mixeduppup Posted June 13, 2013 Share Posted June 13, 2013 (edited) I'm starting to think that Maybe my ex poundie may have been trained in tracking. Whenever I walk her her nose goes straight down and she will not raise it again, constantly sniffing and searching almost. Then at the start of every roadway and block she'll mark as she walks. Then occasionally she'll stand in pointer position for ages, tail straight one leg lifted and I have to break her focus and she goes back to sniffing. I've taken her out to properties on acreage offlead and she does the same thing, but she'll follow where she has marked. She also deliberately hides her toys herself and will then seek them out. She's even put them int he duck pond and put her head under and searched for it. The thing is, I don't know much about tracking at all so I have no idea how to utilise this or test to see if she has or not? One of my friends thought she may have been a 'finder' dog for a pigging team, which is possible as it's a big pigging area around here. But how do I test to see if she is? Edited June 13, 2013 by mixeduppup Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Diva Posted June 13, 2013 Share Posted June 13, 2013 Get a friend to hold her while you disappear out of sight in bushland. When they let her go, does she just run towards where she saw you disappear, or put her nose down and track you? I had SAR dogs for a while - they would never mark/pee on a track, but I guess a pig finder has quite different rules! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mixeduppup Posted June 13, 2013 Author Share Posted June 13, 2013 We've put her toy hidden in an acre and given her the instruction "where is it" and she'll put her nose down and search until she finds it. I'll test her out doing that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
persephone Posted June 13, 2013 Share Posted June 13, 2013 Hamlet was similar ..he would 'quarter'..he would point , he would freeze, and he would find and follow a scent very well .. absolutely no training ..but he had a cocker spaniel mother . if she is marking and constantly ground scenting..she may just be a sniffy dog ;) Then at the start of every roadway and block she'll mark as she walks. My first thought she is establishing her territory ..then she checks her scent trail to see if anyone has dared mark HER spots ;) do you have any idea what her make up is? We have an ex pig finder here .. he pees/marks ,being a dog , and having other males in our pack ... but he only sniffs when on a track ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mixeduppup Posted June 13, 2013 Author Share Posted June 13, 2013 I think she's kelpie cross something with a weird wirey coat as she has longer wire type hair on her back and tail, almost like hackles, they make her look like a coyote. She's the size of a kelpie. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
persephone Posted June 13, 2013 Share Posted June 13, 2013 got a photo ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bjelkier Posted June 13, 2013 Share Posted June 13, 2013 I had a Samoyed bitch who was very similar, she would even point. Never had any training, she was a natural. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tuxie Posted June 13, 2013 Share Posted June 13, 2013 I don't have anything to add about the tracking thing, but my pups a kelpie x border collie and he has the same hackle type of thing. It comes up when he spots birds or something and he gets into a sort of "hunting" mode. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mixeduppup Posted June 13, 2013 Author Share Posted June 13, 2013 Here's the most recent one I have, not a great shot of the fur on her back but it's longer and wiry compared to the rest of her. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
persephone Posted June 13, 2013 Share Posted June 13, 2013 GSD X ? very pretty and looks pretty intense ! What's she like with other dogs? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mixeduppup Posted June 13, 2013 Author Share Posted June 13, 2013 When I first got her she would go at any dog if it growled, even in play but after some intensive work she gets on well with everyone now and is a regular at obedience. She's the most intense dog I've ever owned. Super focused and just driven. Possible GSD in there but the coat is really wavy and coarse, I'll try to find a better photo of it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mixeduppup Posted June 13, 2013 Author Share Posted June 13, 2013 Better view of it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weasels Posted June 13, 2013 Share Posted June 13, 2013 Here's the most recent one I have, not a great shot of the fur on her back but it's longer and wiry compared to the rest of her. This sounds like a thing that's common in dilute kelpies. I wonder if maybe (heh) she had a dilute in her lineage which didn't throw the coat colour, but left the 'stripe'? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mixeduppup Posted June 13, 2013 Author Share Posted June 13, 2013 Here's the most recent one I have, not a great shot of the fur on her back but it's longer and wiry compared to the rest of her. This sounds like a thing that's common in dilute kelpies. I wonder if maybe (heh) she had a dilute in her lineage which didn't throw the coat colour, but left the 'stripe'? I don't know, but isn't it normally thin as well? Her hair is quite thick. I don't know much about alopecia and genetics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weasels Posted June 13, 2013 Share Posted June 13, 2013 (edited) I don't know, but isn't it normally thin as well? Her hair is quite thick. I don't know much about alopecia and genetics. Yes the hair on the sides is thin in many dilutes but the hair on my fawn girl's back is very wiry and thick. I don't know much about the genetics either but the wiry stripe is definitely something that shows up in kelpies :) (there's some pictures in the recent posts of the kelpie thread) Edited June 13, 2013 by TheLBD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mixeduppup Posted June 13, 2013 Author Share Posted June 13, 2013 I don't know, but isn't it normally thin as well? Her hair is quite thick. I don't know much about alopecia and genetics. Yes the hair on the sides is thin in many dilutes but the hair on my fawn girl's back is very wiry and thick. I don't know much about the genetics either but the wiry stripe is definitely something that shows up in kelpies :) Her hair is normal on her sides and extra thick and wiry on the top. I wonder if the gene can be present but mutate kind of in non-dilute dogs? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weasels Posted June 13, 2013 Share Posted June 13, 2013 I don't know, but isn't it normally thin as well? Her hair is quite thick. I don't know much about alopecia and genetics. Yes the hair on the sides is thin in many dilutes but the hair on my fawn girl's back is very wiry and thick. I don't know much about the genetics either but the wiry stripe is definitely something that shows up in kelpies :) Her hair is normal on her sides and extra thick and wiry on the top. I wonder if the gene can be present but mutate kind of in non-dilute dogs? Yeah that's what I'm thinking, if the 'dorsal stripe' gene can segregate from the 'dilute' & 'thin-hair-on-sides' genes :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs Rusty Bucket Posted June 13, 2013 Share Posted June 13, 2013 My dog does the sniffy marking thing too. If I let her go in a new dog park - she will do several laps around the fence with her nose down to the ground and ignore all the other fun dogs in there including her friends. And she's very diligent any time we go for a walk around our neighbourhood. Nose to the ground most of the way. And she lets me know which part of the oval the treat lady fed her dog on. Even a day later. And she will side track 50m or so to find the remains of crisps from some school kids snack. I put it down to part dingo. Ie cattle dog (and kelpies?) and mystery dogs from the outback - have some dingo. Mind you - I've seen a few dingos out and about and they don't travel with their nose stuck to the ground the way she does. She does have a few beagle friends though. Never trained her to track seriously. If she loses me on the oval (I hide), she runs a couple of laps looking for me and then she puts her nose down... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nekhbet Posted June 14, 2013 Share Posted June 14, 2013 trained tracking dogs don't mark, this dog has just found sniffing to be very self rewarding and has been allowed to do it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Podengo Posted June 14, 2013 Share Posted June 14, 2013 trained tracking dogs don't mark, this dog has just found sniffing to be very self rewarding and has been allowed to do it. Agree... Elsie marks a LOT while we're walking, but is not really a sniffy dog, she'll sniff lamp posts and that's about it. On the track however she is a machine, keeps her head down and works the track really nicely, and has NEVER marked while tracking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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