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part3/tracking overview
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Date Posted: 20:16:19 12/05/08 Fri
In reply to:
part2
's message, "Re: tracking article 4 parts/crosspost from longwood" on 20:06:51 12/05/08 Fri
Re(2): Tracking Overview(article) Part 3
Posted on December 3, 2008 at 23:55:31 by Tracey
ARTICLES and FOOD DROPS
From fairly early in training I use a wide variety of articles. I do not want the dog to think that only leather is worth indicating. In the very early lessons, for a really well scented article that can hold quite a bit of food, the socks I wore the day before make a good article. I also use leather and cloth wallets , gloves , and pouches in this stage, as they take scent well if carried in one's pants' waistband or pocket and they can be filled with quite a bit of food. Later on I use just about any item that a person might conceivably lose : for example, plastic comb, baby shoe, scarf, coin purse, shotgun shell casing, metal spoon, large metal nut or bolt. When working for TDX or FH , I take care to include some very small items, such as a golf tee or a coin or 1" sqare of leather, and also an occasional large or heavy one, such as a large purse, or a bulky draggy item , such as a jacket, or any other item that might be difficult for the dog to retrieve. I want to be sure I know what the dog who normally retrieves will do if he is having difficulty picking up an item. I get most of my articles from cast off household items or odds and ends purchased at the Thrift Shop.
I also start multiple articles very early and give enthusiastic praise for every article and usually give either a food treat or a drink of water as a further reward for the article. Initially, there is food inside each article and as I help the dog to do an article indication, I come foreward and help the dog to shake the food out of the article so it can be eaten. Later on, some of the articles will have some food scent but nothing inside and the reward comes from my hand out of my waist pouch (fanny pack). Sometimes the reward is a piece of food and sometimes it is a drink of water offered in a small cup. (Water can actually be a more powerful reward than food and it is one that is allowed in competition.) Still later , the articles have no food scent, but only human scent, and all rewards come out of my pouch. Initially on early tracks the dog's main meal is in a sealed container underneath or inside the last article of the lesson. Later on , the container with the main meal will be in my pouch and I will be praising the dog as I dig it out. On trial day the meal will be back at the car, but I will still be carrying water to offer at each article on a TDX and at the final article on the TD. On early tracks there is plenty of food drops on the track itself, preferably right inside a footprint. Gradually there is less and less naked food on the track and it is more likely to be on the later parts of the track and to be right after some difficult part of the track. But as the dog gets more and more into knowing that an article is tradable for food and water, and thus the dog gets more and more joyful to find an article, I rely on using the articles as the primary on the track rewards and will often drop an extra article soon after an area of difficulty. Finally after the dog has become enthused about tracking and expects to find multiple articles, I will occasionally limit the reward for one of the intermediate articles on the track to merely warm verbal praise plus a caress. More rarely , two articles in a row might get mere praise plus petting. The next article after the praise only one or ones should get an especially good reward, preferably the final end of track full meal reward. That way on TDX trial day, the fact that the first three articles pay off only in praise or praise plus water will not discourage the dog from continuing, as he expects to come to the big payoff article any moment now.
After each article is found and you have taken it into your hand (and at a trial held it up over your head so the Judge sees you have it) and put it safely away in your pouch, you need to let the dog know that he has permission to resume tracking. For most dogs this is easy, as the dog is already used to working more than one track. Just use either his "begin tracking" phrase or some other such as "there's more !"
The manner in which the dog indicates an article for AKC trials can be absolutely anything that the handler can notice and react to : change of position (ie sit or down) , stopping and staring, barking, stopping and wagging the tail, or retrieving the article. In AKC , if you miss one article, including you the handler failing to see that your dog is telling you "here it is !", you have flunked the test. Because the retrieve is the method that is almost impossible for the handler to fail to notice, I prefer the retrieve if the dog is at all willing to do so. If the dog is a natural retriever , a dog who picks up anything that is not nailed down, this is probably what he will do on his own accord, so all you have to do is to reward him. Or if the dog already knows a cue such as "take" to pick up the article, then all you will need to do is use this to get him to pick up and retrieve, so you can reward him. However in other cases you may have to "shape" the response of retrieving the article, by building the full response one step at a time. Initially one can just encourage the dog to stop at the article, which he is likely to do when there is food inside, and the handler then immediately helps the dog to get the food out. Next the handler does not respond until the dog actually touches the article with his nose or mouth; then the handler reacts and helps the dog get the food. Next the handler waits untils the dog actually nudges the article or attempts to pick it up, whereupon you should show great joy in your praise and the first time he does this you might do well to give him his end of lesson reward (then either go over any remaining tracks yourself to pick up articles, or else let some other dog do it, one already past this stage of training). If the dog shows zero inclination to pick up the article then you have the choice to either teach him "take" for taking something into his mouth as a separate lesson using standard Obedience techniques (either inducive techniques or compulsive techniques according to how this dog will learn best) or else you can ask him to lie down next to his article instead of retrieving.
