Tracking

[Tassie]

No passes for us in T&S today but was happy with what they did. Both dogs had one major off course causing a fall but their starts were great ..including one in the junior soccer car park, complete with moving vehicles and kids ..and both did some lovely work..except for her off course, Kirra motored through her urban test ..dog on a mission, and Rory did super article ..indication.

[dezzyno.1]

bad luck about not passes but sounds like a good day was had...better luck next time :)

[MouseR]

Hey there,

I am new to this thread and I have read through quite a few posts but I am wondering if anyone could point me in the right direction for getting into tracking. I live on the Gold Coast QLD and really want to get into it with my GWP but have no idea where to start. Any information would be greatly appreciated!!

[Staranais]

Interesting RM, Megan and DD. All the search and rescue training I have seen involves air scenting, it was explained to me that this was done as typically in disasters there is no track...the victim is buried under rubble/snow/whatever. Often they have to find people without knowing the target scent and have instead been trained to locate people based on the bacteria on their breath (and can do so for several hours after they have died - then cadaver dogs are brought in) or at least so I have been told though I am curious how they know what the dog is apparently smelling. The dogs search without the hindrance of a handler and when they find the victim they run back to the handler and alert then lead the handler to the victim.

I have also been told that the police train their dogs search out and track the freshest scent so it is important that the area the perp. was last seen remains uncontaminated.

You can have a air scent or a tracking SAR dog (and some very clever teams do both - not us, for those that don't know me, we are a single purpose air scent SAR team). Tracking is no use for disaster/USAR, but can be really useful in wilderness/lost person SAR. As you can imagine, if you find a fresh track then a tracking dog will (hopefully) lead you right to the subject very quickly and efficiently, whereas an air scenting dog may need to search many ha of ground in all directions before they stumble across the right area.

I was interested to see the track & search trials started up in Aussie - they look really fun, although I think they missed the mark a bit if they were trying to make it similar to SAR, as the tests don't particularly resemble any SAR tracking work I've ever seen.

Edited September 20, 2013 by Staranais

[kelpiecuddles]

Hi guys, I'm after a bit of inside info from the tracking/trailing folks :D

Hubby and I have decided, after much discussion, that our planned entry in to dog breeding in a few years time will be with the specific aim to breed bassets(always our intended breed) for tracking(man trailing) work. I'm a member of the emergency services and attend a lot of searches for persons missing in bushland areas. There are a few dogs that are cleared to be used in our service for this kind of work but there are so few of them that they just aren't available when needed or within close enough proximity. I'd love to start by training the first few myself for more local work since missing persons are sadly common in this area due to dense bush and the demographic of older people in the care of relatives or in semi-independent living. After that we'll look to partially or fully train dogs and handlers and place them further afield with other service families who are willing to be a part of the project.

It's a big undertaking and it will be many years and quite a bit of money before we are 'rolling out' our first dogs but all plans must start somewhere! So this is where you guys come in! At the moment my research can only be online since I am in the short term on my own with small children, therefore I can't get out easily to go and attend doggy events. I'd love any info from people in the tracking world who may have seen bassets at events regarding kennels that are doing well in tracking or that are well regarded in the tracking set. Of course I will be doing my own research too but I always feel with things of this type that you often learn more through word of mouth. :)

I'm also very fond of bloodhounds and may consider delving in to that breed further down the track but I felt bassets would be more suited to this specific project due to their shorter size being less overwhelming for a lost/injured person who may be lying on the ground when found(especially if that person was a child)

Happy to receive info via PM

ETA: In case anyone was wondering I have mentioned this plan to those high up in my organisation and they have no problems with it if I put the dogs through the appropriate testing and titling.

