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Jeff
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« on: August 17, 2008, 08:00:45 pm » |
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this is the cliff's notes version of how tracking training is done in schutzhund (similar to police dog traingin):
get you a bottle of boar scent, a fresh hide, or a small pig - the live pig being best. if you use a pig or a hide, wet it down
on flat, open ground with no brush, make a short drag, no more than 10 feet at first. every six inches along the track, set a small piece of hot dog, or some soft treat that can be eaten quickly. put a small pile of treats at the end of the track. it's called the "jackpot". it's a form of reward. later on, a live hog at the end of the track will take place of the treats as his reward.
show him the 1st treat and watch him work. it wont take 2 minutes, of course, b/c he'll see the treats. only do it once a day. don't rush him.
2nd day: make the track 20 feet long, with treats every foot. always put a jackpot on the end.
3rd day: 30 feet track, treats every 2 feet
4th day: 40 foot track, treats every 4 feet
5th day: add light brush or weeds, and slight zig-zags. 60 foot track, treats every 10 feet
6th day: lay the track, then wait 1 hour before you put him on it.
make it slightly more difficult each session. either add length, or sharper zig-zags, or more brush each time, but not all 3 at once. when he reaches a stumbling block, and he will, back up to the most recent successful session and let him practice building confidence. keep raising the difficulty level until he's tracking as far as you want him to, on a track as old as you want him to take. if you're hunting small tracts, a 2 hour track that's a few hundred yards should be more than enough.
once he's started, he might increase distance and track age on his own, however, i once had an old military bloodhound trainer tell me you could always tell who the lazy trainers were by the way their dogs worked. their dogs would follow a track 1 mile and then quit, like they had a built in odometer. you don't have to train this every day, but you'll get it done quicker if you can.
keep in mind im no expert - hope this helps.
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