Without a successful Start to your track you have absolutely nothing. It is obvious to anyone that you can’t finish something if you have not started it.
To simplify the writing of this article I will divide dogs into 4 different types and leave it to you to decide which category that your dog belongs.
1. Rocket Man
2. Slow Boat to China
3. Steady as She Goes
4. Over The Top
Each of these types of starts is very much dependant on the Breed, Temperament and Personality of your dog. These are all factors which ultimately decide the type of start that you are likely to expect. We can condition our dogs through careful training to modify their behaviour so as to give us a ‘start’ that we can work with and allow us to follow the dog with some degree of confidence, but the Breed, Temperament and Personality will still play a huge part in they way your dog starts and then tracks.
Each of the 4 types presents its own potential problems with we must at first recognize before we can address them.
1, Rocket Man. This type of dog is rather like an athlete being released from the starting blocks with the firing of a cap gun. The dog barely sniffs at the article and then proceeds to bolt out from the start flag without the slightest hesitation with uncanny accuracy.. This type of dog does not allow the handler to do anything other than follow so definite and positive is the indication. But how does one trust a dog like that? The dog NEVER pauses for an instant, no matter what the age of the track or what the weather conditions are like.
The operative word is TRUST. This trust is built up over many training sessions and the evidence is always the same, so all you can do is trust the dog every time..
This type of dog is usually a working breed, one highly motivated and super confident and tracks very fast most of the time.
Sounds too good to be true? What if for whatever the reason this dog takes off in the wrong direction ?
What happens to our unfailing trust in this super dog? Like a fickle friend our confidence deserts us .
The solution? You must keep trusting the dog because it has proved to you over and over again that is the way it works. It is not a robot and it is not perfection personified. It is simply just a great tracking dog. Love it and the exhilaration of tracking with such a dog. Hang on and enjoy the ride!.
2.Slow Boat to China. This type of dog less impulsive, it is more thorough, it may indicate the tracks direction very clearly but then will abandon it and continue ‘searching’ for the track. What this dog is doing is making sure it is correct and likes to check every where it can before committing to the track. Often it will confuse itself because it is locating not only the track scent but everywhere the body scent has collected as well. It is important for the handler to carefully note the initial direction that the dog indicated so that the dog can be positioned in such a way that it may pick up the track direction should it be necesaary It is worth remembering that almost without exception the initial indication is the correct one.
Sometimes to dog will only continue to follow the track for a short distance, abandon it and then despite picking it up again it won’t go past the point where it abandoned the track. A step forward is often the solution and the dog will then go out beyond the ‘problem ‘point.
It is also worth remembering that without flags the only absolute knowledge you have is that the tracklayer took half a step from the start flag. Bring the dog back and search the area around the start flag, don’t continually search the area 15-20 metres away from the flag—that just doesn’t make sense, and it only wears the dog out.
Novice handlers can often been seen to almost push their dog by forward too quickly and with too much encouragement to get going. They become over anxious. They don’t know yet why their dog is taking so long to get started.
You must march to his drum not your own.
Let us look at it from a dogs point of view It is given a scent article which is saturated with body scent. You then expect it to immediately follow ‘Track scent’ when especially on a fresh track body scent is everywhere as well .Let your dog take the time to sort it out for himself. The slow Boat to China dog may very well end up being a luxury cruiser.
3.Steady as She Goes This type of dog can sometimes cause handlers to be concerned that the dog doesn’t show enough drive. It seems almost uninterested and at times needs to be encouraged continuously to ‘get going’ Starts are not terribly convincing and handlers are heard to say they wouldn’t feel confident to follow the dog once the flags were removed. Indeed this type of dog can be difficult to read at times and perhaps requires the most work from the handler of all the types I have listed.
Fresh tracks are beneficial and a ‘double start ‘can also be helpful
I will discuss that in more detail later in the article. This ‘double start’ can solve a lot of start problems so it may be worth your while trying it.
