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Our Tracking is Full of Fail -- Minus 2%.

So, that didn't start well.

A couple of posts ago I mentioned that Laev's tracking is full of fail, because she is just too darned enthusiastic about the track.  So I have a new de-revving program for her, and tonight I laid two tracks.  The first, for Laev, had lots of food, angles, serpentines.  The second had no food except at the start pad but had three articles in its short length.

I returned to the house -- I'd used my own field -- and brought Shakespeare out to track the second one, leaving the first to age.  Laev screamed in protest; apparently she'd seen me laying the track from a window.  Shakespeare did his track happily, enjoying his treats on the articles.  I returned to trade dogs.

"That dog is wired," my husband warned me of Laev.  "It's crazy.  It wants to track."

Yep, Laev had been mightily offended that she had watched me lay a track and then been left behind as I took the other dog.  I knew I was going to have to ride that out as we went through our new calming routine before beginning the track, but I was prepared.

Or not.

I asked Laev to sit on the porch as I put her tracking long link on.  She sat, for a short time, and then she exploded.  She ran away toward the field where I'd laid tracks, hearing nothing at all of a recall.  By the time I got there, she was galloping along the track, air scenting frantically and ignoring all the food.

I stood at the head of the track and called her.  She came to me but then bolted again when I asked her to down.  Repeat.  She came to me, I treated and grabbed her collar, and then I downed her.

Right.  Calm starts.  Good one, Laura.

I put Laev's equipment on and stroked her for a long time.  I also reflected that perhaps mosquito happy hour was not the best time for calm long downs. 

I treated Laev, petted her, and tried to get her to relax enough that I could rub her belly.  Not a prayer, she knew the track was there!  But after a while, she was willing to eat treats off the ground as we walked and I dropped them, so that was a good sign.

We edged toward the start flag and I dropped some treats on the ground, working slowly into the scent pad.  She ate treats, sniffed, ate treats, realized that she was on the track, and launched.

Fortunately she was frantic for only a few steps before she settled into sniffing and eating again, about four footsteps' worth.  After that she looked pretty good, 'til she got to a corner, which for some reason sent her back into air scenting again.  She got a bit wired -- it hadn't been that far under the surface -- and I had to down her on the track, which really peeved her.  I treated her in the down, stroked her, praised her, and when she was calm, I soothingly whispered, "Track."  I even dropped a treat just ahead of her as I cued.

Okay, so, memo to self:  "Track" is a very loaded word.  She launched right over the treat and landed on the track.

Recovery was pretty quick again, however, and she seemed to settle into a better working mode.  She still didn't eat all the food on the track, but she did better.  She was hesitant to down on the single article at the end, but I fed her on the article for a while, trying to ease out of the track as well.  Then I took off her collar and line and went to collect my flags while she wandered the field, wondering at this weird finish.

So we might be on to something, but it's going to take some better management to know for sure.  We'll try again and see what we get!

This is why I hate competitive tracking.

Have you considered, instead of going for a tracking title, maybe joining a local volunteer K-9 search and rescue team? If it's a good team, they would be THRILLED to have a dog that loves to trail (which is what we call tracking combined with air-scenting) fast and with enthusiasm. After all, in real life, the goal is to find the person as fast as possible.

I always feel so sad when a dog that has joy and talent for trailing is forced to slow down and move ploddingly from footstep to footstep, just because the dog's handler wants it to. What's the point, if the dog isn't having fun? You might as well quit and go for an agility title or something instead, if your dog's just going to be bored and unhappy.

I am reminded of a foreign language class I took in college, where the teacher allowed everyone to speak in that slow, plodding way people do when they are reciting. I wanted to speak swiftly, in a normal pace and tone, because I understood it better that way. It made more sense to me. It was VERY frustrating to be forced to slow down to that plodding, unnatural method of speaking. I was bored, I was frustrated, I even became angry a few times and made it a point to say the whole dang sentence TWICE, in a normal pace and tone of voice, very loudly, while everyone else plodded along. (That was my extinction burst. After that, I stopped talking at all, except maybe once, softly, to myself, for my own benefit.) It got to the point where I seriously considered dropping the class. I only didn't because it was too late to get my tuition money back. To this day, the only thing I can remember how to say in that language is "I have a beautiful dog." Go figure.

I imagine this is what it is like for a fast trailing dog to be forced to footstep track. It doesn't make sense to them to slow down when they KNOW where they're going. Think how an untrained dog follows a game trail in the woods. They go fast, zig-zagging through the scent cone, only slowing down if there is something interesting enough along the way to distract them (hint: your food treats on the ground are not as interesting as the self-reward of following a trail!!!), or if they lose the trail. Slow tracking is unnatural to most dogs. Some hounds will do it naturally, but even then, if they're hot on the trail, they get excited, pick their heads up, and start running (and baying.)

I don't want you to think I'm encouraging you to give up, but sometimes you have to put your desires, your ego, and your feelings aside, and do what's best for the dog. If you can find a way to make her footstep track and be happy about it, then more power to you, but consider what I've said if, despite your best, most valiant efforts, she continues to resist the change, or learns to do it, but without any joy in the process. What good is a tracking title and bragging rights if your dog hates doing it? Good luck. Keep letting us know how it goes.

Michelle Haug

trainer@caninesinaction.com's picture

Worthy comments.

Hi, Michelle. Thanks for writing.

You make a valid point -- why force the dog to do something he doesn't want to do? And I am in 110% agreement with you about the foreign language class; as Karen Pryor pointed out in Don't Shoot the Dog, holding back a successful student is just as aversive as real punishment!

However, I think footstep tracking and trailing are actually two different behaviors, like loose leash walking and formal heeling. Different parameters for a similar concept. This is in contrast to your foreign language experience, in which dull bored recitation is never a useful behavior, even when reciting! (Incidentally, I would have been the Bad Kid in that class, too!)

There are dogs who are both competitive trackers and working search dogs; their handlers use different cues to ask for different behaviors. (You will find, of course, varying opinions on whether or not this is ideal, but the short version is, I know dogs which have been successful at both and it is, at minimum, possible.) I think that's what I'm looking for with Laev, the ability to turn on the behavior I need at the time. I don't really care if her LLW is lousy (yep, I'm a lazy trainer!) and she's welcome to trail the bunnies through our trees, but when I ask her to work with me, I want crisp heeling and footstep tracking.

And Laev doesn't *hate* footstep tracking; it's just not as natural to her. There's a big difference, and I should be careful about how I represent her. There is certainly joy in the process no matter what type of scenting she's doing. Her tail is high and wagging non-stop during any scenting activity, and it's just getting too high in anticipation of the track which pushes her into air scenting instead of footstep tracking. Like too much unfocused excitement can lead to sloppy heeling if not channeled properly. I have the handling skills to channel the enthusiasm in heeling, but not yet in tracking.

The good news is, there's another post coming. :-)

Laura &

  • FO U-CD ARCHX Shakespeare To Go CD CGC BH WAC RL1-CL RL1X2 RA ATT(UDC) ATT(ATTS)RL2X RL3X CD-H
  • Ascomannis Laevatein YTT RL1 CD-H CGC BH RN CD WAC ATT(UDC) AD ATT(ATTS)
  • Inky (couch dog!)