The Tracking Shift to Nose Down!
Caden searching a scent pad. There is no track here, just a scent pad with lots of treats, to encourage nose-down behaviour.
What a week! I've been out about three times this week. Twice with my SCH tracking 'guru' Dan (who scored 95 at the Nationals in Tracking and was in the top 5 in Canada - I mention this to let you know I am getting GOOD coaching!) and once on my own. On Sunday I went to regular SCH practice, and Caden made me very proud. He did some nice heeling and attention work, and did a long distance recall running for me like a bullet and sitting in front. What a thrill to see him running at me so quickly, eyes on mine and ears up. I am so thankful to the members of the GSD Club of Calgary (well, I am a member now too) for helping me train my boy.
You will notice in the pictures that I am really emphasizing searching at the scent pads, and laying serpentines with lots of food to control the progress and pace, and reward them for being nose down. Even River is doing this, but she gets BETTER treats than everyone else, being older and making the biggest adjustment in her behaviour.
I remember starting to teach tracking the next year (1995) and having students look at me in disbelief when I said there would be no double-laying. But our dogs actually did better and learned faster. Now I know it is because once you stop double - laying (going one way, then returning backwards on the same track) the dogs had to RE-LEARN how to track scent going one way only. Double laying didn't make it easier, it simply presented a different and odd scent picture to the dogs. Dogs naturally track in the direction of the track because of how scent a
Tracking may NOT be a big component in our social culture, but amongst those of us to track, we share the same passion and goals. I detect a shift going on these days back to more nose-down tracking. I think the reason is the popularity of urban tracking, and the realization that dogs can track more precisely on non-veg than we previously thought.
From my own experience and observation, we are all on a big learning curve when it comes to understanding how dogs track on non-veg surfaces. I sense more and more people are finding that what you train for, is what you get. In the field, we keep our dogs on the primary track. If we allow them to fringe the track, we get fringe trackers. Guess what - Glen Johnston wrote that! He was talking about the field, but I believe the same applies to non-veg.
I was first attracted to SCH because of the emphasis on precise, nose-down tracking at a nice pace, not too fast. So many people I know are either looking into SCH, or HITT, or finding other ways to keep their urban dogs on the primary track on hard surfaces. At the seminar I organized last year with Steve Ripley, he said that we should never follow our dogs when they are fringing paralleling the track - that we need to know exactly where we walked on non-veg surfaces, and must point it out to the dog and not move ahead until they are dead on. He uses chalk in the beginning to mark his track, to be sure he can point right to it.
A long-time tracking friend of mine (who is a CKC tracking judge) said to me that when she first started to track in the 70s, she followed a SCH method of training. Over the years, she allowed more casting off track and let her dog do more wandering off track, as we all were struggling with how much we should allow a dog to investigate scent drift. Now she too is deciding to go back to her roots, and teach nose-down tracking...of course, she is aiming for UTDX!
The past year or so has been quite a ride, with a lot of upheaval in my tracking life! But I know that I will grow as a handler, and I guess the proof will be in the pudding as my dogs adjust to the new methods.
What a week! I've been out about three times this week. Twice with my SCH tracking 'guru' Dan (who scored 95 at the Nationals in Tracking and was in the top 5 in Canada - I mention this to let you know I am getting GOOD coaching!) and once on my own. On Sunday I went to regular SCH practice, and Caden made me very proud. He did some nice heeling and attention work, and did a long distance recall running for me like a bullet and sitting in front. What a thrill to see him running at me so quickly, eyes on mine and ears up. I am so thankful to the members of the GSD Club of Calgary (well, I am a member now too) for helping me train my boy. River searching her scent pad
You will notice in the pictures that I am really emphasizing searching at the scent pads, and laying serpentines with lots of food to control the progress and pace, and reward them for being nose down. Even River is doing this, but she gets BETTER treats than everyone else, being older and making the biggest adjustment in her behaviour.Last Saturday I laid a track for River at 11:30 AM. I went back with all four dogs at 2:30, ran River's track, then laid and ran serpentines and scent pads for the rest. I didn't get home until nearly 6 PM. Quite honestly, I don't know how I used to teach a class of 8 dogs in one morning when it now takes me half a day to train my own four.
Partly it is because I am doing so many new things, and new things means developing new habits and routines. Many years ago in the mid-90s, I remember somethings similar happening. This was in the days before email and chat groups (weird eh?) I was training my Rough Collie Kate to track, after having trained two GSDs, Hawk and Robin. Kate was so different! She hated repetition and despised lengthy, boring training sessions. I had been following Glen Johnson to a tee, but on my own, decided I would no longer double lay tracks. I changed a few other little things.
Jet following my footsteps. I had Jet out the last two nights with my SCH friend, who was complimentary about her tracking ability (high praise indeed!)...
I remember starting to teach tracking the next year (1995) and having students look at me in disbelief when I said there would be no double-laying. But our dogs actually did better and learned faster. Now I know it is because once you stop double - laying (going one way, then returning backwards on the same track) the dogs had to RE-LEARN how to track scent going one way only. Double laying didn't make it easier, it simply presented a different and odd scent picture to the dogs. Dogs naturally track in the direction of the track because of how scent aAround this same time, people all over North America had the same ideas. Books came out, and studies, and everyone made a SHIFT. I love this idea. Malcolm Gladwell writes about the shift in his book The Tipping Point. In that book he says that ideas are contagious, and that an idea will catch on and spread until the majority of people suddenly subscribe to it, without major promotion to persuade them of its merit. An example he uses really early on is the end of the slave trade. It began in a small way with some enlightened people, but gathered momentum at the same time in diverse parts of the world. A shift in consciousness.
And here is River, actually following my footsteps. At 9 years old, she has the most training where she has been allowed to search and cast widely off track, but I know she will conserve energy being more ontrack, which is good at her age and in the drier Alberta conditions...
Tracking may NOT be a big component in our social culture, but amongst those of us to track, we share the same passion and goals. I detect a shift going on these days back to more nose-down tracking. I think the reason is the popularity of urban tracking, and the realization that dogs can track more precisely on non-veg than we previously thought.We keep learning more and more about the science of scent and tracking - understanding of course that there is only so much we can understand, so much being a miraculous ability our dogs possess. And many of us continue to experiment and observe, letting our dogs be the teachers.
When Ted was finished, I let him have a little run, and he actually FOUND a ball! He was so happy, here he is with it...we left it on the soccer field in case the dog and owner who lost it came back to look...
From my own experience and observation, we are all on a big learning curve when it comes to understanding how dogs track on non-veg surfaces. I sense more and more people are finding that what you train for, is what you get. In the field, we keep our dogs on the primary track. If we allow them to fringe the track, we get fringe trackers. Guess what - Glen Johnston wrote that! He was talking about the field, but I believe the same applies to non-veg.Jet already lies down to indicate. I am going to learn how to change her indication so she does a SCH indication, lying straight on track, facing the track direction...OK, in this picture, she is at the scent pad. When her track was done, I let her run around a bit, and she ran BACK to the scent pad to get treats she missed!
I was first attracted to SCH because of the emphasis on precise, nose-down tracking at a nice pace, not too fast. So many people I know are either looking into SCH, or HITT, or finding other ways to keep their urban dogs on the primary track on hard surfaces. At the seminar I organized last year with Steve Ripley, he said that we should never follow our dogs when they are fringing paralleling the track - that we need to know exactly where we walked on non-veg surfaces, and must point it out to the dog and not move ahead until they are dead on. He uses chalk in the beginning to mark his track, to be sure he can point right to it.Boy, is Ted doing a good job tracking these days! He has the least amount of training so he is catching onto footstep tracking really well. Last night my knowledgeable guru said he has a nice deep nose. I am so proud of Ted...you can see my footsteps in this photo if you really look, ahead of Ted.
A long-time tracking friend of mine (who is a CKC tracking judge) said to me that when she first started to track in the 70s, she followed a SCH method of training. Over the years, she allowed more casting off track and let her dog do more wandering off track, as we all were struggling with how much we should allow a dog to investigate scent drift. Now she too is deciding to go back to her roots, and teach nose-down tracking...of course, she is aiming for UTDX!Caden and I always practice obedience in new places. Here he does a sit stay.
The past year or so has been quite a ride, with a lot of upheaval in my tracking life! But I know that I will grow as a handler, and I guess the proof will be in the pudding as my dogs adjust to the new methods.And when we are done, we have a good play...River and Ted...
Stay tuned for more nose-down tracking thoughts and photos! Happy training!
Category Article Beginners tracking, Commentary, Schutzhund, Steve White HITT