It is important not to become a crutch to this type of dog and make it dependant on you because if that becomes the case then you are doomed to failure because the dog will not have the confidence to work things out for himself. You can encourage him by making things more fun and use rewards for his success and praise him for his endeavours but your task is to help the dog to succeed by building his confidence. If you do this then you are both winners.
4. Over the Top. This type of dog won’t stand still long enough for the handler to harness it correctly ,it darts around, gets the lead in a tangle, gets the lead caught in between its legs or around its neck pulls like a madman and is generally a nightmare to handle.
In tracking we often have dogs that have come to us without and formal obedience training and to be honest we often say we prefer a dog to be slightly’ Ferrell’ as it is receptive to tracking because its head has not been cluttered with a lot of other information. That sounds good in theory but a dog that is completely over the top is an accident waiting to happen as far as the hapless handler is concerned. We simply cannot have a dog charging off and the handler hanging on for grim death and hoping that they don’t trip or fall over in the process.
While the handler must have control over the dog, the ‘start flag’ is not the place to start trying to exert that control. For this obsessive type of dog, holding it back only makes it want to go even more. Restraining it only serves to frustrate and trying to make it sit only serves to make it more determined to wriggle away. For this type of dog the physical task of putting on the harness and having to fight to do so prolongs the start by minutes and it causes this type of dog to go completely off the track ,without a thought in its head except to get going. It is a disaster waiting to happen.
Fresh tracks for this type of dog are to be avoided. A warm up track, or a run before tracking training commences would also be advantageous.
Double starts would be also a good idea. Age the tracks over 90 minutes and then work around 45 -60 minutes.
Tracks around 60-90 minutes are best left for a little while. I would also suggest that this dog should not be given any verbal encouragement, but if necessary it should be done in a deep calm voice. The handler should not encourage the dog to be more hyperactive but do everything to calm and steady this type of dog.
DOUBLE STARTS:
The tracklayer places a scent article next to the start flag and walks around close to the flag.
The tracklayer then walks heel to toe for about 30 metres and places another start flag & article and walks around close to the start flag before continuing on with the rest of the track..
The handler approaches the 1st start flag in the normal manner and commands the dog to track.
Those handlers with exuberant dogs will need to ensure they get ready to hoist their lead up above the heads if their dogs should start to make a move to come back behind them so they do not get tangled. This is really important as a dog having trouble of any kind with their starts doesn’t need to get restrained by a tangled lead. The handler then has 30 metres to get their dog tracking until the 2nd start flag.. The dog is then rewarded for his efforts by ‘finding’ an article and the handler then has an opportunity to have another go at a start. This double start gives the handler the opportunity to really praise the dog and helps the dog gain in confidence because it has an almost immediate affirmation that it is correct by finding the article and making its owner very happy..
Track 6 or Gate Starts.
Another excellent way to improve your dogs starts is to try doing the track 6 or GATE START.
This is not intended for novice handlers or their dogs. Wait until you know what you are doing. If in doubt see your trainer who will advise you when to start these.
To begin the handler should watch the track being set. The tracklayer will give their article to the handler in a bag. They should lay their track of about 75 metre but the difference being that there is no start flag. The handler should find 2 markers of about 10 metres apart one on the left and the other on the right of the point where the tracklayer walked away from [Later these markers can be widened to 20 metres then 30 metres apart]
The handler then takes the dog to the left side marker and gives the dog the scent and then gives the command ‘find’. The handler keeping the dog virtually in the heel position walks along the 10 metre line and carefully watches the dog for any indication not matter how slight, even a flick or turn of the head, as it approaches the point where the tracklayer walked away . Immediate response such as ‘Good dog!, what have you found? Where has he gone? Find! And then follow the dog to find the tracklayer. If the dog doesn’t find the scent on the 1st run then turn around and come back and work right to left. I think the dog will surprise you and your 1st run will be successful.
I hope that some of the ideas in the article will be of help. Please feel free to ask for help at any time should the need arise.
Lesley van Rhyn
Training Coordinator
