is just one of many tools available to locate a missing person. and even the best are not 100%.

Greg, Best of luck to you and Dixie. Hope the two of you have a great time together!!

Debbie

Sorry for getting off on a tangent on your thread.
She is a cutie.
Keep us posted on her progress!

Just wondering if the dog going to be used for work, and what police force you work for?

Congratulations Greg! She is a sweetie (I started out with the classic tan/black will always have a soft spot for them) I wish you the best of luck with her. Let us know how it goes. Barbara

Great looking dog Greg. I can definitely relate to where you're at...I'm pretty new to this, but have loved the breed my whole life too. I have a boy that's coloring is almost identical to that of your new pup (11 months).

I've trained dogs before, but am shocked at the GSDs ability to pick things up quickly. It's been a truely enjoyable experience so far.

I would really suggest picking up a few of Ed's DVDs...they're great. I use them in addition to a local trainer that does work w/ the local K9 units and they have definitely helped me grow my knowledge very quickly.

Good luck and have fun <img src="http://www.leerburg.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Much better to use GPS watches and gizmos of that kind <img src="http://www.leerburg.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />