The tracking/trailing dog is worked in a harness attached to a 20 - 30 foot lead. Thehandler puts the harness on the dog just as the team (handler and dog) get ready to work. This way the dog associates the harness with the tracking and is more focused to start working. To start training a tracking dog, we begin by having a familiar subject drop ascent articlethen walk 10-20 feet, laying food treats in each step. The subject then hides in an easily detected location. The handler shows scent article to the dog, then the handler gives a command to "track." The dog follows the scent and the treats to the subject and is given enthusiastic praise and a reward such as more treats or a favorite toy. We continue these short searches using fewer treats each time. We also use different terrain's, such as fields, yards, parks, lightly wooded areas, etc., but with no heavy vegetation or concrete surfaces early in training. We continue using the scent article, andtreats, but we add turns and increase the length of the search. We soon add more variety to the locations used, and even use some with heavy vegetation.As the dog's ability increases, we start adding distance and age to the track and continue exposing the dog to a wide variety of terrain's. The tracking dog team (handler & dog) should be able to consistently work trails up to 24 hours old that are 1-2 miles long in all terrain's. The dog’s motivation for finding a victim is the “party” we have at each find. This entails lots of praise and either food or favorite toy reward for the successful search. A search, no matter how short or long, is a big game to the dog, so it is always "party time" when the dog finds the subject.

Last updated on August 12, 2009 by Ted Carson