Tracking Clinic in Cranbrook - first morning

This is a Google Earth map I laid out of the seminar area. Cranbrook has so much green space - lots of places to practice on all surfaces! The seminar took place in the Library, at the far left. We spent a lot of time on the high school soccer field - the big green square near the centre of the map. And we spent more time at the arena, the big building to the right of the high school field. The black lines are my lines - I measured all of these areas ahead of time using Google Earth so that we could practice some 'pre plotting.'

On the first morning, I gave an introduction including a lot of information about starting a dog on all surfaces. As usual, the participants learned "how to walk in a straight line" and how to measure paces. Measures in tracking are so important if you are going to keep track of your training sessions in your tracking journal and know how to assess and progress.

While people were counting their paces, I laid an urban track for River. I had scoped out the nearby arena the day before, driving around in my car. That night I did a Google Map of the track. Two people who were more familiar with tracking came with me and we plotted it together while I talked about scent in urban areas and what I anticipated River would do. When the track was an hour old, River ran it, and the entire group followed along. I am waiting for the photos taken by a participant, but here is the map - I am going to refer to the coloured arrows in the discussion below:

OF COURSE this turned out to be the hottest part of the entire two days, so River did feel the heat (for March). But she did so well I was very proud, AND I was also proud that my predictions bore out. River did exactly what I thought she would on the track. Before starting, someone asked me what I thought the hardest part of the track would be, and I said that the area along the front of the arena was complex, but River really had no options but to continue along (and hopefully she would). When she turned right, away from the building, I felt the hardest spot would be the MOT turn right, on the parking lot, just beyond the end of the loading dock's concrete barrier. Sure enough, River did cast left and right before deciding the track went right. I "pretended" not to know to the extent that I let her sort it out. I feel we have truly become a team. She turned 9 this month and I really feel the pressure to find tests for us to try for her UTDX.

Discussion:

• Scope out the area and know where you are heading before even starting.
• Pick a landmark to walk straight. Walk straight up and create a good "walk up" to your scent pad
• Try to have a good veg start on an urban track. A good start is the key to any good track.
• Make sure you remember where your scent pad is located. A good idea is to use wooden golf tees. Urban stakes can be removed in public areas by kids, groundskeepers, etc.
• Give your dog a GOOD scent pad! In an urban environment the dog will have more challenges, so ensure it takes in the scent before charging off as well. When I make a scent pad I will let scent pool by standing and moving about. I sometimes put my articles down while I do this, to add extra scent. The scent pad must be one meter in area.
• When walking, don't take BIG steps. Walk slowly and steadily to allow more scent to pool.
• Watch for a good landmark for your first turn. In this case, it was a road sign that lined up with a clear path along the front of the building.
• A WOOD ARTICLE was placed after the turn as a REWARD for River getting to that point. I paired up wood on veg...a more difficult article on an easier surface. The choices are wood, cloth or plastic for UTD, with leather at the end.
• There was a gravel play area and play equipment and bench near this spot, and as I predicted, River did go and stick her nose under the play equipment where I suspect some scent was trapped.

Second leg: Pink arrows

• The entrance double-doors here will pull scent over from the track. As predicted, River went straight for the doors, then came back to the track. An urban track will NOT go into this building, so it is acceptable to gently restrain your dog and ask it to find the track.
• Along the front I aimed for a great crack in the concrete to walk along. Cracks like this will hold some scent. There was stone landscaping along the front of the building which will hold some scent. River checked it as we went along.
• The second pink arrow points to a narrow walkway along the front behind the loading area. There is a chain link fence on the right, and the building on the left. A dog can get pulled through something like this and might overlook an article. I put a LEATHER article 3/4 of the way along. The leather has more scent and was noticed by River. It slowed her down because the turn was coming up right past the walkway.

Last three legs: blue arrows

• Even so, she overshot a bit, to check a patch of grass. The turn followed the sidewalk, over some more boulders and onto the parking lot where this leg followed along the edges of the painted lines. I used chalk marks on the pavement to show where the track was, as we always want the dog ON the primary track, so we need to know where we walked. Painted lines can also hold some scent.
• The concrete wall to the right trapped scent. At one point, as I predicted, River did go check along the wall. She came back to the main track. I let her check it out. Her line got caught under a tire, and I had to run to untangle it.
• As predicted, at this third turn River had many options - go left, go straight, turn right. The correct choice was to turn right. The wind was blowing the track to the left and that is where she went. She went nearly 30 feet off track (I knew by my line, which was a shorter 30 foot line). In urban tracking dogs are allowed a greater distance to cast off track but I still prefer my dogs to be right on the track, although I will let them search and even if I know where the track is, I will go with them to let them satisfy themselves that there is no scent there.
• Sure enough, River got to the other side of a car, when she changed her mind and trotted straight back at me. She checked around the corner again, the went the right way. She went down the loading ramp for a few steps, came back, and once she was past this giant scent trap - she found her next article.
• This article was PLASTIC and was put there to reward her and let her rest after that corner. There was a big food reward under the plastic.
• After this, River found her next turn and the final article (leather) easily.

It should be noted that this track was more complex than an urban track, to show people the types of things they may encounter in an urban area. In total it was 340 meters and River did it in 15 minutes. We had to run straight back for the car where she gets more treats as part of her routine. The next day, everyone worked on urban transitions in this same area.