When I got Dax out to get ready to track, he completely ignored several baggies of food and tried to find his ball. Ah oh, probably not hungry enough, hope this goes OK…

I laid an 80 pace serpentine track with food in almost every footstep (several footsteps on the arc did not have food) and — wonder of wonders — Dax tracked slowly and methodically, stopping to eat almost every hot dog. He even took the time to check the empty footsteps thoroughly before continuing on. Hunger really does make food on the track relevant!

His only article was an altoids tin filled with kibble, which he happily ate. The track ended with 12 or so paces to the rest of his breakfast. Good dog.

Let’s see how tomorrow goes…

He hurried down the track, not stopping to eat a single piece of food. He was fast and inaccurate, with many stops and starts and turning back, and casting sideways off the track. We made it to the first article, but it sure wasn’t the picture I was looking for. He restarted like a rocket, and missed an arc of the serpentine, going completely off the track. Al’right OK, time for some consequences…

I took him by the collar and said “we’re done”. I brought him back to the track, but held him back away from the track with his head up. I picked up pieces of food from each footstep, showed them to him, and put them in my pocket. “Look what you missed.” I walked down the track, picking up food and pocketing it as I went. When I got to the second (and last article), I showed it to him as well and put it in my pocket. We walked back to the truck with him on my right on a short leash, and crated him. No food until the track tomorrow.

Dax has very little food drive. He’ll eat if there’s nothing else to do, if there’s no toy in the picture, and if he feels like it.

Yesterday we did a track with food in every footstep. We used kibble mixed with boiled and chopped beef heart and mutton. And yesterday, Dax stopped and ate only the delicacies, leaving all the kibble behind.

So today, he is tracking for kibble only. He will get the tasty stuff at the articles.

I laid a track of serpentines along the edge of a ploughed field, transitioning from the dirt to the grass and back again. I kicked in the grass steps with a goose step, digging my heels into the ground, because while the grass was green, the ground beneath was very hard.

I put food in almost every footstep:  an important consideration in Schutzhund tracking, because we’re looking for that sylised rhythm of the dog checking every step. Some footsteps had only once piece of kibble; some had a handful. There were just a few steps that had no food at all, and these were along the arc of the serpentine.

I brought Dax up to the start flag where there was quite a bit of kibble scattered in a small scent pad. He put his head down and started tracking, but didn’t pick up a single piece of food. He tracked faster than I would have liked, and occasionally had his head up, mouth open, while he skimmed over the top of the track.

His article indications were good, and he happily ate all the beef and mutton that was given at the articles. After the last article, there was another 20 or so paces and then a baggie with the rest of his breakfast kibble. He ate this willingly enough as well. But the kibble on the track just wasn’t rewarding enough to entice him to stop and eat.

At this point, I realise I have two options, two directions I can go.

I can resort to force tracking, and use prong collar corrections to create the slow speed and the head down picture I’m looking for. I can correct every time his head comes up. I can correct for excess speed. Ideally, every time I give a correction, there should be a food drop right after that to tell Dax he’s “on the right track”. The problem with force tracking is that once you go down that road, you can’t turn back. And it’s not a road I enjoy going down.

So, my other, and preferred choice, is I can let the track itself slow him down. In order to accomplish this, Dax has to be hungry. That means the only food he’s going to get for a while will be on the track. At the Joanne (Fleming-Plumb) seminar last weekend, she said that it’s not enough to have the dog skip a few meals, bringing him out hungry to track. The dog has to learn how to solve the problem of hunger by finding food on the track. He has to be given every opportunity to learn that finding food on the track solves his hunger issue. In this way, the presence of food on the track becomes relevant or meaningful to the dog.

The nice thing about tracking this way is the food becomes more than just a way to get your dog to put his head down and find the scent. It becomes a tool to help problem-solve specific issues, a tool that the dog understands. As we become more proficient at tracking, judicious use of food will help Dax learn new skills.

Don’t devalue the reward

A common thread throughout the seminar was one that’s near and dear to my heart, what I call “that’s close enough” dog training. To use Joanne’s language, “Don’t devalue your reward. The behaviour is either right or it’s not. There is no “close enough”.

Rewarding the dog for a substandard response devalues your reward, and it makes a grey area for the dog. Expect and reward greatness. When you train motivationally, you have to keep asking for more. Don’t get stuck accepting a low level of performance.

Tracking tips

Tracking begins with scent pads. Joanne uses a smallish scent pad, maybe three feet square, on which she puts about 15 pieces of food cut up very small. Pull the dog off before he has finished all the food, and while he’s still wanting more. Put the dog up in a crate where he can think about and absorb the lesson.

