Schutzhund Tracking Step 2 – short straight track

By Maya on March 21, 2011

I posted the long detailed tracking instructions from the Ledda’s website, but I thought it would be easier if I walked through it all step-by-step as I go.  The first step, illustrated in an earlier post is the scent pad.  After a couple of weeks of the scent pad, your puppy or dog should be running toward that flag and knows that there is food in that area.  Now, it is time to start laying a track.

Start with doing a straight track of 25ft or so, putting really tasty meat in every footstep.  Put in your flag, and do a small scent pad at the beginning of the track with a few pieces of food in.  Step out, drop food IN your foot step, and repeat.  At the end of the track, bury in the dirt or hide in the grass the dog’s “jackpot”!  I use a raw chicken leg.

Find a nice open place with either live green grass or dirt. Don’t do dry grass, concrete or anything like that. Grass or dirt that you can see your footsteps in. You must always know where your track is! Also, remember to do it early in the morning around daybreak. The cooler the better, and remember to avoid the ants.

Bring your dog up to the scent pad, tell it “SUCH” (Pronounced Sook, German for search). The dog should already start at the scent pad since you’ve been doing that, then stay with your dog and pat the ground at each step to show it where the food is the first time.  Help your dog through the track till he gets to the jackpot! They get the hang of it pretty quickly and will start forging ahead on their own in no time. Just make sure they don’t start skipping steps and food like Lizzie does. I’m having to go back and fix that now.

Here is a video of an early tracker. This pup goes nice and slow, eating at each footstep, something Lizzie and I are working on. These professional people start their puppies tracking at like 8 weeks old. I didn’t have a clue about it when I got Lizzie, so I didn’t start until she was 8 months. And since I am such and amateur, it’s taking me a lot longer to get it right than these people!

Keep doing your straight track until you can get a good 75 to 100 paces without the dog lifting it’s head. Your dog will start searching off track, but that’s ok. Just stop moving until your dog finds the track again, then move on. Help him if you need to. You just want your dog to keep its head down and not quit. If your dog is quitting on you, he’s not that hungry! Next time he quits, take him straight home and wait till the morning to try again. They learn fast and your dog won’t starve, don’t worry about that! Lizzie went home early once and she never quit again.

Next step, the corners!

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Dog Training Tools for Tracking

By Maya on February 27, 2011

Here are the tools you’ll need when you’re teaching your dog to track:

1.  Long line or “tracking line”.  I got one that is too narrow so it is difficult to hold properly.  You should hold the line with our fingertip and let the line gently slide through your fingers as the dog moves ahead tracking.  This one here is “1 and I plan to order this.  For now I’ll make do with my too thin one.  NOTE: run the line UNDER the dogs front leg when it’s tracking.

Tracking Line

2.  Fur saver collar.  This is on every Schutzhund dog I’ve seen and used for all parts of the training. Generally they are not at your local pet stores, you’ll have to order.  The chrome plated steel is least costly, but will eventually rust.  You can find chrome on Amazon, but the stainless you can find at Leerburg, Elite K-9, or other specialty stores.

3.  FOOD!  High value food.  Chicken, beef, livers…things the dog doesn’t usually get and loves.

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Learning to Track with your Dog

By Maya on February 27, 2011

The first thing I did at the Saturday training session with Mr. Ledda was learn more about tracking.  He corrected a lot of my training mistakes and I am now on the rounded corners, tracking in grass, with part food/part no-food.  My biggest mistake was the corners.  I was doing them like the guys at the club, which are hard 90 degree corners.  It was too hard for Lizzie.  She would pass the corner and then circle back.  This isn’t good because she is not learning to find corners well and be exact.  So now we are doing rounded corners.

Tip from the session:  On the corners, stop and hold tension in the line until the dog finds and commits to the corner, then let it go.  The purpose is to help your dog learn to find and follow the corners without it overshooting and coming back.

Tip 2:  Keep a tracking log!  Every day you track, record the date, time, weather conditions, temp, track you laid, and how the dog did.  Score yourself and log the errors.

Tip 3:  WATCH OUT FOR ANTS!  Summertime is bad for tracking with food.  Don’t lay food if ants are going to get to it.  They will bite your dog’s lip and give it a really bad experience that it won’t want to ever repeat.

