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Tracking Fields by Ed Presnall
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Tracking Fields
© 2008-1997 by Ed Presnall
Awarded the Certificate of Excellence
Dog Writers Association of America
All Rights Reserved
As Published in the Field Spaniel Review
Spring is coming. The air is crisp, the trees, recently barren, are sprouting new buds and the grass, covered by snow or dormant for months is turning a lush green. Gazing across the landscape, a handler watches his dog intently sniffing the frosty breeze as its long recessed instincts arouse.
Snapping on the harness, the handler attaches the long lead and watches his partner drop its muzzle towards the ground and start slowly moving along an unseen line. They are following a scent so faint that no human could recognize it, yet the dog leads on. With both amazement and admiration of his working friend, the handler follows along behind; assisting as a part of the team, sometimes questioning but always assuring his partner.
Later, perhaps after only a few yards in the beginning, or over 500 yards as their team progresses towards their goal, the dog indicates a special treasure it has found on their journey. An old glove, a sock or a wallet. The handler congratulates his dog, accepts the treasure and with a tear in his eye and joy in his heart leads his partner on an enjoyable walk through the field, back to their vehicle and awaiting friends.
This is how I try to explain what tracking is about and why I spend hours in the fields with my dogs on a weekly basis.
Tracking is a non-competitive sport. It is judged, not with a scorecard or based on a standard, but on a pass/fail basis. As stated in the AKC Tracking Regulations, "Tracking, by its nature is a vigorous non-competitive outdoor sport. Tracking Tests should demonstrate willingness and enjoyment by the dog in his work, and should always represent the best in sportsmanship and camaraderie by the people involved."
This description of tracking as a sport is, as you will quickly learn, not some "ivory tower" description of the sport, but is what the participants and their dogs live and breath. Non-competitive in the light that it is the team of the handler and dog against the track and not team against team as in most other canine sports.
The regulations further state that "The purpose of a Tracking Test is to demonstrate the dog's ability to recognize and follow human scent, a skill that is useful in the service of mankind." Yes it can be useful to mankind, but most often it is simply enjoyable to both the team and the spectators.
Tracking with Spaniels is always enjoyable and sometimes frustrating. Their natural distraction for birds and other critters will quickly convince you of the need to teach a "leave it" and a "back to work" command. As you and your dog progress in your training, your dog will become confident in his ability to follow the scent and you, in turn, will learn to understand that the key to tracking is learning to "trust" your dog.
As you watch your dog "track" across your yard or down a practice track we all wonder what the dog is following. Scent as defined by Webster is "an emanation from a substance that affects the sense of smell" or "an odor left by an animal or person by which it is tracked in hunting". Several theories have evolved with most discussion being separated into two groups. The dog is tracking "broken vegetation" or the dog is tracking skin "rafts" or shed body cells. In either case, the dog has the advantage with its ability to differentiate between approximately 500,000 different scents using its 100 million or so olfactory cells versus our ability to only differentiate between several thousand scents using our 5 million olfactory cells.
As a person walks through a field, his scent is embedded into the grass, dirt and brush. The scent is a combination of body scent, individual chemical makeup of the person, the fabric and texture of their clothes and footwear, soap, perfume, deodorant, hairspray, smoke odor and their body weight. The basis of the individuality of each person's scent is thought by scientists to come from a natural skin lubricant called sebum.
Scent and its lasting effect is affected by weather conditions; dry, wet, cold, warm, snow, rain, fog, mist, sun, wind, age of the track, altitude and the type of ground cover.
On a hot, dry day in a dusty field, the scent will be harder for the dog to follow. If the wind picks up, it gets even harder. While on a damp, cool morning, with little wind, the dog will follow the track as if it were on rails. For beginner track layers trying to define scent and its use in tracking involves lots of complications, too many variables and a great deal of frustration. So go back to the "KISS" method. The longer the grass, the stronger the scent. The lower the wind, the stronger the ground scent. And, most of all, trust your dog. He can easily determine the various scents, you can't.
When tracking your dog will follow two types of scent. The footsteps of the tracklayer and the tracklayer's scent which has been distributed by the air currents. All dogs can determine the difference between the two scent trails and most will alternate their tracking by lifting their noses from the "footsteps" to sniff the wind as they work a track. As changes in terrain or conditions occur during the track, the dog may favor one of these trails over another. In basic tracking, your object will be to try to keep your dog's nose "glued" to the ground. The easiest method of accomplishing this is to utilize short training tracks with a reasonable amount of ground cover. It will be much easier for your dog to follow the track across a field of 12" grass rather than across a football or baseball field. As your dog becomes aware of what tracking is all about, and you become more accomplished in "reading" your dog, vary your tracking site to include short grass, long grass or weeds, brush, rolling hills, etc.
To help you grasp the concept of scent, attempt to think about your track in the following manner. Pretend that the scent you are leaving as you lay a track is a heavy fog. As you walk through the field, this fog sticks to the ground, brush and grasses you might walk on or brush with your legs. Now consider, that if a wind is blowing, the fog will drift along the ground in the direction the wind is blowing. The fog will also collect or become saturated in low spots, along fences or hedges, in and next to ditches or culverts or simply next to changes in the height of grasses or weeds. Think about this as you lay the track and again while you are watching you dog ground and air scent for the trail. It will give you a better appreciation for the working ability of your dog's nose.
After years of research by the government, scientists, enthusiasts and other trackers, I must conclude as William R. Koehler so eloquently put it "We humans cannot track by scent and know little of scent's mysteries, so obviously there is no positive way we can make a dog use his ability to track."
The object in tracking is not to force the dog to track but to learn from his body movement, traits and indications that he is tracking. A well known tracking judge once said to a group of handlers, "Be the dope at the end of the rope". Only your dog can follow the scent, so just follow along, help him when necessary and learn to trust his ability to lead you down the trail.
Why Do We Track?
Many trackers track younger dogs, which are growing up and are not yet involved in conformation, field or obedience, to allow these dogs to mature while experiencing unpressured training. This seems to help many of the young dogs "get their head straight" before formalized competition. Tracking is also the next logical step for that dog which has its Championship. As a fellow trainer likes to say, "The best dogs are those with a title at each end."
Another reason is to allow the older or retired dog to remain active while competing in an unstressful environment. But the vast majority of trackers do it just because they love to be outside, exercising while spending time with a dog and their friends.
Tools of the Trade
The handler is responsible for providing a large range of equipment. Most of the equipment required for this sport is easily found around your house or can be economically purchased. It is not necessary for you to spend a large sum of money to begin your tracking experience. A sample listing of some of the required items may be found in the listing accompanying this article.
So, you think that this sport might be just right for you and your Spaniel? Find an tracking instructor in your town or check the reference material listed with this article for a club near you which holds tracking tests. I would suggest to all aspiring trackers that they go to at least one or two tracking tests beforehand and have a look at what goes on.
Soon, you will be part of what you may have once considered a "sub-cult" of enthusiast, called trackers and will relish the idea of being led by your dog through brush and brambles searching for the scent of a tracklayer.
Like many other show people, I once lumped tracking, hunting and most obedience people into one group -- non-show - I am now part of that group - and proud of it. I discovered that all of my show dogs could track. Most importantly, I have found a home within this strange group who are routinely found in mud splattered bluejeans, parkas, ugly rubber boots and gaudy rain gear They have shared with me the insight that finding the glove really is better than finding the Holy Grail or even a Group placement.
Tracking is a way of becoming part of a team with your dog, and discovering more about your canine friend that you ever thought possible. There is a value in that cannot be explained -- you must experience it for yourself. Like Nike says, "Just Do It!" You and your dog will love it.
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