What it takes to get TD Title:
The TD track is from 440-to-500 yards long with 3-to-5 turns (or change in direction), and aged from a half-hour to two hours. A dog must indicate a glove
or wallet placed at the end of the track. Tracks are plotted in an open field with uniform cover. There are no obstacles. The start of the track will be marked with a flag. A second flag is placed 30 yards from the start flag to indicate the direction of the first leg of the track. There are no other flags in the field.
What it takes to get a TDU Title:
The TDU track is 400-to-5oo yards long, with 3-to-5 90 degree turns, and aged from a half-hour to two hours. Tracks are plotted in an urban environment on paved sidewalks, lightly traveled roads, baseball diamonds, parking lots and other non-vegetated surfaces. The track will have a minimum of two (2) different surfaces, vegetated and non-vegetated. The start is marked with a flag with a second flag set 30 yards from the first to indicate the direction of the first leg of the track. There are three dissimilar articles for each track, one at the start, one about midway on the track and one at the end.
What it takes to get a TDX Title:
The TDX track is 800-to-1000 yards long with 5-to-7 turns, and aged from 3-to-5 hours. The track also has two sets of cross (diversionary) tracks and has some of the aforementioned obstacles. The start is marked with a single flag and the dog must determine the direction of the first leg. There are four dissimilar articles for each track, one at the start and three more on the track.
What it takes to get a VST Title:
A VST track is from 600-to-800 yards long, with 4-to-8 turns, and aged from 3-to-5 hours. The articles must be one each of leather, cloth, plastic and metal. The VST track must also contain three different surfaces with one turn on a non-vegetated surface such as concrete. This test demonstrates the utility of the tracking dog to work in an urban environment.
