Correcting the dog back to the track

By the time that the dog has mastered straight tracks of about seventy‑five paces, tracking exactly and with concentration from footstep to footstep, it will usually be old enough (six to seven months) and well motivated enough so that light corrections will harm neither its character nor its delight in tracking.

The handler now begins to give the youngster a little more leash as it works. Rather than walking hunched over right on top of the animal and meticulously guiding it down the track, ready to point to the footsteps with his hand any time the puppy veers a few inches downwind, he walks upright directly behind the pup on several feet of leash.

Whenever the dog deviates from the footsteps, the handler tells it “Phooey!” and pops the line gently. (We do not use the word “No!” because it is too strong and inhibitory in nature for tracking training.) At the same time he steps up next to the animal’s head and uses a finger to direct it back into the footsteps. The instant the dog recovers the track and moves forward exactly on top of it, the handler praises it soothingly and moves back behind it again.

GOAL 2: The dog will follow the track precisely through turns, without casting or circling.

Next the young dog must learn that the track will turn, and that it can turn with it and follow it in the new direction. This concept is difficult for both the dog (who has become quite certain that tracks always travel perfectly straight) and the handler (who must learn the knack of letting his dog solve a problem on its own but without allowing it to practice faulty tracking). The dog, for its part, must indicate loss of scent immediately so that it does not overshoot the turn and lose the track. And for his part, the handler must learn to read the signals that his dog gives when it detects that something has changed in the track.

Many trainers teach turns gradually, beginning with curves so slight that the dog scarcely takes notice, and continuing until the dog is making acute turns of more than 90 degrees.

But turns can also be taught as a “loss of track” exercise in footstep‑to‑footstep tracking. In this sort of exercise we expect the dog to negotiate a 90‑degree turn right from the start. We prefer this method because, in order to make precise turns, the dog must learn to stop when it can no longer smell a footstep directly in front of it and check with its nose to its left and its right until it finds whether the track has ended or merely set off in a new direction. It is very important that

• the dog realizes within a foot or two that it has lost the footsteps

• it signals clearly and unambiguously that it has lost the footsteps

• its handler recognizes its loss of track signal, praises and encourages the animal to carefully check all around it for the new direction of the track

^{In the initial stages of training on turns, the handler helps her dog by stepping up close on the inside of the turn and guiding the animal through it. (Barbara Valente and “Mucke,” Schutzhund I.)}

^{Over a period of several weeks, both the overall length of the tracks and also the distance between baits increases. Here an assistant holds the dog while the handler lays a track. Note how the handler lays the track near the boundary line of a soccer field so that the location of the track will be unmistakable.}

^{By the time straight tracks of about seventy‑five paces are mastered, the dog will usually be old enough and well motivated enough so that very light corrections may be administered without harming character or delight in tracking. (Anne Weickert and her Blitz v. Haus Barwig.)}

Otherwise the dog will often fail to stop the instant it overruns the turn. Its loss of track indication will become indistinct, and it will learn the habit of over‑shooting turns and circling back to find them again.

Of course, if we have not already taught the dog to footstep track slowly and meticulously, it will “blow past” his first 90‑degree turn and not indicate puzzlement or loss of track until several yards further on. In this case the handler can always stop the dog with the line, in order to prevent it from overrunning the turn, but then it is the handler who signals to his dog that the track is turning rather than the reverse.

Therefore, we must not begin work on turns until the young dog is tracking very exactly and confidently.

Important Concepts for Meeting the Goal

1. Baiting all the way through the turn

2. Baiting after the turn

3. Repeating the turn