Tracking

We started learning to track with Ronan and Thistle around the first week of December, thanks to our instructor Bob and Laurie Rollins who have Jamie.   I had hoped to post about tracking a few weeks ago, but was never really able to get photos or a good video of us tracking since both Don and I are either running the track with a dog or being the tracklayer and having to follow behind on the track.

Tracking is a journey, to say the least!  I had tracked for a while with Lola when she was a puppy, but she had hormonal challenges due to her seasons and wouldn’t want to do anything for 3 months every time she went into season (a month before, 3 weeks of her cycle, and a month afterward).  With tracking season being so short and my work, we ended up stopping training though she wasn’t that far from possibly being certified.   Anyway, I always thought back to tracking with Lola, and remembered it as being a calm, slow and steady, peaceful spring day type of thing.

Fast forward to week 1 of our tracking training, which was all about motivation and getting the dog to go straight as fast as possible on the track to get their goodies at the end of the track.   Whoa!  We got a couple somewhat humorous videos that illustrate just how different this was than tracking Lola many years ago.

Here are Don and Thistle in week one of tracking:

And a (tired) me and Ronan:

We’ve since been advised to stop running while tracking for safety’s sake, as the boys seem motivated enough.  Thank goodness!

Week 2 was much the same, about motivation, except with less scent on the track and a little more lead handling.  Here’s a video of Jamie tracking in week 2– motivated yet focused!

After that we started week 3, which introduced a corner.   Then to week 4, which added a second corner and removed visual cues (marker flags).    Thistle, who never seemed to pay attention to the flags, has been doing great and progressing along nicely.   Ronan, who is highly visual, used the flags a lot, so progress after the transition has been slower for him as we need to rebuild his confidence and motivation.

Like any venue, tracking has its ups and downs.   Besides the obvious good and bad days tracking the dog, there’s the other element which is the handler-tracklayer relationship.   The tracklayer has quite the heavy responsibility toward the handler and dog, especially during training.  He/she needs to lay the correct track of proper distance, being cognizant of wind direction.  The tracklayer needs to remember where the track is in order to help the handler should the dog run into problems while running the track.  When helping, the tracklayer needs to be able to communicate succinctly yet helpfully to the handler, who is probably a bit anxious at the time he/she needs help.  It can be a lot of pressure on both parties.

Here’s an example of non-ideal communication:

– Handler makes the turn, and is unsure whether the dog is heading the right direction.

(handler) Is this right?
(tracklayer) Head toward the rock.
(handler) Which rock? (sees 4 rocks ahead)
(tracklayer) The rock in the ground.
(handler) Huh? Which rock? They are all in the ground.
(tracklayer) The big rock in the ground! In the ground!

🙂  These are things that aren’t funny at the time, but provide for some good entertainment later.

Anyway, I’ll leave you all with that and will do more tracking updates as we progress!