Quote: susan tuck

 Quote: Matthew Thurston

 Quote: Alex Corral

How long have you been working on tracking? Also, how many steps long is your track? And, how big & wide are your steps?

Been doing tracking for about two months. The steps are one right in front of another and there is practically no space between the left or right. Just like Ed shows in his videos.

Hi Matthew:
Just to be sure I have this right you have a 5 year old GSD and you have been teaching him how to track for schutzhund for 2 months? If I have it right, I suggest the following:

1. Go back to baiting each footstep. It's way too soon to be skipping footsteps.
2. Make sure the dog is very motivated if he is hungry he will be motivated.
3. Don't add any corners or articles yet.
4. I don't know the length of the tracks you are laying, but I would be laying 2 or 3 short tracks, not a long track.
5. What are the conditions of the area you are tracking in?
6. Do you belong to a schutzhund club? If so, ask one of the experienced members if you can go tracking together. You will learn a lot by watching this person/people lay their own tracks. Also ask if you can follow them as their dog tracks. This will teach you what to watch for when your dog is tracking.

He is only 5 and a half months old not years. I don't feed him for a few hours before we track, and he is ALWAYS hungry! I have not even considered adding articles yet, or turns. I'd been doing a track about 80 yards long. How short would you go? Just tracking in short grass. I do belong to a Schutzhund club, this is what made me realize the error of my ways! Our senior trainer said he had some good exercises for me to do with him next time we track. I guess it would not hurt to go back to doing scent pads.

Wow, 5.5 mos old? Too many interesting things going on for such a little guy to concentrate on tracking. I wouldn't be doing more than scent pads, and make it SUPER FUN, when he finds his treats. Lot's of praise.

Well, he for sure is not bored doing it. His hunt drive is very very strong! I have a hard time getting him to concentrate on anything else for very long. I realize there are a lot of interesting scents out there on the farm.

Oh!!!! I'm glad I double checked about the age, your original post confused me. I can tell you what I do, but keep in mind, there are many ways to accomplish the goal of schutzhund tracking:

I would shorten the distance considerably, less than half that, with the last track being at most 40ft. Maybe lay 2 or even 3 tracks. I would track the pup at least 3 times a week in the beginning. It's important that at the end of each track you make a big party for the dog. Huge praise, much patting, make a big deal of his success. If he likes the ball or tug, pull it out and play a little. You want him to feel like he just won the world series and you are his disney land.

When you say short grass are you talking about the type of grass found in municipal parks or soccer field type of grass? I live where it's pretty hot and dry, so with puppies, I track in the early morning hours, when there is dew on the ground, and I track when and where there are no distractions.

I track using the fur saver with 2 lines attached, and run them under each front leg, and up (Plow Lines). These really help with keeping the dog from turning around, helping to guide, and later when you add turns they will be helpful.They are sort of like reins on a horse.I stay up close to the pup, and give him a lot of help in the beginning.

The other thing is go to Prestons Schutzhund tracking website, it's fantastic: http://www.schutzhundtracking.com/index.html

A schutzhund 1 trck is aged 20 minutes. I wouldn't do the toilet paper thing because the dog should eat all the bait and they might not be good for the dog even though they are biodegradable. I make my own bait (Connies Chicken Jerkey recipe) or buy Zukes Mini Naturals or Natural Balance chubbs.

Sorry, but I disagree with Alex. This is the perfect age for teaching tracking. In fact, I don't do much else with puppies. I don't do any protection, almost no ob, but A LOT of tracking.

I don't have a lot of experience in tracking but I'd like to comment on a couple of things here from my own learning.

 Quote: susan tuck

I would shorten the distance considerably, less than half that, with the last track being at most 40ft. Maybe lay 2 or even 3 tracks. I would track the pup at least 3 times a week in the beginning. It's important that at the end of each track you make a big party for the dog. Huge praise, much patting, make a big deal of his success. If he likes the ball or tug, pull it out and play a little. You want him to feel like he just won the world series and you are his disney land.

Yes shorten the distance quite a bit, go by footsteps rather than yards or meters. I'd take him down to 20 paces with food to see how he does, then increase slowly. Also you might want to try making the footsteps a tiny bit wider and further apart.

Do ONE of these tracks three times a week until you are confident in what you are doing and your trainer tells you it's right. Three bad tracks are better than nine bad tracks! Also it should keep nice drive for the dog.

Remember that your trying to build a habit here so don't try to have a SchH1 track done by next month! Take all the time you can in the early stages to make it right. This gives BOTH of you time to learn together and makes it easier to recover from minor mistakes, particularly if you can get out with someone experienced once in a while.

Be careful with the big party approach as if the dog already has strong hunt drive or a really good drive for the track, you could make it crazy for the reward at the end, rather than the track.

I did this and I'm paying for it now with a dog that has too much drive for tracking! Sounds good yes, and to the untrained eye looks great for the dog, but it's not practical to train with as it takes the dog too long to settle into the track AND requires more pressure be applied to make the dog track in an appropriate manner.

Try to temper your praise and play to what the dog needs, so go out with a very experienced tracker and take advice from them.

 Quote:

I track using the fur saver with 2 lines attached, and run them under each front leg, and up (Plow Lines). These really help with keeping the dog from turning around, helping to guide, and later when you add turns they will be helpful.They are sort of like reins on a horse.I stay up close to the pup, and give him a lot of help in the beginning.

I used this method a couple of times to fix the dog crabbing during the track (I was applying too much tension on the line at one point). Worked a treat for me after only one or two sessions.

This is fine provided you follow the normal routine you have in mind for trial day and have the additional line attached before you enter the field, so the only line you attach to the dog before the scent pad is the actual tracking line you'll use (you know what I mean?). Again I think it's about habit so the more you can make routines in your build up to training, the more natural it will be for the dog under difficult conditions for you.

You will go through many ups and downs with tracking (if your lucky) but when you get in the groove it's the best part of the sport for me! There is just so much to learn and so many variables in tracking it's a never ending learning process.

HTH

John