TIPS FROM RITA AT VOM HAUS LEDDA:  http://www.vomhausledda.com/tracking_tips.htm

When teaching a dog to track…initially…….only do so when it is cool and/or wet. Tracking is more difficult for the dog when the temperature is high and/or
dry. Tracking is more pleasant….and easier for the dog when the temperature is cold and/or wet

If you work a normal 8 hour day….or more….. and think you don’t have time to track 4 or 5 times a week, think again. Buy a miner’s light that you wear on your head. Works great! I climbed Mt. Fuji at night with a miner’s light…….and a good friend who owned a 24-hour convenience store……taught his dog to track with this method. :-)
Track before daylight in the morning…. before you go to work……or track in the evening….before you go to bed

When beginning to teach your dog to track, if the opportunity avails itself, allow your dog to ‘watch’ another dog or dogs…..that *love to track…and which are good at it.* If the dog/dogs are yours, tie the young/new tracker somewhere where he can watch….or hold him and encourage him to watch. Do this many times.
Especially allow your dog to watch while another dog enjoys tracking….and ***afterwards*** the owner makes a big deal at the end…and plays with the dog…and shows his pleasure that he and the dog have worked well together.*

Always make a big…fun….positive…*deal* after your dog has completed his track! Let him know that he did fine…and that you enjoyed working with him. Even if your dog wasn’t as *into it* as you would like for him to have been, do not show it. Be happy that
you both got out there and tried.
The above can be done with physical praise;i.e, petting/hugging….or throwing the ball/kong/toy….or using a bite toy….or just verbal praise.

Make tracking an exciting, fun event that your dog always looks forward to.
Before leaving home….or before leaving your dog’s kennel area, talk to him/her in an excited voice about tracking; i.e., tracking?….wanna go find it?…..are your ready?….Show him/her the articles/treats/long line, etc. Speak in a very ‘up’ and excited voice. When you reach tracking area, again show the articles or treats as you go to lay the track….and speak in an excited voice.
Just before beginning track….again speak in an up and excited voice.
Tracking is a team effort with you and your dog. Both need to be excited and looking forward to the activity. All little things you can do to effectuate this….will assist you….and your dog…to have an excellent ‘attitude’ about tracking….and when times and tracking get difficult, you will both work through the difficulties as a team….that works well together….to a successful end of the track.

As soon as your dog does 50 or 75 feet of straight track, keeping nose down…..begin corners. When teaching corners…..do easy, nice, rounded, five-step corners at first, heavily baited. Best to be sure your dog is very sure and very accurate on these types of corners – right and left – before teaching abrupt 90 degree corners

After your dog has done maybe 50 tracks or so…..and/or over a period of … say 2 months……..begin laying your tracks on various kinds of terrain.
Always KNOW where your track is. Even if the ground is hard packed dirt, you can ‘stomp’ and make an indention…and put your bait in each step…and you will see it. Be careful not to do too many tracks where your dog sees each piece of food. Always hide it if at all possible.
Lay tracks in varied lengths of grass.
Lay tracks in varied sparseness of grass.
Lay tracks when it is wet
Lay tracks when it is dry.
Try to avoid extreme heat. This is unpleasant and difficult for the dog…and should be reserved for when he is a ‘seasoned’ tracker.
Always know where your track is … and help your dog, if necessary. Do not worry that your dog is not ‘perfect’ in these difficult areas of varied terrain. The exposure is important. It will build confidence…for
you…and your dog.

When starting a dog to track…..and placing bait in each footstep, make the footsteps very close together. Each week increase the length. You may do several tracks in one morning….each a little longer than the last. You may even use the SAME tracks….the next day….or the day after.
It is not necessary to have a large area….nor to always have a different area…and you may put your tracks close together.
You may even use your lawn…or any part of your yard….to teach your dog to track.

Do not worry if the dog skips pieces of bait on the track.
When the dog reaches the end, have either a pile of food….or a toy…so that you and he know it is the end.
Some dogs, in the beginning….and even … later….will skip a lot of the bait the first time he does the track…If this is the case with your dog, on the first …. possibly …. dozen tracks … that you and your dog do …. when he finishes the track …. take him back to the beginning and let him do it over….remembering always to put another ‘small’ pile of food….or a toy….at end.
After about a dozen tracks….over a couple of weeks…or more, cease to allow your dog to redo the track…and get the pieces of bait he missed.
If, on future tracks, your dog continues to skip a LOT of the bait,
possibly you are feeding him too much….at other times. Or possibly he just wants to track for the joy of tracking….and pleasing you….and having fun afterwards.

