Tracking 101--week three
This week we introduced corners. In order to reliably track corners a dog needs to learn to lose the scent and refind it. At this stage, three weeks into tracking, they don't really have a sense of how to do that or even that it will ever be necessary. What we've been teaching so far is put your nose down, follow the scent and win big prizes.
At this point, then, I don't care that they lose the track and refind it at a corner. I care that they find the corner. The way I teach corners is this: I walk a straight leg (a leg being each length of track between turns). At the 45 yard mark, I leave a treat. At the 50 yard mark, I turn. The turn I want at this point is greater than 90 degrees. Five yards after the turn, I leave another treat. The first treat slows down fast dogs. The second treat tells them they've done things right.
When you introduce corners, things get harder for the tracklayer. To track a straight leg, you have to line up two distant objects and walk so that they stay lined up. At a corner, you have to note where you are in the field (so you know where the corner is)--you can leave a marker, but eventually, you'll want to lay completely blind tracks--then, you have to turn, find two new objects to line up with, and proceed. If you lay many tracks in a row, or if you're putting in more than one turn, you'll probably want to draw a map.
Dogs did awesome. Next week we add length and time.