by Craig and Kay Green

Tally-Ho: July/August 1998

In the first part of this series, an introduction to our tracking philosophy was presented. In this part, two important aspects of that philosophy (goals and priorities) are briefly discussed.

GOALS

"Muffy, TRACK!"

"OK, but I sure hope it isn’t as hard as last time. That track was so frustrating!"

The kind of tracking activity you participate in and the particular rules or requirements of that activity will largely determine your goals and method. Until you decide what you want to accomplish, you don't have a goal.

Our training methods derive from our primary goal, which is to pass non-competitive AKC tests. Different goals might produce different training methods. Factors such as climate, soils, breed, vegetation, dedication/experience of the trainer and a particular dog's training history in other activities may contribute significantly in choosing a method different than the ones we've developed.

An important lesson we learned from Glen Johnson, the well-known Canadian tracking trainer and author, is to have a specific goal for each training session. If you don't have one, don't track. This is always in the back of our minds at the end of each session, thinking how to plan the next one.

In other words, THINK about what you want to accomplish before you track.

PRIORITIES

"Hello, Craig? I can't track today, because I have to go to obedience class."

"Did you do the two-turn track I suggested last time?"

"No, I didn't have time."

To succeed in any endeavor, you must dedicate the necessary time and effort. Far too many beginning tracking students don't stay with the sport long enough to earn a tracking title. In our opinions, tracking requires consistent reward and success for the handler, as much as for the dog (the two are usually related). Many new students don't have enough early success (under careful supervision to minimize mistakes and frustration) to warrant this new commitment in their lives.

One aspect of priority for us is to always put the dog's needs first. This means that if the dog needs a short track in deep grass and no wind, then we wait for the snow to melt or wind to stop.

Too many trackers, in our opinions, stick to a rigid daily or weekly schedule that ignores what the dog needs at a particular time. We'd rather wait a few days or an extra week for the right conditions than possibly risk confusing the dog with an inflexible schedule.

Next time, part 3 of this series will address Motivation and Observation.