Dog Community

Starting Tracking Tomorrow Tra La La!!!

Posted : 1/26/2007 2:28:31 PM

I am so excited I don't know how I'm going to get to sleep tonight! Tomorrow we're starting an informal tracking class/club and I know it's going to be awesome! I'm going to start out with Marlowe just because he's the one who can actually compete (I'll have to get moving on getting him his ILP) and also the one who actually needs more activity, but I plan on getting Conrad into it as well, just for fun. We've already started some initial "glovework" just getting Marlowe excited about finding the glove (or in our case, a nasty old sock) and associating the glove with treats and fun. Already he's starting to use his nose a tiny bit to find it, but still just scenting the treat that's on top of the glove, not my actual steps.

I'm totally stoked because this is one dog sport that really capitlizes on an independent-minded dog. You get the dog revved and motivated to do the work, but then the dog leads you, not the other way around. Sounds perfect for my little guy! And with Conrad, he's not so independent but we're constantly telling him to stop sniffing, it'll be great to give him a venue in which sniffing is rewarded.

Anyway, just wanted to share my little "yay!" there. I'm sure I'll be back to report how it went tomorrow afternoon. It's going to be COLD though. We'll be inside the training center for part of it but probably doing some work outside in the park as well. BRRR it's like 10 degrees here today and very snowy.[&:]

Xerxes

Posted : 1/26/2007 2:40:14 PM

Cressida you sound like you're gonna have SO much fun. I'm such a fan of getting dogs to participate in events that are instinctual to them (hope I said that right.)

About a week after Gaia came to live with me, all 3 of us were out on a walk and a fox crossed our path about 100-150 feet ahead. The dogs didn't see the fox, but as soon as we crossed the "live" trail those dogs went berserk. I let 'em trail the fox...even giving words of encouragement "Where is he? Go find him." I've never seen two happier dogs.

I ended the pursuit about 1/2 mile later-I didn't want them to actually catch the fox, that would have been bad. But trailing him was fun!

I can only imagine the look on Marlowe's face when he's hot on the scent.

Cita

Posted : 1/26/2007 4:52:11 PM

That sounds like so much fun! I hope it goes well for you guys! [

]

spiritdogs

Posted : 1/26/2007 9:18:59 PM

Me, too. We expect a report !!! [

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Katie

Posted : 1/27/2007 3:10:30 PM

How fun! This is something I'd like to try out. How did it go today?

jetty

Posted : 1/27/2007 4:03:39 PM

Good Luck - I hope both you and Marlowe enjoy it! It sounds like he is really motivated to track! I can't wait to hear all about it too!

Dodger hated tracking - he was like "WHY would I want to track a human scent when there's CRITTERS around????"!!![

] He tracks me just fine on his own but being "forced" to do it was not okay with him - and I thought I was doing him a favour by trying tracking!

houndlove

Posted : 1/27/2007 5:45:58 PM

It was great! Marlowe was bored out of his mind because it was actually a little too easy for him and since this was our first meeting there was a lot of talking and explaining and stuff, which Marlowe's not so into. But the actual tracking part went really well, Marlowe was very good at it (midway through our first track one of the instructors said, "Yeah, get him ILPed right away.") and is very motivated. We're still working with food on the articles and I think that's primarily what he's actually smelling, but even when we weren't tracking and were just standing around he was nose-to-the-ground, digging under the snow, investigating all the footprints of everyone, tail going a mile a minute.

Marlowe and a weimeraner that was there were sort of identified as naturals. The biggest problem was a gorgeous collie who was just way too handler-focused (like a good obedience dog!) and would not work independently. The sheltie and the labs did very well.

The only thing is, good god it was cold. And windy. The wind is of course a problem because it blows the scent every which way. My feet were very wet and very cold by the end of the day. But I think this is something we're really going to enjoy. I was a little bummed to hear about how infrequently tracking trials are run and how hard it is to get accepted to them, and how expensive they are. But there's a regular tracking group that gets together and the goal of the woman who got our group together is to get us good enough that we can go "play with the big boys" in the group that's already established.

kpwlee

Posted : 1/31/2007 1:04:26 PM

that sounds great I'd love to get Bugsy involved in something like that - we play find it and he just loves it. I just had him out to the park/lake near us and I had him off leash for the first time (outside of our yard or our friends fenced yard) trying to play fetch with him. All he wanted to do was sniff, nose to the ground almost the whole time. He's exhausted now from the high-speed high intensity sniffing. I tell you what if the tracking exercise was to find cat poop he'd win! We were about 50 feet from some in the woods which I didn't realize, all I knew was that he was 'on fire' and then he took off not coming when called and then when he did return he stunk of cat poop. [:'(]

anyway please tell us how this class goes I enjoy reading about it

Linda Kriete

Posted : 2/1/2007 6:54:00 AM

Glad to hear you had a good time with tracking. Sounds like Marlowe is a natural. None of my dogs had a great instinct for it (although it is fun to try) and the thought of tracking thru all kinds of terrain in all kinds of weather isn't too appealing for me (I'm a true creature of comfort [

]). So we'll stick to other dog activities.

Look forward to hearing more of your tracking adventures.