all right guys/gals, i only went back to page 10 in this forum, but didn't see my question addressed specifically, so HELP!!

pup is 18 wks old, we've been imprinting tracking since he was 9 wks old, starting with 3 pads in triangle pattern. for bait, he gets 1/2 his supper (kibble) on the pads. i have changed from the triangle to 15' straight tracks leading to a scent pad (marked w/flag).

what he does is (and i always try to lay the track so the scent pad is downwind), he'll go footstep to footstep, but misses half the bait in each footstep because he's so eager to get to the next. if i short-leash him, he gets so hectic that i end up quitting the track. so i've been keeping firm, but not short-leash, tension on the lead & letting him go forward when he starts to show signs of ADD.

i have been baiting the steps pretty heavily, and i think that one solution may be to lighten up the bait some. another may be to put some serpentines (at least one) in the track and lengthen the track a bit. or go back to the triangles, lighten up the step-bait and make the tracks between the scentpads longer.

i just want to avoid the strong short-leash, holding him in one spot that leads to the hectic behavior. am i thinking right? any other ideas? we track 4-5 times a week, and i feel like i'm not doing *something* right... <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />

Hi Ann,
First, does he settle once he gets going? A high drive pup will be very anxious to get going! I know you mentioned you don't want to put him on a short lead, but I would & I do. I attach two leads to the collar & run one under each front leg, then hold one in each hand sort of between the arm pit & withers & keep the pup between my legs. This allows additional control, you can steer him to each footstep. Keeping him between your legs gives more control (pup can't try to double back). I have an extremely high drive pup myself (as was my last GSD), & this technique allows me to keep total control & make sure Arkane misses NOT ONE footstep or piece of bait. My dog is just over 5 months, I track 4-5 times a week, which I have been doing since he was 9 weeks, & am just starting to add some wide serpentines!

Also, I may be misunderstanding what you mean by "baiting very heavily", but I only put a tiny peice of bait in each footstep.

I agree with Ann on her leash method. However, I do not put food in every foot step, not even from the very beginning. A start pad and then one piece of food every 2-3-4-5 steps and keep it mixed up with the # of footsteps. Walk slow enough to make the dog check every foot step, but I keep the dog guessing on which footstep has food. Both my dogs track great, but we're still in the beginning stages.

ok, so, first thing i'm gonna try is WAY lightening up the bait. the TD of the club i'll *probably* join told me yesterday to keep him short-leashed, irregardless of how hectic he gets (but that was also before he saw the pup work a little, and his drive level). but i THINK he won't be so hectic with less bait, and longer tracks.

so i'll try that tonight and report back. meanwhile, any other ideas are MORE than welcome!

Good luck Ann! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

so this is what we did tonight: a beginning scent-pad w/10 pieces of his supper kibble. then, 20' of footsteps w/2-5 kibbles/step, then, another scent-pad with 15-20 kibbles. the track had a very slight serpentine, windy dry conditions, right up next to the shelter-belt, ie, rabbit tracks.

i held tension on one leash, had to hold him and re-direct once only. it worked GREAT!!!! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> i think (so far) the trick was to UN-bait the steps some (by 2/3), and lengthen the steps and the total track between pads. we'll try that this week some more, and, again, report back.

and again--any other ideas will be put into the mix. BTW, he IS learning the difference between the crushed vegetation and the *not*. what a hoot this learning/training is <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />

Glad to hear yuo had a better experience. Keeping a short lead is very important because keeping control & providing support are so important at this age. I would bait each step with only one piece of kibble. Since you are teaching tracking for schutzhund, you want him to check each footstep, & go slow!

This thread has helped me alot. Ok it helped my 14 week GSD.
We will not be doing shutzhund but I am training her sht style tracking and she is very hyper. Thanks for the info.