Edited October 16, 2013 by kelpiecuddles

[dezzyno.1]

that sounds like a fantastic idea kelpiecuddles....I myself have not seen any basset hounds do tracking but we have a large variety of little and big dogs doing tracking....maybe someone else has seen basset hounds tracking....if you have a dog club nearby and they do tracking within their club it might be a good idea to contact them and start training your dogs with them....it would be hard with 2 little kids and you might have to wait until they get a bit older....otherwise there may be someone who trains just in tracking in your state but I would google tracking and see what it brings up for your area....good luck with it all and if you decide to go ahead with tracking please let us know how you go

[kelpiecuddles]

Thanks Dezzy :) Unfortunately there is no training close by to me, closest are Sydney and Canberra(both atleast 2 hours drive away). It's a drive I'll be happy to do though when we get to that point that it's feasible. In the meantime it's research, research and more research to put us in the best position to know exactly what we want in our foundation animals and how to spot it in the pups we are looking at.

Once we've worked with our first few through the club and I'm more confident in the training we'll likely just train down here ourselves(and maybe down the track even see if there is interest in local classes), I have no shortage of people down here who would get a great kick out of helping me train my dogs. :)

Edited December 20, 2013 by kelpiecuddles

[Gertrude139]

Don't laugh but.... does anyone know if there are any sibes that have successfully competed in tracking?

I really like the sound of tracking and would love to give it a go with my sibe but I'm not sure if it's suitable?

She loves to use her nose to sniff things out but I really worry about the prey drive aspect. Reading through this thread there are more than a few encounters with mice, sheep, cattle, dead things etc and I don't think she would cope with that, would that rule us out? Or is it not the norm to come across those things?

[kelpiecuddles]

I've seen a dingo heard sheep and in the same session there was my lab/boxer/mastiff mix and all sorts of others. I reckon if a dingo can herd any things worth a try! Nothing ventured, nothing gained. :)

[Nekhbet]

Don't laugh but.... does anyone know if there are any sibes that have successfully competed in tracking?

I really like the sound of tracking and would love to give it a go with my sibe but I'm not sure if it's suitable?

She loves to use her nose to sniff things out but I really worry about the prey drive aspect. Reading through this thread there are more than a few encounters with mice, sheep, cattle, dead things etc and I don't think she would cope with that, would that rule us out? Or is it not the norm to come across those things?

No reason why you cannot at all. Once the track becomes heavily rewarding the dog will leave all distractions. I've taught white shep, amstaffs, labs etc tracking and it's not too difficult at all. Even the little oodlies can do it and theyre actually really good detection dogs would you believe.

If you're close to Geelong why don't you pop down for a workshop day :)

[dragonwoman]

Don't laugh but.... does anyone know if there are any sibes that have successfully competed in tracking?

I really like the sound of tracking and would love to give it a go with my sibe but I'm not sure if it's suitable?

She loves to use her nose to sniff things out but I really worry about the prey drive aspect. Reading through this thread there are more than a few encounters with mice, sheep, cattle, dead things etc and I don't think she would cope with that, would that rule us out? Or is it not the norm to come across those things?

Any dog's motto, have nose, MUST track.....they can all track but the catch in Tracking is that they must track what YOU want, not what take their fancy LOL............it's all in the motivation and I have seen herding trained dogs track through sheep and gundogs ignore birds and game...................sometimes they even trip over the tracklayer, so intent in their work...................maybe nearest to huskies I have seen are samoyeds, and several have done it well over the years.............so give it a go, your dogs and you will love it!! Dogs are multi-skilled and they soon understand what is wanted by the context.............bring out the harness and watch the tails wag..........

[dezzyno.1]

I've seen a dingo heard sheep and in the same session there was my lab/boxer/mastiff mix and all sorts of others. I reckon if a dingo can herd any things worth a try! Nothing ventured, nothing gained. :)

I have just remembered quite a few years ago before I started tracking there was a basset hound who was blind that did track and gained her Tracking Champion title.....she just used her nose instead of her sight :)

[kelpiecuddles]

That doesn't surprise me at all Dezzy, I think a lot of the time Josie relies on her nose rather than her sight, she's a master at finding hidden food items that can't be seen only smelt. :p

[Leah82]

We're looking at starting tracking training this year with our Cocker Spaniel at our dog club. He does have the added advantage of being almost blind with PRA.