She begins actual tracks with the first arc of a serpentine, maybe only 15 paces long with food in every step and a small (4-6 pieces) pile at the end just so you know where the track ends . On day one, begin with an arc to the left; on the second day, arc to the  right. You’ll probably notice that your dog has an easier time with one direction that the other. This is normal. Just practice the harder direction more frequently — pretty soon you’ll be arcing both directions.

Start Flag

Hold your dog  by the collar and feed as you approach the start flag. Then give the command to begin tracking. This avoids having the dog drag you up to the start, which frequently results in rushing the beginning of the track. You can also do an exercise where you put lots of flags out, then walk up to each one, feeding your dog as you approach. Then turn and walk away and approach a different flag.

Articles

Teach your dog to focus on the articles. It’s a common problem in Schutzhund tracking for the dog to find the article, down correctly, and then flop over on one hip, and look back over their shoulder as the handler walks up. This is faulty and results in point loss. To avoid this, teach the dog to focus on the article, and then once you pick the article up, to focus on the track until told to resume tracking.

Reward by dropping food onto the article from over the dog’s head when they’re looking at the article. Don’t reward if they’re looking at your hand or up at your face.

You can teach this off the track first.

When first introducing articles on the track, only use one article and put it at the end. Take a giant step past the article so that the track has a definite end and the dog has no scent to continue on. Dogs that really like to track find articles to be an annoying interruption in the beginning; by putting the article at the end, they’re not having to stop tracking to indicate the article, and then resume tracking again.

Tracking too fast

If the dog is tracking too fast and skipping over food, take the dog off the track. Hold him by the collar with one hand while you pick up and pocket food while the dog watches. “You missed out, Buddy. Look what you don’t get!” Put the dog up to think about it. No meals until the track the next day.

Taking food off the track

Go to smaller and smaller pieces until you’re using crumbs. Start removing food first on the arcs of the serpentines. Put in random footsteps here and there. Continue to use food on the straight sections because this is where dogs tend to go to sleep.

Corners

When the dog can track 80 paces or more of serpentines, you can start introducing corners. There are several ways to lay a track around a corner.

And talk about all the stuff you need for the perfect track: did you cut up and bring enough food? Can’t forget your flags, tracking line, articles, a vest with pockets to hold all the stuff you need.

And tracking fields: do you have permission? Farmers can be touchy about letting people walk around on their land. City parks and ball fields often ban dogs. Depending on your level and the number of dogs you’re tracking, you might need quite a large area for tracks. And then of course it has to be just the right land. Vegetation:  not too short, not too long; and it’s really nice if you can see your foot steps! If it’s dirt, it’s perfect if it was recently ploughed and you sink in a little. You don’t want it baked hard, or with big hard clumps of soil.

Once you’ve laid your perfect track, there are all sorts of things that can foul it while you wait for it to age. Seagulls, ravens, magpies and crows will all steal the bait you’ve strategically placed to help your dog problem solve. Ants (especially fire ants!) can make your dog think twice about taking a food drop. And the scourge of tracking: soccer kids. How many times have I laid my track, waited for it to age, and been just about ready to run it when a van full of soccer kids descended on the track?!

Tracking doesn’t have to be a big production

I spent this last winter in San Diego, a large and crowded city. Surprisingly, while there I learned an important lesson: tracking doesn’t have to be a big production. I learned that I can approach tracking the same way I do obedience: a short session every day is far better than a big weekend production.

Dax tracking in a park

I discovered that I can lay a short track and run it without aging, and still give my dog a good practice session. The tracks don’t all need to be aged a specific amount of time. In general, whether a track is a few minutes old or half an hour old, it’s not going to make much difference to your dog. Save your well aged tracks for the weekend, when you have time to spare.

I also learned that there is a surprising amount of good grass available to track on in a city (although I learned to avoid ballparks, as the grass was usually very short and tight with no cushioning). While out driving around, I discovered gems of tracking fields hidden among the buildings. Walmart had gorgeous grass that was big enough to lay long tracks; a small nearby park was great for getting in turns. A strip of land in front of office buildings was perfect for article tracks, and scent pads can be done just about anywhere.

If it’s late afternoon and you see a perfect piece of grass, stop and lay a track. Nothing says tracks have to be laid at dawn. The beauty of tracking where ever you can is your dog is exposed to a wide variety of conditions and environmental challenges. Track in the rain and the wind. Track on grass that’s well-watered and grass that’s brown and dry. Track in tall weedy vacant lots. Track on a sandy hillside with sagebrush. Track where ever you see an available patch of land. Make tracking work for you where ever you can find it.

We’ve introduced heeling against a wall, working on both attention and position. We’ve also worked on stationary attention, with minor distractions. Today we will introduce moving attention.

