by Craig Green

Tally-Ho: August/September 1993

Endurance is something most tracking trainers may not have given much thought. However, I have seen too many dogs make simple mistakes and flunk near the end of a track, which would not have been made earlier when the dog was fresh. Most tracking trainers I have talked to use tracking itself to build endurance for the dog, if they think about it at all.

My experience has been that overtraining an especially low-energy dog can create many problems, not the least of which is inadvertently teaching the dog to hate tracking. If you do a full-length track every week, and your dog gets frustrated and tired, he just might tell you to go track yourself, as a few of mine have done in the past. This may be a good reason for alternating a short track one training session with a long one the next. But if you do this to keep the dog interested, you might not be getting very much endurance training. This is only one reason why I recommend training for endurance separately from tracking.

Endurance Workouts

Tracking takes a lot of mental concentration on the part of the dog, and can make him much more tired and stressed than a walk of the same length. This added stress may keep the dog from getting as much endurance training as he needs. Even Basset Hounds, with their great noses, can be stressed by a tough track, especially if they have a low-energy temperament. I have had high-energy tracking Bassets and low-energy Bassets; and the low-energy ones can easily be overtrained until you've lost them. Once they tell you to go do it yourself, it takes a long time to get them back, if ever.

I recommend going for walks right after each tracking training session, for three reasons. The first is to reward the dog for working during the intensive tracking workout. A walk or run after tracking (off-lead, if you have the area to do this) can be an extremely motivating experience for both tracking dogs and handlers. Knowing that they will get to go for a romp afterward will usually add a motivating factor to your tracking sessions. Especially if you do this with more than one person and/or dog, it can be a lot of fun for everyone. The second reason for the walk is that running in the field after the tracking session can relieve the stress of a particularly hard track. The third reason of course, is endurance training. I recommend a walk of at least twice the full length of the tracking level the dog is being trained for. For example, for a TD dog, a 440-yard (1/4 mile) track suggests frequent walks of about a half mile. For TDX, an 880-yard track (1/2 mile) suggests a walk of about a mile. These are just rough guidelines; so use your own judgment. I would prefer to do the activity at a reduced length than not do it at all. If all you have time for is a 1/4 mile (TD) walk or 1/2 mile (TDX) walk, then do that.

Workout Frequency

An important consideration in all this is how often to train for endurance. This may or may not be the same as the frequency with which you train for tracking. For example, all my tracking dogs, even the best and most high-spirited, track only once a week after they have learned the basics. I almost never track a Basset Hound more than once a week (except for beginners); not even when training for TDX. So, in order to build endurance, I have to go for walks at times other than the tracking workout.

Just like people who are trying to stay in shape with exercise, dogs need at least three workouts a week for aerobic conditioning. If my schedule will allow, I will start off with a walk three times a week, or every other day. When the dog is in better shape, I will often walk him five days a week or more. One of these will be after a tracking workout, but most will not be. If both you and your dog have the energy and temperament for three tracking workouts a week (most Bassets I have trained don't), then tracking and walking three times a week might work just fine. However, be on guard for overworking your dog as a cost to getting him in better physical shape. I prefer to keep these two different purposes somewhat separate, because of the infrequent tracking sessions that I use.

Advice From an Expert Tracker

My inspiration for this article came from my friend Sally Elkins, a TDX judge who has more Basset Hound TDX's than anyone. When she was in Denver last year to judge one of our tracking tests, she mentioned that her beginning tracking students have to prove to her that both handler and dog can walk around the block without panting before she will accept them as students.

Although I have trained my dogs for endurance in the field many times in the past, Sally is the only tracking training instructor who ever told me that she teaches endurance to students. When you think about it, it doesn't make sense for a trainer to spend time teaching you how to train and handle your dog if the dog can't get to the end of a full-length track without burning out on you. Not a bad idea to require handlers to be in shape, either. I have now incorporated endurance training into the tracking seminars I teach.

Conclusion

I know that road work and similar endurance activities for a tracking dog take time. But I can't think of any area of training that is more neglected, yet probably contributes more to tracking failure, than a lack of endurance. Other problems such as handling errors may also be common reasons for flunking tracking tests, but most instructors and exhibitors are aware of them. Endurance training for tracking seems to be a greatly overlooked area for improvement, which I heartily recommend. Try it and see - you could be missing a lot of fun, and will probably improve your dog's chances of passing the next tracking test.