Training a dog to trail/track

Gatzby

Gatzby

Well-known member
I have never trained my dogs to track as they just seem to do it. But what the heck I figured if I could improve the skill it would be worth it. After a few sessions my pup started tearing it up. Absolutly the funnest thing I have worked on with my dogs and the dogs love it. Give it a try it's a blast
 
Dakotazeb said:
So explain to the rest of us your training methods.
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I am no "pro" trainer but here is what I did:

I tied about 100' of rope to a freshly killed duck, than dipped him in a bucket of water. I then plucked a few feathers and dropped them and the duck about 5'-10' from a chain link fence in a mowed ball field. I than walked in a big semi circle till I was about 5'-10' off the fence line and just past the corner of the fence. I than pulled the duck to me (about 25 yards). Than I walked in a big semi circle untill I was perpindicular to the intial drag and about 5'-10' off the perpindicular fence line. I than pulled the duck about 10 yards, took the rope off the duck. I healed my pup up to feather pile put him in a down and let him sniff the feathers. I than released him from the down and said "find your bird". The fence worked as a boundry on one side and I helped the dog through body english to stay in the vicinity of the trail. After a few short simple setups like this I started stretching the trail out. After about 5 sessions I moved to an open mowed field (no fence) but set the trail up the same. When I was confident he new what was expected I moved to knee deep grass. I have ran trails well over a 100 yards with the right angle leg about 75 yards. The final step I did was to tape the wings on a live duck and let him go in the knee deep grass the first time I waited about 5 minutes and sent the dog. Now I release a duck and run a marking setup or run a tough blind and when I finish we chase down the duck!

Also where you put the "corner" in the track tie a small piece of ribbon so you can judge the dogs performance. Oh yea, I set up so the dog tracks with the wind at his back or at his side.

I am sure my method could use some improvement, and I welcome any suggestions.

Steve
 
That's great stuff! It is amazing how much this helps in a dogs development. I have done the same with a wet towel, covered with scent, tied to a rope. We have progressed to a heavy grass field near my home. Luckily this year the grass is waist deep. This helps with confidence and drive. Ticks are a mother this year with the deep grass.
 
I do the same with live birds. I put 2-3 in a netted style bag, spray with some water and drag them thru the field. The dogs love it.
 
There is one possible negative you need to understand if you are doing this a lot. You might accidently install in the dog a time limit as to how long it should look for the bird. If he is finding the bird in just a few minutes every time during training, he may get the idea that he should be finding the downed birds in the field in the same time frame as he is in the training session. This might mean he stops looking for a downed bird when out hunting if not found in the training timeframe.
 
keroko said:
There is one possible negative you need to understand if you are doing this a lot. You might accidently install in the dog a time limit as to how long it should look for the bird. If he is finding the bird in just a few minutes every time during training, he may get the idea that he should be finding the downed birds in the field in the same time frame as he is in the training session. This might mean he stops looking for a downed bird when out hunting if not found in the training timeframe.
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You could say that about most any training scenario that gets out of balance. Run blinds all the time and your dog will probably start popping or train exclusively with birds and your dog may start blinking bumpers. Balance is the key. Lets say you just had a brutal handling session and the dogs attitude is soured a bit, run a trail where he can freewheel and have some......happy dog again! ABC's of dog training Attitude, Balance, Control
Steve
 
Pretty much what we have been doing at NAVHDA for 30 years. Ultimately for the Natural Ability test the less than 16 month old dog must track a live pheasant but drags are one of the methods to get tere. May use as many live roosters as you can afford!
 
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