When your dog will do at least 150 paces of straight track, keeping nose down…..with you up close on tracking line……begin moving back on line….keeping same tension on line (no tension)…..then move up again…..and up and back….and up and back…..until you can get out to end of line. Continue this exercise…….throughout tracking career of dog…..including training for FH

Sometimes your dog will get off the track. If your dog gets off the track, in your opinion, because it is difficult for him……subtlety () guide him back onto the track without his knowing he is being guided. Use soothing words such as … find it…succch…with some, but very little actual pressure on the line.
If your dog has gotten off the track, in your opinion, because of lack of interest in tracking, then use a very very very *up* and excited voice, and encourage him with LOTS of enthusiasm. When he appears to make any effort whatsoever, praise praise praise….and keep going. You may need to use more pressure on the line….but ALWAYS try to be subtle with pressure on the line. The dog should never realize he is being physically helped.
It is important that you NOT give too much help…and it is important that you use lots of *feeling*….when helping. This *feeling* cannot be imparted via email. It is something each handler must *develop.*

When training tracking……the majority of the time…….walk out to the left or right side of your dog…..on a short line (6 to 15 feet)…..Stay far enough to right or left of dog…..that you can clearly see his nose and how intense he/she is searching for the track. Concentrate. Watch and learn the ‘tracking style’ of your dog. Learn to be a ‘team’ member…..You and your dog are the team. :-)

Hide the bait on the track In the very beginning…..best even then…..to hide the bait on the track.
Pup or dog should learn to search for the bait without using his eyes. The more hidden the food, the more pup/dog must use nose…..and the sooner he/she will associate ground disturbance with delicious treat.
This sometimes mean, yes, you must bend over and bury *each individual bait* under blades of grass….. or whatever you must do…..so that pup/dog cannot see the bait. Also best to use bait that is similar to color of terrain you are tracking

After you have started turns with your dog…..and after he becomes confident on turns…..once a week do 100 to 150 pace legs *****heavily baited***** in continuous *U* shapes……for a total of 3 *U’s*. After 15 minutes, go approximately 30 paces out standing facing perpendicular to the middle of the first, third and fifth legs. Walk normally and cross the
first, third and fifth legs. Wait 30 more minutes…..then track your dog on short line (8 to 15 ft.)…..When you come to the area that you crossed, be aware and ready to help your dog…..if he is distracted by cross track. Most likely he will not be distracted by cross track. If he is, just help him….by showing him the continuation of the track in a nice calm manner. Never get angry, disgusted, disappointed, impatient. Be a team player….and help your team member.
This should be done in terrain in which the track….nor the cross tracks….are *an obvious* freeway. :-) You should barrrrrely, if at all……be able to see your track……BUT….YOU must know where it is at ALL TIMES. If you don’t know where it is, how can you help your team member? Only the day of the trial do you NOT know where the track is….(unless it’s SchH 1….and even then you’re probably so nervous that you forget where the track is…:-) )..and by then you and your dog are such a team…..that you find it together….. without giving any handler help. :-)

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Obedience training tips: focus and heeling

By Maya on February 27, 2011

Sometimes, you just get lucky. I happened to stumble upon the nicest couple in the world that happens to also be amazing dog trainers in both Schutzhund and AKC. They have competed internationally with their dogs since around 1975! They specialize in German Shepherds and just bred what may be their last litter. If I could only have five dogs! No, even I have limits.

AKC obedience is easy to get into. There are many clubs with that tend to have a congenial, friendly atmosphere. It’s easier to get help and instruction at these clubs. Schutzhund, on the other hand, is much harder. There is a lot to learn and if you are a newcomer it’s hard to find someone to take you aside and really teach you. Most have to just try to learn by watching. I am so lucky to have found these people who are willing to take their time to show me the ropes. I’ll share as much as I can here.

Here is the list of main items to master with Lizzie in obedience over the next few weeks. (I’ll work on focus with Riyo as well).
1. Work on focus: get dogs attention by making a quick little gasp noise to get them to look, the make a “click” sound, and treat. Keep treats all over the house and do this randomly all day long as well as in training sessions.
2. Heeling. Treat in left hand, up over dog’s head to keep dog looking up. Start one step at a time. Heel a step, sit, heel, sit while keeping the dog’s attention.
3. “Here” or “Front”. Get the dog right up to your belly and sitting straight. Hold your hand right on your stomach, palm up, so the dog gets right up on you on the here. If dog is not close enough, step back and pull it closer.
4. All this is done with motivation (food). No force.
5. Keep lengthening sit stays and down stays. Down stay needs to get at least 10 minutes.

Some additional focus tips:
Get a handlers jacket with high chest pockets. Pull the treats from there and hold in your mouth. If you always have your treats in your pockets, the dogs are always looking at your pockets and not up and your face.  Added bonus is you don’t get all your shirts and jackets dirty with dog treat crumbs.
Handler’s jacket that I just ordered from http://leerburg.com/trainersvests.htm:

Dog Training Handler's Vest

Teach the dog to catch and improve focus:

1.  first lob the treat underhanded to the dog so it sees it coming clearly

2. once they are good at that, hold the treat in your lips and get the dogs attention.  When the dog looks, make a click sound with your moth to mark the behavior and then launch that treat toward the dog like you would a spit ball.  Click must come within 1 to 1.5 seconds after the correct behavior.

