How do you teach your 15month old dog to track for schutzhund?

Answer 1

TRACKING THEORY Almost every dog can learn tracking, when the correct method is used. A Schutzhund competition is usually won (or lost) already in the first exercise...Tracking! Therefore, you can understand the importance of this exercise.... Here follows the best "Step by Step" theory. The only thing that you need is a dog that likes to eat! WHAT YOU NEED A bag (to put all your tracking stuff in), a line of ±3 meter, cheese or meat (soft meat that can be eaten very fast) cut this into ±50 cubes of 1cm in size. THE FIRST LESSONS You can start with a puppy that is used to his chain. The little dog will be 3 or 4 months old. Important: Always make sure that the dog is hungry, with a full stomach he has no reason to track! The best tracking conditions are no wind, fresh green grass of ±10cm height, not too hot, not too cold and in the early morning. You always lay the track without the presence of your dog and wait minimum 15 minutes before you get him. FIRST LESSON You take the closed plastic pot that contains the small pieces of cheese or flesh. You step a circle of ±1 m Ø, one-step against the other and you throw the bits everywhere in this circle (Fig A). Then you go and wash your hands (the dog may not make the connection of your hands and the rewards) or at least clean them well with grass. After 15 minutes you get your dog and show him with your hand (the palm of your hand up, otherwise the dog may think the bits are coming out of your hand!) where to search. If the dog is searching with a deep nose on the right place, you say nothing! When the dog puts his head up, or does not look in the right place you show him with your hand the right place and say "Track". Let the puppy eat the rewards as much as possible and then leave the field by telling him he has done well. You do not let him search before he enters the track or after leaving the track! Practice this training two or 3 times after each other, until the puppy understands the word "Track" (associates the word to following the track and finding the rewards). FURTHER LESSONS Take the tracking flag and plastic pot with the cheese or/and flesh bits. Put the tracking flag always on the left side of the beginning of the track (Fig B.), with the flag pointing in the direction of the track. Always make a pre-start of ±2 meters before the flag. This means you step heavily two or three times, over and again on the same pre-track. Then you wait ±1 minute near the flag before starting the definitive track. Then you push the top of your left foot into the ground and pull this foot back ±3cm (now you have a little hole in the top of your footprint, where you put the reward bit in). You then put your right foot the same way into the ground and fill the hole with a bit. Do the rest of the track like this, within every footprint is a reward, between every step (reward) is a distance of ±30cm. The length of these first tracks should be ±8 meter. After 15 minutes you get the dog with his chain on and you put the line (just before the beginning of the pre-start) through his forelegs (not under his back legs). The reason for this is, when the dog pulls, he pulls his head to the ground. You come like this to the beginning of the pre-start and show with your hand (when necessary) the place to search and give the command "Track". When the dog is searching intensely you let him go in the right direction. However, always at your pace! When the dog comes near the flag, he will find the cheese in your footstep and eat his reward. After this one, he will find the next one and so on... He must eat every bit of his rewards (do not let him go too fast and forget footsteps). The dog is searching at your pace! As long as he is doing welt you say nothing. At the end of the track, he will find the closed pot that contains more rewards. When he has found this, you praise him and open his final reward. After eating, you leave the tracking field but do not let the dog pass his track again. When your dog searches intensely and eats all his rewards, you can make the track longer and put the reward only every three steps. When this is done, your dog will have to look in every footstep even when there is not a reward. When you have reached this stage, it is time to lay your bits at random in the footprints of the track. You can lay two or three tracks after each other, best is with every time other type of food rewards. REMINDERS Always track with a dog that is hungry! Always make a pre start! Always track with the wind in your back! Always wait 15 minutes! Always wash your hands after touching the rewards! Always put the closed pot at the end of the track! The dog has to search at your pace, look for every step and eat all his rewards! Do not train with objects or corners before he is tracking perfectly strait! Do not let the dog search before or after the track! Always take small steps! THE PREPARATION FOR SCHUTZHUND 1 In "Part 1", we have seen how to start with tracking. When your dog has reached the level to work out a straight track of about 70 meters, and still searches footprint-by-footprint it's time to begin with the first corner. IMPORTANT: In "tracking training", we always stay close to the first corner. We always do the same ritual: (as in Tracking Theory, Part 1) make a pre-start, Always make sure that the wind is in the back! The reason for this is that the smells of the footprints (and rewards) are not coming into the direction of the dog. By "wind in the back", you teach the dog to seek more intensely and to seek with a "deep nose". Now we put a track of about 50 meters straight ahead (with the needed rewards in the footprints) and at the end, we make a light, round corner. In this "corner", you put more rewards than on the straight, and directly after the "corner", place your plastic pot (Fig. C). When your dog has reached the level to work out a straight track perfectly, he will have no problems with this sort of corner. Therefore, after a few times training like this, you can make the curve smaller and smaller, until you have a real angle of 90 degrees, 3 meters after the angle you put the plastic pot with more rewards. On the first part of the track you lay the rewards at random (how many, is different from dog to dog) but then you mark the point of the angle, by turning 360 degrees, (on this point) and make the angle 90 degrees right or left. After 3 meters, you stop and place the plastic pot. Always make sure that you know exactly where the corner is! Never lay food on the angle point, but about 50cm directly after. The length, after the corner you can make longer, when you see that your "tracker" understands what you want from him. When the dog has difficulties with the angle, you can make it easier by marking your corner "double". This means when you are about 2 meters after the angle, you return on your steps till you are about 1 meter before the angle, and then go further again passing this (double) corner. (Fig. D) After a minimum of 15 to 30 minutes, you get your dog. Make sure that you always know exactly where the track is lying, this is very important! You start the track as usual but when coming on the corner, you stop when needed. Do not let the dog go wrong! At the corner, you stop, and when your dog takes the right direction, you follow immediately! You say nothing; the dog will find his first reward at about 50 cm and will praise himself. When the dog takes the wrong direction, you stay on your place and give the command "Track", when he goes on in the right direction you follow immediately! Do not' let the dog turn around several times. When he is off the track, stay at your place and give the command "Track" when he goes on the right track or direction, say nothing but follow. Now your dog has done one corner, so after several training sessions you can try two, and finally, three corners. Your result must be a track of three corners (in the Schutzhund 1 & 2 trial there are only two corners) of about 120 meters long. It is important that you are no further than 3 meters behind your dog, and that he can make his corners without your help. I am sure that I will have forgotten things, but tracking is a form of practical training that is very difficult to write in theory.