Tracking and Relationships
I always say that tracking success is relative to your relationship with your dog. Some dogs will track independently of you very well, but when the going gets tough, your dog pulls it out because they want to do their job and work WITH you, or please you. A lot of people will ask how to choose a tracking dog and the answer most experienced trackers come back with is to choose a dog that wants to be with you - that only has eyes for you - the pup that follows you and picks you! This will be your team mate.At the tracking clinic in Cranbrook, everyone who came out had this kind of relationship with their dogs. Tracking is not an active sport there at the moment but I am sure it will make a comeback. The people who came to the clinic have been doing a lot of other things with their dogs and it showed in the dog's 'biddable' natures - they all picked up the activities so quickly and the handlers were all very in tune with their dogs.
I really like this photo of Mary and her Airedale Kinza. Mary has a soft spot and does fostering and rescue work. She was simply looking for a 'fun activity' for Kinza which I think is great and what better activity to choose than this...I think Kinza is saying "Mom, I like tracking..."
And this is Jeff and Cheryl's beautiful boy Brenner. Brenner has had a bit of tracking experience, but boy did he do a great job at the clinic, showing that dogs never forget how to track! I love the photo of Jeff at the end with Brenner (at the top of this post). I could feel the pride from across the field. ALWAYS take the time at the end of the track to praise your dog. Great job!
And here is Chris's 6-month old gorgeous girl Sydney - watching her mom lay a track. Does this spell devotion? Of course, absence makes the heart grow fonder and she really did well when she got to go find those "grass cookies..."
Category Article Beginners tracking, tracking seminar, urban tracking
