The Tracking Club of Wisconsin is a Licensed Club of the American Kennel Club
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Air Scent - The airborne scent left by a person, animal or object. (Is also used as a verb when the dog attempts to follow a track by locating the airborne scent left by the tracklayer.)
Age / Aging - The amount of time elapsed from the tracklayer starting the laying of the track until the dog starts to follow the track. In TD a test track may range from 30 minutes to 2 hours old. In TDX and VST a test track may range from 3 to 5 hours old.
Article - An item left on the track by the tracklayer for the dog to find. In TD there will be one article, a wallet or glove. In TDX there will be four articles, normally cloth and leather. In VST there will be four articles. A cloth or leather one at the start and one each made of plastic, leather (or cloth) and metal along the track. One of the articles will be placed on a non-vegetated surface.
Backtrack - Retracing steps over a portion of the track that has already been completed.
Blind Track - A track plotted and laid by another person. The location and details of the track are unknown to the handler. No flags or turn markers are used. An exact map is required to plot this kind of track.
Body English (Dog) - movement made that can be interpreted by the handler to understand the dog’s actions. Examples are ear movement, tail wagging, lifting of head or other body movements.
Body English (Handler) - voluntary or involuntary movements that may influence the dog’s action. Examples include turning your body towards a turn or pulling or moving the lead to force the dog to change direction.
Body Scent - The unique aroma surrounding each individual. The scent a dog follows is a combination of "track scent" and "body scent."
Cast - Stray or wander off a track for more than 3' on either side. See Quartering. This is a natural tracking style for many hunting dogs.
Conditioning - Building up either the dog’s or handler’s physical ability and endurance to walk through the fields and follow the track.
Coursing - Sweeping back and forth across the track in wide arcs. (Also called "quartering." And/or “casting”)
Cover - The type of vegetation covering the ground. Examples: short grass, hay, woods.
Cover Changes - Changes in vegetation or surface texture. An example of this would include moving from a mowed lawn to a short rough field.
Cross-tracks - Diversionary tracks which intersect the primary track. In TDX tracking tests, cross-tracks are laid deliberately to test the dog's ability to discriminate between the "right" scent and other scents. In training (and in tests) animals and people sometimes provide unplanned cross-tracks. In VST, tracks are laid in contaminated or urban areas. The dogs must identify and follow the tracklayer and not any one of hundreds of people who could have walked across the track.
Crosswind - Blowing in any direction not parallel to the track.
CT - Champion Tracker - The title awarded by the AKC to dogs which have successfully completed a TD, TDX and VST track at licensed tracking tests. (AKC Tracking Regulations).
Deep Nose - The dog's characteristic in tracking whereby it takes in scent and tracks with its nose close to the ground.
Downwind - Blowing at the dog’s back. Also defined as “With the Wind”.
Drop - The location of an article placed on the track to be found by the dog. Can also be a food drop (used in training).
Fringe - The immediate area on either side of the primary track.
Handprint - pressing a hand onto the surface of a sidewalk, curb or street to leave additional scent for the dog to follow.
Indication - The change in the behavior of the dog that signals the handler to a loss of scent, a turn, an article, etc.
Inductive Training - Shaping behavior with positive reinforcement such as food, praise or the use of a clicker.
Leg - Segment of a track. Examples include the portion of a track between the start flag and the first turn, or between subsequent turns. A leg on a VST track must be a minimum of 30 yards in length.
Non-physical Obstacle - Obstacles such as curbs, gutters, walls, hedges, tunnels and walkways between buildings and other scenting obstacles which require little or no physical effort to master yet they are obstacles which can push or gather scent or appear to have different properties on different days due to changing wind or weather conditions.
Non-restrictive Harness - Light weight, durable and adjustable leather, nylon webbing or canvas harness that does not restrict the dog’s shoulder movement.
Obstacle - Obstruction or hinderance that interrupts the dog’s scenting. May be natural or man-made and dog and/or handler may have to go around, over or through it. Examples include, logs, ditches, standing water, bushes, trees, etc. In TDX work, may also include roads and fences. In VST there are no obstacles used. The dog and handler are expected to navigate in an urban setting crossing curbs, parking lots, stairs and ramps as a part of the test procedure.
Plot - to lay out a track and/or make a map. Also defined as “chart”.
Primary Track - The track or footsteps of the trqacklayer. The track the dog is trained to follow.
Quartering - See Coursing.
Scuffing - Dragging of tracklayer’s feet to leave a very concentrated scent.
Steptracking - Scenting from one footprint to another. Beneficial in finding articles, sorting out primary track from cross-tracks, and working older and/or longer tracks.
Tracking Dog - The title awarded by the AKC to dogs which have successfully completed a TD track at a licensed tracking test. (AKC Tracking Regulations)
Tracking Dog Excellent - The title awarded by the AKC to dogs which have successfully completed a TDX track at a licensed tracking test. (AKC Tracking Regulations)
Track Scent - The scent of the ground surface that has been disturbed by the tracklayer. The scent a dog follows is a combination of "track scent" and "body scent."
Upwind - Blowing towards the dog’s face. Also defined as “Into the Wind”.
VST - as a term - Variable Surface Tracking
as a title: Variable Surface Tracker
Variable Surface Tracker -The title awarded by the AKC to dogs which have successfully completed a VST track at a licensed tracking test.
Whistle - The device used by the judge to indicate that a dog and handler have lost the track and failed a test.
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