Super Tracker

[DogGoneGood]

"Super Tracker" was Linkin's nick name at school, and for good reasons

I've been wanting to get back into tracking ever since I got back from school but haven't found anyone willing to query (lay the track) for me. No one wants to sit out in the woods getting eaten by bugs I suppose...

That is... no one except Coal

I decided I'd try to see if Linkin can find Coal. I put Linkin inside and brought Coal out to an area of our back yard that's half cleared and half covered in trees. No one ever walks back there so I know there's no chance of contamination. Unfortunately I can't get Coal to go lay a track by himself (though maybe that's something I can teach him ) so of course there's some of my scent on the track as well, but I'd like to think Linkin's smart enough to realize I'm obviously not at the end of that track so Coal is the one he's after

I put Coal out behind some trees and tied him there. Told him to down and stay. I then went and got Linkin and brought him out and told him to search. He was a little confused at first, thought we were just going for a stroll. Coal didn't quite grasp the concept either because he didn't stay in a down and sure enough Linkin could see him poking his head around the tree lol I praised anyway and brought Linkin back to the house.

The back of our yard is big enough to lay two tracks so I went back out and did another one with Coal. This time hiding him behind some big bushes and there's no way he could peek his head out. I went back and got Linkin.

This track was much better. I think both dogs grasped the concept because Linkin put his nose to the ground and followed it along Coal's trail until he got around the bush and saw Coal, who this time remained in a down

They both thought it was a lot of fun!

So I think I've found my query... for now anyway until I can find a human willing to sit out in the woods for a while It would be nicer to have that element of surprise for me. Knowing where Coal was hiding kind of took that away. Plus I've found unknown tracks are a lot harder, you have to trust your dog and completely rely on his nose.

[abker17]

I would sit out in the woods and get eaten by bugs for you and Linkin, Shara! ;D It sounds like fun, to be honest!

[DogGoneGood]

lol, I know you would Abs It is kind of fun. It's not so much fun when it's raining, but in better weather it's fun. If it's a long track it's almost scary being out there alone and waiting for rescue Until you hear the snif snif snuffle sniff approaching fast and all of a sudden there's a wiggly furry body on you licking your face ;D

[rexandbaby]

I keep thinking that Rex would be good at this, but I have not worked with him, now I am going to start, thanks for posting this, it will take me away from the computer even more!

[DogGoneGood]

LOL While I encourage my members to post frequently and would like to have a very busy forum, the whole purpose of this forum is to help people with thier dogs, and it's impossible if they don't actually go out and work with their dogs lol

Tracking is SOOO much fun. It's even funner if you've got a large group of people and dogs so that you can do more tracks in a day (two short tracks or one long track is generally all you should do with a dog in a day). If you have a large group (or even small group) of people tracking together it also means you've got several people eager to volunteer as the next query so there's no worry about having to find a friend of family member willing to reluctantly do it lol

I have a LOT of info about tracking in my binder from school (AKA: my dog bible ) I will have to post some once I get it back from my sister!