My GSD bitch is now 4 months old and I've recently started to increase the tracking training....

I'm no real expert at tracking training, so need all the help I can get...

On the subject of searching an area.... What I did today was drop an empty wallet on the field, when she wasn't looking...and then play with her ball on a string for a minute..then put it away.

I then gave her the command to track..and indictated to the floor with a sweeping hand..which is her Go command. She began to search around, using her nose AND her eyes...I couldn't tell which she was using the most....

When she found the wallet, she picked it up... ..and ran to me with it... Upon arrival I got her to sit, took the wallet and out of my pocket popped her ball on string....YEEAAAHH! etc...

I did the same with a bunch of keys.....and also with a plastic lid from a food container... She returned all of them.. in the same fashion...

I'd like some ideas and tips on how to move on from here....

I think i'm pretty lucky so far...to have the reaction that i've got from my dog...

Thanks..

Gary

Sounds like you are on the right track for teaching your dog an article search. One thing I would suggest is teaching the dog to down on the article and not pick it up and return it to you.