Nosework and Scent Tracking

My Method

First off, I am not a professional trainer. There are many way to teach a dog to track, and many different reason for this type of training. The first post was a good example of how to train your dog to find family members in case of an emergency. This is the best type of track training for a standard house pet. Most tracking dogs are specialists. Some track specific creatures for their humans to hunt, while other track humans that get lost. Some are trained to track dead body's/bones, and some are trained to multi scent track. Cleo is trained to multi scent many different types of furry critters. I am Going to work with Missy on man tracking so she can be a teammate to Betty. With that being said this is where you start to make some decisions. I will also add...This is not an over night thing. To get Cleo fully trained on Multi scent tracking it took almost a year. Most single scent, or specialized tracking can take up to 6 months to complete.

First: You must have a dog, your kid brother or sister will fail and you will have wasted your time.

Second: Decided which path you wish to take your dog down, and which specialized scent you want your little buddy to work.

Third: Get started on basic commands, if your dog doesn't know them yet.

Mine are: Come, Sit, Stay, Down, Recover (I will explain), Settle, and Leave it.

Most have a problem understanding recover. It is a combination of a call off command, settle, and down/sit. I developed it over time, because I was annoyed of using 3 commands to get one thing done.
Recover with Lil' Misses:


Forth: Once your dog has a good grasp on basic commands, it is time for the games. This is where I teach the "find it" or "Search" command. Get your dogs favorite toy/item. Find something to cover it up. I use stainless steel bowls for small items and a towel for large. Show the dog the item, place it under the covering. Repeat as many time as needed to catch your dogs interest. Once your dog is interested in this new game, let him/her get a reward each time he/she put his/her nose on the item. Also, slowly add in the search, or find it command, as well as the sit command. Basically, you will be teaching your dog to point at the item with his/her nose and then sit. This is the signal that your dog has found the desired item when fully trained.

Fifth: Change over to training treats after your dog has a good grasp on the desired commands, and he/she knows exactly what you want of them. Work with this, until you and the dog are comfortable with the progress made. Store bought scents are added during this phase also. You do not have to get a full carcass to train a dog to track an animal. All scent are sold on the net Example: http://www.gundogsonline.com/dog-training-scents/dog-training-scents-1.25-oz.html


I will add more in a bit. The next part will include diagrams of how to run straight line tracking through Obstacle tracking.

Next:

Forgot to add: Last part of in house/small area training is to show your dog the object to be found, and hide it in an area near by. I am usually using scents by this time and reward with a treat when the dog finds the hiding spot. This is the end of you scent recognition phase, and it is time to move on to the tracking phases.

Straight line tracking:
Start with a designated area with a line of sight from start to finish. 50 yards will be enough to begin. Mark the start and end with an object. I use small flags. Start by setting up the area with your dog elsewhere. Place a marker scent at a spot every 5+/- feet along the scent line. Along with the marker scent place a treat, the best being at the end of the trail. This will keep the dog interested, and also ensures that the nose stays on the ground. Walk the dog through the line. Stop at each point to let him/her get the scent and treat. Repeat this process as many times as needed until the dog knows what to do. You will know when they are ready to move onto the next step. Slowly increase the distance to 100 yards, and begin to remove the treats along the trail. Essentially, there will be less treats on each run until none remain. This is when you will begin to control the treats, and when the dog gets one. I prefer to give the dog several at the end of the trail instead of throughout the tracking run, but that is just me.
You will start to see your dog come into his/her own by this point. Keep in mind, tracking involves the dog to be ahead of you and pulling hard on the leash. No Cesar pack walk allowed.