We tested him out with a couple of short fresh tracks while camping the other week and it seems he does have a knack for it. As soon as you say 'Where's mummy?' or 'Where's daddy?' he starts looking for the track :)

[Podengo]

For anyone from NZ reading here, OTA is having a tracking only trial Feb 8th & 9th in Springfield. Feel free to PM me for more details!

[dezzyno.1]

I cannot wait until next Sunday as tracking training starts again....no more sleep ins as its an early start having to be there at 7 am until we get out to Haddon the first weekend in May.....my two children are also starting Track and Search training soon as well

[Brandiandwe]

Hi there. I'm here because I'm interested in trying this out with one of my greys. She's very prey driven, bossy and too smart for her own good, so I'm hoping that this might work for her. I'm in Sydney and have emailed the TRacking Dog Club, but is anyone else on here about who might be around? I'm hoping to get to the open day on the 28th, but would love to see some trialling as well.

[dezzyno.1]

I am so very proud of our two girls Tamika and T.Ch Zforce Sweet Surrender aka Jessie....they attended their very first Track and Search Trial and passed....it was an 800m course and Jessie cut off half the track and found no articles but found the tracklayer and that is all she had to to because in real life as someone said they would rather be found sooner rather than later....these two will be back out to try for their TSD 2 in about a month or so .....I will be tracking with Pink in two weeks time to start the last two tracks to gain her Tracking Champion before she goes on to Track and Search keeping fingers crossed she passes both ready for Track and Search next season....Dezzy is now being handled by Jordan (my disabled son) to practice Track and Search....Dezzy is a difficult dog to train as sometimes he knows what to do but decides not to.....Jordan and Dezzy have a great relationship and its looking like they will do well together and make a terrific team...will update after our next trial :)

[Tassie]

I am so very proud of our two girls Tamika and T.Ch Zforce Sweet Surrender aka Jessie....they attended their very first Track and Search Trial and passed....it was an 800m course and Jessie cut off half the track and found no articles but found the tracklayer and that is all she had to to because in real life as someone said they would rather be found sooner rather than later....these two will be back out to try for their TSD 2 in about a month or so .....I will be tracking with Pink in two weeks time to start the last two tracks to gain her Tracking Champion before she goes on to Track and Search keeping fingers crossed she passes both ready for Track and Search next season....Dezzy is now being handled by Jordan (my disabled son) to practice Track and Search....Dezzy is a difficult dog to train as sometimes he knows what to do but decides not to.....Jordan and Dezzy have a great relationship and its looking like they will do well together and make a terrific team...will update after our next trial :)

Oh that's great, dezzyno.1 ... congratulations to Tamika and Jessie. And best wishes for the next one. Out T&S season is still months away ????

[Leah82]

I am so very proud of our two girls Tamika and T.Ch Zforce Sweet Surrender aka Jessie....they attended their very first Track and Search Trial and passed....it was an 800m course and Jessie cut off half the track and found no articles but found the tracklayer and that is all she had to to because in real life as someone said they would rather be found sooner rather than later....these two will be back out to try for their TSD 2 in about a month or so .....I will be tracking with Pink in two weeks time to start the last two tracks to gain her Tracking Champion before she goes on to Track and Search keeping fingers crossed she passes both ready for Track and Search next season....Dezzy is now being handled by Jordan (my disabled son) to practice Track and Search....Dezzy is a difficult dog to train as sometimes he knows what to do but decides not to.....Jordan and Dezzy have a great relationship and its looking like they will do well together and make a terrific team...will update after our next trial :)

That's awesome dezzyno.1, I always thought finding articles was kind of important, maybe track and search is different.

I would love to get Collie involved, I think he'd be a natural. Unfortunately there is a waiting list to join the group at our club

Edited April 30, 2014 by Leah82