The command HEEL means position; the command WATCH means attention.

When you start putting HEEL and WATCH together, it’s very difficult for the dog. It is common for the dog to give great attention sitting in heel position, but as soon as the handler takes the first step, and the dog gets up from the sit, the dog’s head goes down.

The dog has to be taught he can get up from a sitting position while maintaining attention and keeping the head up.

In addition, WATCH has meant eye contact. But as soon as the handler starts walking, they quite naturally want to see where they are going and are no longer looking at the dog. The dog can either forge and wrap around in order to maintain eye contact, or they have to learn to watch a new focal point such as the handler’s shoulder.

So that first step is difficult for the dog because of physical limitations (butt comes up, head goes down) and because the attention picture is changing. Up until now, WATCH means sitting at the handler’s side making eye contact. It doesn’t (yet) mean moving at the handler’s side watching a shoulder or other focal point. So we will shape moving attention one step at a time, first teaching the dog that they can get up while keeping the head up.

Technique. Begin with the dog in heel position. Tell the dog to SIT and then you move into heel position. It may help to pass the leash around behind you and hold it with your right hand. Have a treat in the left hand. Holding it up (luring) above the dog’s head, say HEEL and take one step forward with the left leg. If the dog manages to get up, keeping the head up while watching the lure, mark YES and reward by encouraging the dog to jump straight up and take the food.

Jumping up to get the food helps reinforce the head up position. You can’t jump up if your head is down looking at the ground.

If your dog has a hard time with this, begin with the dog standing in heel position. Take one step forward. You might have to reward the slightest try in the beginning, until the dog understands that the movement is possible.
Practice one step, MARK&REWARD. Then two steps, M&R. Then three steps, etc.

Moving heel
Technique. With the dog in heel position, begin walking forward in a straight line. Tell the dog WATCH and MARK&REWARD the moment he looks up. Only ask for one step of WATCH. Try to keep moving while you give the reward. Give the reward with the left hand, rather than reaching across the body with the right hand. Give the reward next to your left hip in the place the dog would be if he were in correct heel position.

The reward needs to come pretty quickly in the beginning, so it’s nice if you can hold several treats in your left hand. But your dog will probably bother your hand and forget about the WATCH.

Try putting your left hand with treats on outside of dog’s head, next to his nose or ear, so that his head is in between your left leg and left hand. Don’t touch the dog or try to force him to look at you, make the treats accessible but not available. If he mugs your hand just ignore it. Say WATCH and the moment he looks away from your and and makes eye contact, MARK&REWARD.

“You have to do something to get something!” This is an important piece for the dog to understand:  it doesn’t matter where the food is, it’s not available until he’s released (YES) and his actions are what makes the food available.

Keep your left hand still. Don’t hide it from dog, put it behind your back, try to move it away, etc. Moving your hand will turn it into a chase game. Keep your hand still so that the food is accessible, just not available until he makes eye contact and you MARK&RELEASE.

With the treats in your left hand, put your hand down by dog’s face and start walking. Use no corrections in the beginning, just say WATCH and walk until dog looks up, then immediately MARK&REWARD. Reward just one step of attention. When you can start getting that reliably, go for two steps.

The reward should come either by opening your hand up in place and letting the dog take a treat, or by raising your hand and letting the dog jump up for a treat.

In the beginning, no leash corrections, no verbal corrections. Wait until the dog shows understanding before adding any corrections. Reward success, ignore faiure.

Alternate method: the hand touch
If your dog understands a hand touch, that can be used to teach proper heel position. Hold your hand out flat, with the palm parallel with the floor. The position depends on how tall your dog is:  your hand should be held in such a manner that when the dog looks up, he can see your palm while maintaining correct heel position. Take one step, MARK&REWARD by giving the TOUCH cue and letting the dog jump up to touch your hand.

Make the reward a game. YES, touch, then give the treat.

Teaching heel in this way avoids some of the forging issues, and the dog won’t be wrapped around trying to make eye contact. Instead, it models head up and looking straight up, which may actually be easier on the dog’s muscles as he’s not always walking around with his head turned to one side only.

You will need to fade the hand position eventually.

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Even if WATCH means eye contact, you need to be very aware of your shoulder and head position. Early on, you ask for attention as you stare back at the dog, with your head and perhaps your shoulders turned to the left. As you begin to make progress in heeling, you will start to look straight ahead. But the dog, who has the picture of eye contact and turned shoulders on his WATCH card, forges and begins to wrap around in order to maintain that same visual picture. This makes for incorrect heel position.

So even in the early stages of training, try to keep your shoulders straight and facing forward. If you want to look at your dog, look over your shoulder. Don’t turn to the left. If possible, practice in front of a mirror so that you can see when the dog is correct and then MARK&RWD without any physical cues.