For Schutzhund, in the days I was active in it you had the choice of the dog "picking up" , ie retrieving, or "pointing out", ie lying down with article between his feet. You had to tell the judge which method you were using before beginning the track. Almost all Schutzhunders seemed to prefer pointing out, and many thought I was nuts for having my dogs pick up. Be sure to read the rulebook just in case the rules change.
For evidentiary tracking or forensic tracking, it is extremely important that the dog not touch the articles. The crime scene people would want to photograph the article in place and then do their fingerprint dusting and rubber gloved pickup and bag it routein. So the police dog would be trained to point out.
FOURTH LESSON SERIES : multiple articles, article indications, re-starts.
In the fourth lesson series , I can work simultaneously on creating a clear article indication and on getting the dog used to finding multiple articles with some variety in articles and in resuming the track after finding the article. I want the dog to be very tuned in to finding articles and to feel happy when he finds one before I start teaching turns, because the placement of an article after a turn then becomes a great way to let the dog know that he is really on the right track.
On the first day, the first track has two articles on it; the second one has an especially nice yummy prize inside it. The second track has three or four articles, and is probably twice as long as the first track. The third track has four to six articles and is about twice as long as the second track. The fourth track is short again and has just one or two intermediate articles and a full meal article at the end. The second day, all the tracks have more articles and fewer naked food drops, but the last track of the day is short and has just one or two intermediate articles and the final full meal article and no naked food drops. The third day would have more articles and very little naked food; again the last track would be easier than the preceeding ones. If the dog's enthusiasm or physical stamina does not allow him to do the four tracks and still be eager to do more, then cut these lessons down to fewer tracks per day but take more days to cover the material. Never hesitate to go back to an easier lesson if there is any doubt about the dog's understanding or his enthusiam.
Teaching TURNS
Johnson starts turns with a 90 degree (right angle) turn that goes directly into the wind. The first leg is in a cross-wind and the second heads into the wind. He lays that second leg as a triple lay, ie going out to the end and then back to the turn point and then out to the end. So you have two lays going foreward and one going backwards, and that is a potential source of confusion to the dog.
What I have used from Brown is primarily the method of introducing the turns with first very very shallow ones then less shallow and so on. One starts with a turn about 1/4 of a right angle, ie about 22.5 degrees for those of you who remember your high school geometry class. then 1/2 of a right angle = 45 degrees, then maybe 3/4 of a right angle , then a right angle and then the acute angles. Brown lays these tracks with the wind at your back at the start flag and thus it is pretty much at your back throughout the track for the shallow turns. Brown circles back to the start to do a double lay for the whole track. I instead will do a normal stride for most of the track, but do a heel to toe lay or a instep to toe lay for the section right after the turn.
THE FIFTH LESSON SERIES : introducing slight turns
For the fifth lesson series, the goal is to introduce turns by using at first very slight turns with a heavier laid track just after the turn and an article to confirm the dog's choice to follow the turn. The first track has one 20 to 25 degree turn , ie a quarter of a right angle turn, followed by maybe 10 or 15 feet of instep to toe laid track leading to an article , which is followed by a stretch of normal strided track and an end article. The second track has two of these quarter of a right angle turns, each followed by a stretch of instep to toe laid track and an article, but for the second turn the article is further away from the turn and is preceeded by normal stride track. The third track has four such turns, but the third and fourth are followed by only heel to toe laid track and an article. The fourth track has five turns, each followed by heel to toe laid track, except the last turn which is followed by normal stride track and is soon followed by the day's final article and the full meal reward. The second day, I might lay only three tracks , and the first one would follow each turn with a heel to toe laid section, the second would have heel to toe after the first turn and normal stride after the rest of the turns. The third day, I might lay only two or three tracks, taking care that the last one would be a shorter easier one, and all the turns would have normal stride throughout. If at any time during this series, you feel your dog is waning in enthusiasm on the last track, make the next lesson much easier with fewer tracks. You can cover this same set of tracks in smaller sets and taking more days to complete the series.
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