Take Your Westie Tracking! |
|||||
|
by Allison Platt, Kirkton Westies |
|||||
|
If you are looking for an enjoyable outdoor activity you can do with your Westie, consider tracking. This article will provide you with a very basic introduction to tracking, and will give you sources for additional information What is Tracking? Tracking is what your dogs often do when they are out for a walk. They detect the scents of various animals and people as they walk, and often they try to follow the ones that interest them. In tracking events, you train your dog to follow a scent you choose for him or her. When your dog is trained to track, he or she will be able to follow the path someone walked as many as five hours earlier, and find "articles" left behind with the person's scent on them. A dog's ability to scent is hundreds, perhaps thousands of times better than a human's, so this gives our dogs the chance to be the experts, while we act as their (less talented!) assistants. Tracking is definitely a sport at which Westies can do well, since they were bred to use their noses to hunt. I show in conformation, agility, earthdog tests, obedience and tracking, and to me there is no more enjoyable and satisfying activity than tracking. Tracking gives you a chance to be outdoors, and there is no closer bond you can have with your dog than watching them use abilities about which we know very little, and where, in order to succeed, you must trust them completely. Because of this, most of the people I know who have acquired tracking titles feel that they are the most significant titles they have ever earned. So if you don't mind being outside in all types of weather, try it- you'll become a believer! The CKC and AKC offer titles for the successful completion of tracks of increasing length and difficulty. There are two titles in AKC and CKC tracking: TD (Tracking Dog) and TDX (Tracking Dog Excellent). In addition, the AKC has recently added a third title, VST (Variable Surface Tracking). If a dog gets all three AKC titles, they can use the initials CT (Champion Tracker) before the dog's name. What is a TD Test? I am most familiar with the AKC titles, so the following descriptions are based on AKC requirements unless otherwise specified. A TD test is a series of tracks plotted (mapped) the day before by two tracking judges (one judge in Canada) and walked by the tracklayer on the day of the test. The length of the track is at least 440 yards and not more than 500 yards long. Each "leg" of the track is at least 50 yards long, and there are 3-5 turns along the track, at least two of which are right angle turns. There is a start flag and a flag 30 feet out to indicate the direction of the track. The handler puts the harness on the dog, attaches the 40-foot lead, and indicates the scent the dog is to follow. The handler then lets the dog follow the scent and follows behind no closer than 20 feet from the dog. The dog must follow the scent to the end, where the tracklayer has left a (usually leather) glove or wallet with his/her scent on it. The track is "run" by the dog and handler when the track is not less than 30 minutes old or more than two hours old. There is no significant change of cover (e.g. from short grass to tall grass) and no major obstacles (e.g. a road or stream) in a TD track. For more information and the exact regulations about tracking, you can read the tracking AKC tracking regulations on-line at www.akc.org. Before you can enter an AKC TD test, you must be certified by a tracking judge. At the certification, a judge will lay a regulation track, and you must complete it successfully. It usually takes anywhere from two months of intense work (several sessions per week), to about a year of slightly more casual tracking to prepare for certification, but the exact amount of time varies with the dog, the handler, the weather, and so on. Where Can I Go Tracking With My Westie? At my training club, we start beginners in tracking during the winter months because the scent stays fresher in cold weather, and because there are fewer people in the parks where we track to "compete" for the land needed to lay unspoiled training tracks. You can track in any area where there are grassy areas or fields (you can worry about woods and other more difficult terrain if you go on to TDX!). Some people track on private farms or estates with permission from the landowners. Tracking clubs and often dog training clubs sometimes offer classes or have a group of people who track together informally. In some parts of the country, like here in Maryland and in the Midwest, there are quite a few clubs, but in some parts of the country it may be difficult to find someone to track with, let alone a club, but you can still learn to track if you are interested, even if there is no one nearby who can teach you. I sold one of my Westies to a woman in Juneau, Alaska, and she and a couple of friends taught themselves to track by reading books and asking questions via the internet. She came to Maryland in the fall of 1998 to enter the US national Westie club's tracking test, and passed on her first try! There is an on-line tracking forum that you can join if you have access to the Internet, and several individuals and groups maintain web pages about tracking. (See the list at the end of the article for instructions on subscribing to the tracking forum.) How Can I Tell If My Westie Will Like Tracking? Almost any dog can attain a TD title, although some seem to have more aptitude and interest than others. I have trained three Westies in tracking now, and helped teach many people in my training club to track. The first dog I trained was Kelsey. She started tracking in the winter of 1993-94, when she was six, and she obtained her certification on her second try, and her TD title, also on her second try, in October of 1995. The dog I have most recently worked, Sprite, started at 5 months and was certified and got her TD on her first try at 9 months of age. Each dog is different, but these two examples are typical; older dogs, and especially dogs trained extensively in obedience, tend to look to you more for guidance, and so are more deliberate trackers and a little slower to progress, in my experience. Young dogs, on the other hand, often have no reservations about pulling you -which is desirable in tracking- and generally love tracking so much they don't even care whether you are behind them or not! For a young dog, it is a great confidence-builder, and a good activity for the dog to do while you are waiting for him or her to "grow up" enough for obedience and/or conformation. However, although it is great for the young dogs, it is also a great opportunity to get your older dogs out with you again, and very rewarding (and healthy!) for both of you. What Equipment Do I Need? Tracking is one of the least equipment-intensive activities in the sport of dogs. You can get started with a non-restrictive harness and a 40-foot line (available through many of the dog supply catalogs), some personal articles with your scent on them (gloves, socks, wallets, handkerchiefs, etc.), and surveyors' flags (available in many large hardware stores) or brightly spray-painted clothespins to mark your training tracks. And then of course, if you keep tracking, you will have to buy hundreds of dollars worth of appropriate clothing for yourself to keep you warm, to keep your feet dry, and to keep the rain off! How Do I Get Started? There are several different approaches to training your dog to track. We are fortunate to have a long-time Westie breeder and tracking judge who has just published a book on tracking: Sil Sanders' Enthusiastic Tracking: The Step-by-Step Training Handbook. Sandy Ganz has published one of the clearest texts for the beginner: Tracking From the Ground Up. This book has many diagrams and photos and a lesson plan. My only problem with it is that it assumes you can go tracking every day or at least three or four times a week, and that is just not possible for most people. Sandy Ganz also has a video on tracking. I also have an article on the internet that explains a slightly different approach to beginning tracking that you may find helpful. You can find it at www.epick9.com/sta/sturns.htm. You can also reach me by E-mail and I will be happy to be of assistance in answering questions. My E-mail address is TDXWestie@compuserve.com. Happy Tracking! Click her to see some photos of Allison and Sprite at a practice TDX track Recommended Tracking Sources The following two items can be ordered from Direct Book Service, phone 1-800-776-2665 or online at http://www.dogwise.com Tracking From the Ground Up - Ganz and Boyd. In associaton with Amazon.com, the following item can be ordered through their website and our new Westie World book shop. Click on the link to read more about this book Enthusiastic Tracking, The Step-by-Step
Training Manual The Internet Tracking Forum: The tracking forum on the internet is a great source of information for beginning and advanced trackers. There
are many judges and tracking enthusiasts from all over the world on this list. To subscribe via the internet, send
E-mail to listserver@trumpkin.gcn.ou.edu Editor's Note: subscription requests are not automatic for this list. Your request will get forwarded
to the owner of the list for approval.. Southwest Tracking Association |
|||||
|
|
|||||
Top of Page
|