by Jeff Shaver
Pup has good nose down tracking posture with NO training!When puppies are born sight and sound are not their guides in the new world. Touch, smell, and taste guide them during the first few days of their lives, with smell being one of the primary senses allowing them to stay warm and feed by locating their mother and siblings. Everyone knows a dog’s sense of smell is exponentially greater than that of humans and remains one of their primary sources of gathering information about their environment throughout their life. We have all seen dogs with no training follow our footsteps in the yard where we had just walked or finding a place where one of their canine playmates had left a toy or other treat.
AKC Tracking is simply a formalized version of utilizing those instincts and senses in a competition setting. As long as the puppy is old enough to ambulate on their own (and we don’t push them too hard in teaching them a more formalized process for using their nose) they can begin learning to track for AKC competition as early as five (5) to eight (8) weeks. The younger you start your dog, at least in an informal setting of “play” training for tracking, the more likely you will have earlier and better results throughout the dog’s life if it is your goal to compete in these events. All dogs can be taught to track for AKC at a later age. Even as an adult training them to use their natural olfactory gifts at an earlier age makes for a long and happy tracking career.
So how do you start tracking with a puppy? As in other activities we enjoy with our dogs the theories and ideas about how to train for tracking are as varied as the individual puppies we work with. There are however three (3) or four (4) basic motivators that work as well in tracking as in obedience or other sports for our dogs. Whatever method or motivational items you use the ultimate goal is to “reward” the puppy at the right times and in the right amounts to form an association between the activities they are involved in and the positive reinforcement they receive in those circumstances. Food and toys are two (2) of the primary reward methods used by many in tracking to help form an association between positive reward and interacting with you as the trainer and handler and the dog’s natural instincts of smell. Whatever your puppy prefers for motivation the keys in early training for tracking are to keep it simple, positive, and initially at least repetitive.
The three (3) main components of AKC tracking that need to be developed are distance, age of track, and tracking proximity for your dog. The initial focus of course should not be seeing how far your eight-week old puppy can track or how old you can make a track to test them at that age. Remember, if you are going to start tracking with your Rottweiler puppy at a few weeks of age, keep it simple, short, and happy.
As mentioned there are many ways to start a dog tracking, but the basic thought is to have the dog associate something they normally do, mainly having their nose on the ground and following a smell, with something that motivates them. Generally, what you want to associate are footprints and the smells left behind by shoes, crushed grass, human skin cells, etc., with food or another motivational item. Eventually the food and motivational item will not be needed, but the dog will have learned to associate positives with following the smells where someone has walked.
To do that initially, you need very little in the way of equipment. A few surveyors flags are good, not only to simulate larger flags which will be in a real test but to give you, as the track layer, a clear understanding of where you have walked or left motivational food or other items. It is amazing in a short period of time how we can forget exactly where we walked! It is key early on for you to know that the dog is actually following exactly where you walked, otherwise you may be rewarding them for following things that are extraneous to the actual track such as other animals or people that may have walked across the training track. Generally, you will place a flag in the ground at the start and at various intervals along the training tracks to give you a visual picture of what your dog should be “smelling”. The only other materials needed, will be a piece of cloth such as a wash rag or handkerchief to leave at the initial flag as a “start article”. This article should have your scent on it which you can place there by rubbing it in your hands or on the bottom of your shoes. You will also need an end article, which in most cases for basic tracking tests will be a leather glove. Again, this needs to be impregnated with your smell or even initially the smell of food or other motivational items which can be rubbed on the start article and glove. The only other equipment will be a leash of some kind, the lighter the better, a buckle or chain collar, (no pinches) and a non-restrictive harness. Finding a harness for a Rottweiler puppy that is eight (8) weeks old is not always easy to do but generally can be found at PetSmart or Walmart. It is best to start out with inexpensive harnesses as your puppy will soon outgrow them. A non-restrictive harness is one that places the pressure points or stress of the harness in pulling across the shoulders or chest of the dog and not around its neck, nor across its legs. Generally, these are buckle or plastic snap harnesses with a single strap running between the front legs connecting to a strap around the chest which then circles around the top of the shoulders and around the lower neck. (See illustration below; harness may or may not be padded.)
Once you have the basic equipment the goal is to establish a routine very early on in training. This routine usually starts at the car but may even start when you leave home. Try and associate some word or phrase with the overall event of tracking such as, “are you ready?” or “do you want to go tracking?” Always say these phrases in a positive mode. Generally, these routines start when you’re taking the dog out of the car to run the track. Take your equipment which will also include food items if you are using them for motivation; these can be small pieces of treats, like Bil-Jac, cut up steak, chicken or cheese. It is also a good idea to take a new puppy tracking with other dogs who know what tracking is about. It is amazing how much they can learn by simply watching another dog run a track and receive a reward at the end. This desire to be involved is another motivational factor which helps many young puppies learn.
