Off season tracking training...the devil is in the details. Part 1: obedience

Deer season is still several months away , but preparing for hunting season is where the real work of developing a tracking dog happens.  Even my experienced dogs go through off season training in order to maintain vital skills.  Just like any athlete, natural talent will take you part of the way, but effective training sets you apart from the pack.  Right now, I have a 9 month old pup who I am spending much of my efforts on.  She is very motivated on track and is well on her way to becoming an excellent blood tracker.  I continually challenge her with new and different tracking tasks in order to get her mentally and physically ready for the real thing this fall.

I have also been helping a good friend of mine train his naturally gifted wirehaired dachshund, Elkie.  Elkie comes from good German lineage, and her pedigree is filled with excellent deer trackers.  She Christened her rookie year with more than a couple of nice recoveries.  However, after a winter lay off, Elkie was having real difficulties with even the easy practice tracks that her handler was putting down. 

I made some preliminary suggestions to my friend.  The first of which was to stress the importance of obedience in a tracking dog, or any dog for that matter.  This is today's topic.  All other tasks that a dog will do for you stems from a relationship developed upon the foundation of obedience.  Proper obedience training in a dog will teach the dog its role in the "pack," and it will look to please  the "pack leader".  Without obedience exists anarchy, and a rule-less dog will only work for itself.  

Tracking, I would argue, is a teamwork exercise, not an obedience exercise.  However, a solid team cannot be fully established without a groundwork of obedience.  The dog has to want to please the handler in order to make a confident tracking team. Without that desire the dog will track whatever pleases its senses rather than continue on the course that the handler sets it off on.  

I knew from experience that my friend had struggled with obedience training his independent natured dog.  That error had led to a near catastrophe his first tracking season when his dog took off without him, and wouldn't return to his urgent calls.  Thankfully she was recovered by a local towns person a couple of days later and returned no worse for wear.

Most of us spend too little time working on obedience with our dogs, myself included.  It is not fun.  The repetition is monotonous, and a strong-willed dog can test your every nerve.  Still, without basic obedience, the team will never flourish. It is central to all other activities, and should be focused on with that type of importance in mind.  

Having a dog leave the blood trail to follow after a distraction is a problem common to all tracking dogs.  A dog will naturally want to follow a fresh animal trail that it crosses rather than stick to a blood or hoof scent trail that  is much older and fainter.  The thing that prevents this is training specifically for this type of distraction and consistent obedience training.  You can train against such obstacles while laying mock trails, but only an obedient dog will redirect, and learn the necessary lesson.  That is, "You must stay on the scent I started you on."  The dog needs correction for unwanted behavior, and praise to enforce wanted behavior.  Still, a free willed dog without obedience and a desire to please will continue to do what comes naturally, take the fresher, more interesting trail.  An obedient dog with the desire to please its handler will eventually get the message that it needs to stay on the SPECIFIC scent it was started on, and that all other scent trails are off limits.  This is perhaps the most difficult task a dog can learn, and in my experience it is an impossible task without a solid working relationship established through obedience. 

In my opinion there are two obedience commands that are essential to all working dogs, "sit/stay" and "come".  The command word itself is unimportant.  What is important is the function.  A dog that sits in place when told to do so, despite distractions is a dog that builds what I call "calm enthusiasm."  The sitting dog becomes focused upon the handler intently, looking for a command to be released to whatever task is ahead.  Steadiness, intensity, and enthusiasm are the end results.  When I tell my dog to sit, I expect it to stay in that exact spot calmly until I release it with another command.  Repetition is the key.  I use the sit command routinely in my dog's daily activities.  They must sit and wait when I fill their food bowls, and only eat once verbally released to do so.  They sit at the door of the house or their kennel until I release them, as well.  They sit at the beginning of every track or mock track while I examine the available sign.  These exercises will help develop a calm focus within the dog to perform the task at hand, namely blood tracking.

The other essential command is the "come"command. Many people prefer "here."  Again, the word you use is not important.  The task is. This task is probably the most important command that you can teach your dog as it can save their life.  The story I noted above is a good example of this.  Your tracking dog will eventually get away from you, leashed or not, and a reliable response to the come command may be the only thing that saves your invaluable tracking dog from being lost, eaten, or hit by a car.  This command takes time and effort to  make a dog reliable in the face of serious distractions such as running game, but once it becomes well ingrained it is a powerful tool.  Don't fool yourself by thinking that your dog comes reliably "most of the time."  The dog must obey under the most potent distractions.  The use of a check cord, and later an e-collar will shorten the time to success when used properly.

Other handy commands are the "down" command which is a more steady form a the sit command, requiring the dog to lay down.   This puts the dog in a more submissive position and even more under your control, and is useful in a lot of applications.  A "whoa" or "stop" command can also be useful in keeping a dog out of trouble.  I also frequently employ the command "leave it!" to stop my dogs from following after distractions such as varmit holes, road kill, you name it.  By giving them the "leave it" command they are expected to leave the distraction and return to the task I have given them.  I use this command frequently in my day to day interactions with them as well.  The use of the command is handy in getting a dog to stop from chewing up your shoes, but also continually reinforces our relationship with appropriate correction for unwanted behavior and praise for desired behavior.

Keep in mind that all learned commands will need occasional reinforcement in order to remain reflexive for you dog.  Off season training should always entail brushing up on obedience in addition to tracking.

No matter what commands you choose to teach your dogs, set a tone of fair, consistent leadership.  This foundation will pay off many exponentially in your tracking  endeavors and make for more pleasant daily interactions with your tracking dog.  It will also build a dog/handler relationship in which your dog finds its pleasure in pleasing you.  This in turn will make you a more productive and more cohesive tracking team.

Good hunting! Brady