RubyBlue Posted December 7, 2011 Share Posted December 7, 2011 I'm interested in giving tracking a go next season but I'm not sure if it's worth it when I can only go to training fortnightly because of work. There is only one way you are going to find out!!! I have not yet met a dog that does not like tracking. You can start with short tracks (which you can do down your local park - perhaps as part of his/her walk) until your dog gets the concept. Then fortnightly should be ok? My dog has certainly not had any problems coming back after 3 month break between the seasons. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiggy Posted December 13, 2011 Share Posted December 13, 2011 Just wondering if this lead would be ok or would I be better off with one I could tie knots in? http://leerburg.com/1064.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kathq Posted December 13, 2011 Share Posted December 13, 2011 Started training two weeks ago with the help of two friends. My girl is loving it and so am I. Had a terrific session tonight. I think the penny has almost dropped for her she is certainly enthusiastic and pulling into the harness really well. Can hardly wait for our next session. Made our own lead from some rope that I bought from Bunnings - 30 metres for $6.00, its light weight and waterproof. Seems to be working well so far and I have made a 5 meter lead with a knot in the middle and will graduate up to a full length lead when we are ready for the extra freedom. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kynan Posted December 13, 2011 Share Posted December 13, 2011 (edited) Just wondering if this lead would be ok or would I be better off with one I could tie knots in? http://leerburg.com/1064.htm Hi Tiggy, I have that lead and it is good but gets a bit slippery when wet. Also it had a very strong plastic-ish smell when I first got it which took well over a year to disappear. Shipping from Leerburg if very expensive ranging from about $25-$68 dollars depending on how quickly you want the order. I prefer this lead from K9 pro as it is easy to grip when wet and is lighter than the other one. Edited December 13, 2011 by Kynan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
*Lolapalooza* Posted December 14, 2011 Share Posted December 14, 2011 Do most people train with food tracks or by getting the dog to love articles and want to find them (cos I can't ever seeing my dogs bother to love an article now food is a whole other story...) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bully Posted December 14, 2011 Share Posted December 14, 2011 Do most people train with food tracks or by getting the dog to love articles and want to find them (cos I can't ever seeing my dogs bother to love an article now food is a whole other story...) Food with Pele, the "Porker" who started tracking this year :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ness Posted December 14, 2011 Share Posted December 14, 2011 Ness started with food on her track but we quickly got rid of it. She was bypassing it and she is mega foodie but since there was always a jackpot at the end of the track the rest of the food wasn't necessary. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tassie Posted December 14, 2011 Share Posted December 14, 2011 Tiggy, from experience - a light line is preferable, and you need to consider what it will be like when it is soaking wet. My preference now is one I got from the Tracking Club of Victoria - light, woven material, narrow, reasonably soft on the hands (although not when Kirra takes off at mach+ speed when I'm not quite ready for her ). I love the Gripper leads as leads - have them for my everyday walking leads, but I'd find them way too heavy for tracking. Most of us here use food on/under/in the articles to encourage strong article indication - and playing tug with the articles is also good, especially if the dog is more a tug dog than a food dog. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiggy Posted December 15, 2011 Share Posted December 15, 2011 Yeah thanks Tassie, I think a light line is the way to go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RubyBlue Posted December 17, 2011 Share Posted December 17, 2011 I use a light rope from bunnings. My dog does a lot of casting so I am constantly reeling it in and out to try and keep it tight. When it gets wet it gets really heavy and cuts into my hands (so leather gloves are good too). I have tried a few other leads but all get heavy when wet. I have thought about yacht rope as that should be soft(ish) on the hands when wet. I taught articles by hiding food in them. They snuffle round to get the food and so practice indicating the article at the same time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiggy Posted December 18, 2011 Share Posted December 18, 2011 ness/Tassie and anyone else that trials in obedience - Any confusion over the gloves exercise in obedience and using gloves in tracking? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leema Posted December 18, 2011 Share Posted December 18, 2011 Tiggy - are you talking about using gloves as articles? Regardless, there are a million context cues in tracking (including wearing a tracking harness) that show the dog that they're not doing obedience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiggy Posted December 18, 2011 Share Posted December 18, 2011 Yes as articles. What you said about the context cues makes sense. I tend to over think things. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tassie Posted December 21, 2011 Share Posted December 21, 2011 Shouldn't be any problem. The obedience gloves are white - tracking articles are usually dark colours. And as Leema says, the whole context says tracking to the dog - in fact, arriving at a paddock or piece of bush will start to say tracking . Most people use socks as articles (you kow how you always have the lost socks ;) ), although you can use other things - and in TSD, you'll be using all sorts of things that people might have dropped, including old mobile phones, kids' toys etc. - by then the dogs have got their T Ch, and they usually have no difficulty swapping over to different articles - although we've found old phones to be a problem for some dogs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kathq Posted December 28, 2011 Share Posted December 28, 2011 Okay we are a month in to our training now and Coco is going so well, I thought last night might make it a little longer and slightly harder. Went out to 300 meters and put a substantial curve into the track to the left. Ran into one foreseen problem - she overshot the turn/bend, lost the scent but circled and worked to pick it up again with only a little difficulty. The unforeseen problem was the guy walking his dog that toileted right along the track and then stopped to talk to us wanting his dog to play with mine. AH No we are a little busy right now!!! She got quite distracted by this and I was on the verge of calling it quits when she found the track and worked it well through to the end..Apart from me moving too far too fast (smack myself upside the head here :D )I was really really pleased with my girl. My question is how do you end a track if in that kind of difficulty but not let the dog think it has failed if you know what I mean?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tassie Posted December 28, 2011 Share Posted December 28, 2011 Well done with Coco. Sounds like she's really understanding the game. To try to answer your question - we try in early training to not let the dog get too far off track at any point - we only move forward when the dog is on track, so hopefully the problem ofhaving to quite won't arise until much later (when you haven't marked the track sufficiently well, and it's got a long delay on it and you've put out 2 tracks that day and not quite remembered what you thought you wouild remember - from which you'll know I'm talking about me.) So hopefully the problem won't arise - but if it's gone completely belly up - and I have to abandon, I would probably just toss a sock for the dog a few times - play as if the track was successful, though not to extremes and take the harness off. Depending on the environment, if it's safe (and I wanted to get the articles back that were out there) I sometimes let the dog free track - ie. no harness or lead - in the general direction - and then make a huge fuss if the dog does pick up the track -then you have the option of continuing the fre track - or as you do in Track & Search, harnessing the dog up again and finishing the track as per normal. Either way, I'd probably go lay a short easy track, and run it fairly hot, just to restore everyone's confidence. In terms of being interrupted by people and or dogs - think of it as a training opportunity - particularly for TSD later on . I normally either slow the dog down or stop him completely - I usually call out to the person ahead of time that my dog is working and could they call their dog please - then try to end any conversation as soon as possible - maybe with an offer to talk to them about it later if they'd like. I once had an off -lead Golden with no lead and no recall and very rude owners, come bounding 50 metres off a path to greet Rory just as he was about 5 metres from his reward. Guess it was lucky he wasn't half way through his tin of cat food - that might not have ended so well. So we had to stop and wait , and then resume as soon as possible - but it wasn't a real problem. My feeling is that once the dog has a fairly good understanding of the game, and a high value for it, then interruptions don't matter, and the occasional handler brain fart and failure isn't really an issue. Think police and SAR trackers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kathq Posted December 28, 2011 Share Posted December 28, 2011 Thanks Tassie. That's what I thought but good to know I'm on the right track. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
emery Posted January 1, 2012 Share Posted January 1, 2012 Tiggy I hope to start tracking this year too. I will only be able to go twice a month to training (assuming its weekly) due to hubby working away so same i hope it'd be ok. i figure i can only give it a shot, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Staff'n'Toller Posted January 6, 2012 Share Posted January 6, 2012 I have a blackdog wear pink coloured tracking lead here. Someone ordered it as a recall lead and never picked it up, it's 34.95 which is actually close to cost price as pink is still a 'special order' colour. Let me know if interested . Mel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Podengo Posted February 5, 2012 Share Posted February 5, 2012 Having our first tracking lesson in a few weeks, finally found someone to train with! I have a blackdog wear pink coloured tracking lead here. Someone ordered it as a recall lead and never picked it up, it's 34.95 which is actually close to cost price as pink is still a 'special order' colour. Let me know if interested :). Mel. omg so interested! Just about to order a custom made pink tracking harness!! Need a matching lead. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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