Baiting after the turn

Up to this point we have used bait on the track to signal to the animal that the track was about to change direction and to help it follow through the turn. Now we must begin teaching the dog to recognize the change in direction itself and to find the second leg of the track on its own without the help of food in each footstep.

As before, the handler lays three short tracks with turns, but he does not bait the turns continuously. Instead, he leaves a food drop perhaps six or seven paces after the turn.

The first few training sessions that he performs this routine he can also double lay the turns in order to call his dog’s attention to the change in direction. He walks around the turn once, stops, turns around and walks directly on top of his footsteps back through the turn to a point about two yards before it; he then stops again, retraces his footsteps (so that he has actually walked through the turn three times) and recommences laying the new leg.

As he approaches the turns with his dog, the handler again moves up very close to the animal on the inside of the turn in order to help it if necessary. His task is a ticklish one. He must give the dog every opportunity to work the turn out itself, but at the same time he must be ready to intervene and help the animal before it overruns the turn or goes in the wrong direction.

The instant the animal picks up the new leg of the track and begins to follow it, the handler encourages it with praise and, when the dog comes upon the food drop six paces after the turn, the handler pats and praises it enthusiastically.