[Kristen Cabe]

Well I finally got motivated enough to try to get Jak started in tracking. I did it just like the article on Schutzhund Village detailed - doing a square with pieces of non smelly kibble inside. It rained today, which helped me to see the edges of the square. I took Jak to it, pointed to the ground inside the square, and told him "Such" and he took right to it. Even though this was the first time he'd ever done this, he ignored when a car drove by us and the VERY ANNOYING neighbor kid that won't leave us alone any time we're outside. I only had to redirect him once, and after that, when he came to the edge of the square, he turned around on his own and went back into it! I praised him, let him sniff for a few more seconds, and then pulled him out and we ran around the yard and played with his tire for a few minutes. I never expected our first time to go so well. Next time will probably be horrible.

:lol:

 

[Kristen Cabe]

LOL Bob!

I plan on staying with squares for a while. I'm in no hurry to get to long tracks just yet, especially since, like you, Mike, I haven't ever trained tracking before and have no idea what to do other than what the Schutzhund Village article says, and what other people tell me. I'm also a visual, "show me and then let me do it" kind of learner.

Mike, let us know how Lyka does!!

 

[Kristen Cabe]

Yesterday I did another square. Jak did well again. He did wander out of the square a step or two one time, but then seemed to realize that he was in the wrong place and went back to the square, at which point I praised him, pulled him out, and took him for a walk around the neighborhood before giving him his supper. The forecast is calling for rain for the rest of the week, so I don't know when I'll get to do another. :?

So far, so good, for a newbie!

 

[Kristen Cabe]

I hope this isn't an extremely dumb question, but does the flag need to be any particular color? The reason I ask is because I use white flags to mark the boundary of the yard, and I don't want to confuse him. :?

Also, exactly where does the flag go; at the first footstep??

I may just wait until you or someone else at club can show me, before I do anything more than the squares.

Mike, see http://www.schutzhundvillage.com/nose1.html and http://www.schutzhundvillage.com/nose2.html

 

[Kristen Cabe]

he basically rubs his feet in the grass n drops a few pieces of hotdog where he rubbed his feet n we tell the dog "zoeken!" n praise for sniffing around the footstep area.

Which is better; stomping or rubbing your feet? This is addressed to anyone who wants to answer, in response to what Mike said.

 

[Kristen Cabe]

One more question for today. :lol:

How long should the square be aged initially, vs. when you actually start laying a track? These first two squares I've only let sit for about 15-20 minutes.

 

[Kristen Cabe]

Down here in Georgia the fire ants are terrible. It's hard to track with hot dogs. Fire ants likes them almost as much as they like bitting me. Does anyone know of a treat home made or not that fire ants don't do back flips for?

I just use kibble. The pet store I get my dog food from has free sample packs of Wysong, Solid Gold, Canidae, and Diamond, and that's what I've been using as bait.

Let him watch you lay it, with someone holding his leash.

I'll have to figure out a way to do this, since it's usually only me that's there. I may have to just tie him to a fence post or something.

Freeze-dried liver? I buy it, but I know people who make it, too. I'm guessing that the bought kind might be less appealing to ants, since it has minimal odor and no moisture.

Or would it be too low-odor to use for tracking.....?

According to Armin Winkler, you don't want something with a lot of odor (like hot dogs); you want the dog to smell the disturbed ground before he smells the bait. That's why I'm using kibble. Plus, Jak could smell out a single piece of kibble laying in the yard from across the yard, so I don't NEED to use anything smelly. :lol:

 

[Kristen Cabe]

I don't use kibble because the dog has to chew it.

He does? Maybe someone should tell HIM that! :lol: He does chew his food when I feed him out of a bowl, but any other time, he just swallows whatever it is whole, without chewing. I don't know how familiar you are with the kibbles I mentioned, but all of them are very small - about pea-sized - not like most kibble, which is more marble sized.