Most beginning tracks take place on mowed grass or field grass of some kind (though if planning to proceed to VST you can add concrete or other non-grass surfaces very early). Practice can be done in parks or even in your front yard for the very early stages of tracking. Beginning tracks are simply where you walk in a straight line for a short distance placing a start flag in the ground leaving the start article at the base of the flag. You may initially want to stamp your feet or rub the bottom of your shoes with one of the treats and even leave a piece of treat on the start article. Basically you then walk in a straight line (selecting something for a line of sight and the distance) in a normal manner leaving food treats at various intervals. When you get to where you want to stop you place the glove or other article on the ground with some treats on it, walk a few feet and put another flag in the ground to give you direction when you go back to run the track. The amount of food initially, if you’re using food as a motivational item, can be every step. Over time (weeks and months) food will be eliminated except on the articles themselves and eventually no food will be used as none is allowed in an official test.
These basic beginning tracks are usually run in sets of three (3), one right after another. Track will be laid and run with a puppy, another laid and run, followed by the third. These baby tracks should be no more than thirty (30) to fifty (50) feet long. You will gradually increase the distance once it is clear the puppy is learning and understands the concept, though increasing the distance too much too quickly can result in setbacks. Once you have put the initial puppy track down you will go to your car and start the routine asking the dog if they are ready to track or whatever phrase you would like to use. You will also need a phrase for tracking, in other words, a command to tell them to track. Some people say “find it”, others say “track”, but it can be any phrase or short word you would like to use as long as you are consistent in using it. Generally, you will associate that word with the dog beginning to track at the start flag and will repeat it as necessary with the dog associating the word with the process of following the track.
Take your dog from the car on lead and collar while bringing extra treats and the harness with you. Sit your dog near the start within a few feet so they can smell the start article, stand on the lead if necessary. Place the harness on your dog all the while being positive and asking the dog if they are ready to track. Once you are ready, you can initially point to the start article and tell the dog to “track”.
The idea is for the dog to be pulling which can be created by placing some resistance on the lead. As soon as you let the dog move toward the start article and you give them the command that you have selected they should find the motivational item or piece of food on the start article at which time you can praise them and again tell them to track. Initially, they may not understand what they are looking for and may look at you or try to move in various directions but should soon realize there are additional pieces of food associated with your footprints leading away from the start flag. BE PATIENT. Do not try and push the puppy nor become upset or disgruntled if the puppy initially does not follow the track. Simply wait, stay positive using the command for track and even pointing at the next step where a piece of food may be. Eventually, though it may take several of these short tracks, the puppy will know there is something “out there” that they need to follow in order to find the motivational items. You will repeat the motivational praise, giving the command and pointing to the ground, helping the dog as much as is necessary initially until they eventually get to the end article. At that point, you should make the dog feel they just won the lottery. Provide several treats on the end article, every time you place one there use the command for track and tell the dog they are good. You will also want to try and get them to “chase” the end article which you can do by pulling it along the ground with your hand and placing food on it after they have found it initially. Even tugging or playing with the end article is recommended so that once the food is removed the focus then is on finding the end article, which will be their ultimate reward. Once you have rewarded and praised for thirty seconds to a minute, take the article, (unless they want to carry it back to the car), put the dog back on the collar, remove the harness, walk them back to the car and place them in their crate. You will then repeat this process one (1) to two (2) more times each training session.
A properly fitted harness on a 10 week old “baby”
about to be rewarded at the glove.
Some people track everyday with the same dog, others such as myself, maybe only once or twice a week, particularly at these young stages. Do not increase distance or age of the track for several outings until you are sure the dog is getting the concept. You will know this because you will no longer have to be pointing to the ground or repeatedly encouraging the dog to keep their nose down and follow the track. They will learn to do it on their own. At these stages do not attempt turns, making the track long, or difficult. There is plenty of time for that later. The early stages of puppy
training are simply to have the dog associate something positive with having their nose on the ground walking in your footsteps.
Another way some people get the dog to associate “positive” with following a track is to play hide and seek with the dog. This will require you having someone to help you hold the puppy. You will then lay essentially a practice track as described above but will stand behind a tree or other obstacle near the end of the track so that when the dog is being handled and following the track they ultimately find you at the end. Eventually, tracks are laid by strangers but during the training process initially it is perfectly acceptable for you to lay your own tracks and be the “reward” at the end.
There is so much to talk about during the beginning phases of tracking. As long as you keep it positive and short the dog will learn to associate reward with performing the task at hand. Remember, the dog knows how to use their nose to find things. You are simply trying to train them to do it in a controlled setting. You want them to learn eventually to “weed out” extraneous smells such as squirrels, other people or dogs, and follow the smell that is at the start flag with the start article, which will be your footprints. It is almost essential to find an experienced person you can train with, at least initially. While tracking is something you can “read” about, it really takes seeing it and having a knowledgeable hand guide you, especially in the initial learning stages for you as a handler.
Finding the final article becomes a reward all it’s own … play time!
Tracking is a wonderful way to bond one on one with your Rottweiler. There is no better bonding time than at a very early age! It is also a wonderful confidence builder for both puppies and adults. Happy Tracking!