Using toys in training watch
For many dogs, toys are far more rewarding that food, which makes heeling more motivating. Remember Grandma’s Rule? If the dog understands that heeling with correct position and with attention is just a means of getting to play with a toy, he’s much more likely to do it with enthusiasm.

You can use a tug toy or a tennis ball in a short Chuckit!® You will do exactly the same thing as you did with food:  make the toy available but not accessible.

Begin with a stationary WATCH. With the toy held on the outside of the dog’s head, ask for a WATCH. If the dog grabs the toy, be unimpressed and unemotional. Keep the toy still until the dog outs it. Just OUT, SIT, WATCH. The moment the dog turns his head to look at you, MARK&REWARD.

Reward by having the dog jump up to take the toy, or by throwing the toy. If you’re rewarding with a tug toy, reward high, at shoulder level for a shepherd for example, so the dog jumps up.

If throwing, throw with your left hand away and behind so dog has to turn away from the handler. If you throw the toy ahead or to the right, the dog will forge more and more. If you reward to the left, the dog will anticipate that’s where the toy will appear, and not get so far out of position.

Whatever you do, don’t hide the toy, put it behind your back, or try to lure attention by putting the toy up in your arm pit or at your shoulder. Again, we want the dog to understand that it doesn’t matter how accessible the toy is, the only way the dog will get it is to give attention and gain the release word YES. This is an important component of self control. The dog needs to understand YES is a release as well as a reward. YES releases the dog to chase or take the toy.

With the dog in heel position, start walking. Continue walking until the dog gives just a moment of attention —  then MARK&REWARD.

Retrieving day 2
Shaping — reward early tries frequently.
Correct pickup and hold is important in dogs going on to do competition obedience or Schutzhund. For other dogs like service dogs, the pick-up is not nearly as important as the dog learn to retrieve many different items: socks, keys, a quarter, a piece of paper.

Teaching the hold
The correct hold involves holding the dumbbell calmly and firmly. There is no chewing, chomping, rolling the dumbbell around in the mouth. A correct pickup is fast and direct. Hitting the dumbbell with the feet, sending it rolling etc. are all faulty.

The shaped retrieve and the hold are taught separately. If the dog wants to play with the dumbbell, roll it around in motion, pounce on it, chew, or chomp, then we need to teach hold. This will give us a tool to use during the retrieve… if the dog begins to chew or play with the dumbbell, you will be able to just say “no, HOLD” and know the dog understands.

The hold is taught through compulsion. I prefer to use a piece of PVC pipe to teach hold, so that there are no negative conotations associated with the dumbbell. Also, the PVC is not so nice to carry in the mouth, and the dog may be more inclined to chew, giving us an opportunity to teach that chewing is incorrect.

First step: the PVC is placed into the dog’s mouth.

Begin with the dog in front in a sitting position. Hold the collar with three fingers of one hand. Open the mouth by putting your thumb in the corner and pressing. Place the PVC in the mouth, not too far back, but just behind the eye teeth. Watch the lips. Don’t let the lips get caught between the teeth and the PVC, or you’ll surely teach the dog to hate this exercise..

Hold the mouth gently but firmly closed. You fingers in the collar keep the dog from backing up; your thumb and forefinger of the same hand hold the lower jaw. Your other hand is placed gently across the top of the muzzle.

When the dog holds it calmly without fighting, MARK&REWARD. Just let the PVC drop to the ground. Repeat. Release when dog yields. Don’t make the dog hold it for very long, just hold long enough to yield. (If the dog really fights or struggles, place the dog in a corner where he can’t get anywhere.)

Often, after you repeat placing the DB in the dog’s mouth a few times, the dog will begin to reach for the PVC before you can put in his mouth. This is a good thing.

Look for a calm, yielding hold.

Slowly make it a little longer. Now, instead of marking immediately, use your “keep going” marker: “goood… YES and reward.

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Shaping – no corrections, No “no”, no ott. Reward success, ignore failure. If the dog does something you don’t want, don’t say anything, just ignore it and it should go away.

The way shaping works is you quit rewarding one thing and wait until the dog offers something new. Be patient. Wait while the dog tries to figure it out. The dog will get frustrated and try something new. If the new action looks like it will lead us in the right direction, MARK&REWARD.

What we’re looking for is a good attitude: the dog should be eager, trying things, engaged, looking at handler — “didn’t you see this? watch me!”
Patience is important — don’t be too quick to help.

If dog gets stuck, you may need to go back to a previous step. If wait too long with no reward, the dog may give up. Small steps and many frequent successes, especially in the beginning, will lead to rapid progress.