track & scent work

Tracking is probably the closest dog sport we can do with our four-legged
friends that resembles a dog’s natural life in the wild. A dog must be able to
track to survive. All breeds can track to a certain degree, although there are
undoubtedly some that are better adapted to it than others.
The olfactory supremacy of dogs over humans has been well researched and documented, and their intelligence and problem solving skills never cease to amaze us. Dogs continually prove their worth in jobs such as bomb and drug detection, finding truffles, searching for survivors amongst rubble following natural disasters, and they are even now being used for Fire Ant detection here in Queensland! So it’s no wonder they are key members of Search and Rescue teams, working in the front line to help save lives.
Tracking is based upon the concept of Search and Rescue. The dogs are required to find “lost” people in a variety of environments and weather conditions, over varying distances of up to 1.2km.
On trial day, Tracklayers leave to walk their tracks around first light. The Tracklayer will follow the line of flags, leaving only the first in place and removing the rest. They leave a piece of cloth or clothing containing their scent at this “start flag” so that the dog knows who it has to find. There is a time delay between the Tracklayer setting off from this start flag, and the dog actually working the track, from 20 minutes for a beginner dog, up to 3 hours. With the start flag being the only point of reference for the handler, the dog takes charge, following the scent line left by the Tracklayer, negotiating the changes of direction correctly, ignoring superfluous scents while finding other items dropped by the Tracklayer, and eventually finding the Tracklayer themselves. On the higher level tracks, additional people referred to as Diversion or Cross-Track layers, will set other tracks across the top of the primary to test the dog’s resolve in remaining focussed on the original track line.
Like other ANKC sports, dogs earn titles as they progress through the seven test levels, which become more difficult the higher the dog gets.
Tracking dogs earn the following titles:
TD – Tracking Dog. This is for successful completion of Tests 1 to 3.
TDX – Tracking Dog Excellent, for successful completion of Tests 4 to 6.
TCh – Tracking Champion, for successful completion of the Test 7.
There are no placings in Tracking. Dogs will earn a passing grade of Pass, Good, Very Good, Excellent, or a Fail.
friends that resembles a dog’s natural life in the wild. A dog must be able to
track to survive. All breeds can track to a certain degree, although there are
undoubtedly some that are better adapted to it than others.
The olfactory supremacy of dogs over humans has been well researched and documented, and their intelligence and problem solving skills never cease to amaze us. Dogs continually prove their worth in jobs such as bomb and drug detection, finding truffles, searching for survivors amongst rubble following natural disasters, and they are even now being used for Fire Ant detection here in Queensland! So it’s no wonder they are key members of Search and Rescue teams, working in the front line to help save lives.
Tracking is based upon the concept of Search and Rescue. The dogs are required to find “lost” people in a variety of environments and weather conditions, over varying distances of up to 1.2km.
On trial day, Tracklayers leave to walk their tracks around first light. The Tracklayer will follow the line of flags, leaving only the first in place and removing the rest. They leave a piece of cloth or clothing containing their scent at this “start flag” so that the dog knows who it has to find. There is a time delay between the Tracklayer setting off from this start flag, and the dog actually working the track, from 20 minutes for a beginner dog, up to 3 hours. With the start flag being the only point of reference for the handler, the dog takes charge, following the scent line left by the Tracklayer, negotiating the changes of direction correctly, ignoring superfluous scents while finding other items dropped by the Tracklayer, and eventually finding the Tracklayer themselves. On the higher level tracks, additional people referred to as Diversion or Cross-Track layers, will set other tracks across the top of the primary to test the dog’s resolve in remaining focussed on the original track line.
Like other ANKC sports, dogs earn titles as they progress through the seven test levels, which become more difficult the higher the dog gets.
Tracking dogs earn the following titles:
TD – Tracking Dog. This is for successful completion of Tests 1 to 3.
TDX – Tracking Dog Excellent, for successful completion of Tests 4 to 6.
TCh – Tracking Champion, for successful completion of the Test 7.
There are no placings in Tracking. Dogs will earn a passing grade of Pass, Good, Very Good, Excellent, or a Fail.
Dogs with their TCh Title can now compete in the new sport of Track & Search, introduced in 2009, which builds on the tracks above, but which favours urban environments and even night time tracking.
Dogs work in a harness and 10 metre lead, but the handler does not guide the dog. The dog has to be the leader. Learning how to handle this lead without causing interference and thereby pulling the dog off track can be a challenge in itself.
Dogs work in a harness and 10 metre lead, but the handler does not guide the dog. The dog has to be the leader. Learning how to handle this lead without causing interference and thereby pulling the dog off track can be a challenge in itself.