3.  The purpose is to get a dog that intently looks as your face. You don’t always have to launch from your mouth. The purpose is to get good eye contact and have the dog focusing on your face and not what hand the treat is in!

Hide treat all around you house:  Put treat in place where you can reach them but your dog cannot.  This way at random times all day you can work on this focus game.

Suggested treats:  Pupperoni.  They are dry, not gross, and easy to carry around and store.

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Traing for Dog Sports or Companion Dog? The school of opposites.

By Maya on February 25, 2011

Rule:  If you want to train a dog for sports, build drive.

I must at this point go back and address my initial post about the Monks of New Skete book. As I’ve mentioned before, I am no professional or expert. I am stumbling my way through and making a lot of mistakes on the way, then recounting what I am learning from the more experienced as I go. The Monks of New Skete and many other training books are directed at people who just want a nice companion dog and have no interest in dog sports. Most people don’t plan on taking time every day to train their dog or try to get a title in some dog sport. If you are a companion pet person, Monks of New Skete and all the popular training methods out there are for you. Probably the most popular figure in the dog world is Ceasar Milan, and his show is also geared at people who just want their dog to behave and be a calm and enjoyable companion. Now, I never thought that this version of how to raise a dog would be so opposite from what I am learning about Schutzhund and agility dogs.

Building drive is a term that I have heard over and over since starting to get into these dog sports. This is a term that I didn’t think about a few months ago and if I did, I thought of it in terms of, oh no, prey drive! What I have been taught now by both Schutzhund and Agility people alike is that drive is key in all this training and that many of the conventional dog rearing techniques actually diminish a dog’s drive and therefore ability to excel in a dog sport.

Why the disconnect? As I’ve understood it so far, there may be a give and take especially when the dogs are young. The Schutzhund club members actually said they like their dogs to be “barely tolerable” until they get over a year. “Barely tolerable” is not what the average family is looking for in a dog, nor what the average person is capable of handling. The drive makes it easier to train the dogs in dog sports as it channels that drive into constructive and permissible activities, aka, the sport. In a companion dog environment with less experienced owners, letting a dog’s drive take over without tempering it with training and sport can turn into a domestic tornado and dogs going to the pound. We don’t want dogs going to the pound! We want dogs with nice homes, living comfortably! So, Ceasar, the Monks, and others are right to discourage a lot of dominant and drive building games that those interested in dog sports work hard at building.

Where I screwed up. I followed every rule to bring up a nice, well-behaved companion dog and in the process broke every rule for bringing up a working dog prospect. I was so proud that Lizzie passed her AKC CGC (canine good citizen) test at 6 months, but when I told the working club guy that he said “I’ll try not to hold that against you.” UGH?!!! I simply didn’t know any better and I didn’t realize I’d enjoy these sports until after I had my dogs. The most serious screw up is with tug-of-war. I had it so ingrained from the books and shows that tug-of-war = disaster. Apparently that is the case for many people. I went with the “if you play tug of war, you better win” method as well as the “DROP IT” immediately command. I’m sure anybody in the dog sport department will groan at that one. So from the time Lizzie was 2-5 months I fought with her daily and made sure I always won. She would look me in the eye and hold on to whatever it was she had and put up a great puppy fight that frustrated me to no end, but I was more relentless that she was. I even used the “coins in a can” method to get her to let go. To explain, a .38 doesn’t phase Lizzie but The Can is like nails on a blackboard, she HATES it. I found that I could not stop her from ANYTHING by the Monks’ “grab her by the scruff and shake with a firm NO” suggestion. Oh no. That was the start of a fight I would lose. But The Can is the Lizzie nemesis. So after two months of daily battles, I achieved perfect companion dog behavior. If my hand goes on it and I say drop, drop it and don’t tug, because if you tug you’ll just lose and feel like a defeated loser dog.

What I really achieved. A dog with almost no toy drive. JUST GREAT. I’ve been working the last two months to rebuild toy drive, but I can still see that imprinted hesitation when she strikes at a toy, tug or rag. I can see her look at me or whoever else is playing with this look like, “when is the dreaded can coming?” I know if I hadn’t spent so much effort in killing that behavior she would be tugging like crazy. I still haven’t gotten her to really put her body weight into a really good tug. Per club instructions, I started the rebuilding process by “back-tying” her to a tree and getting her to get really excited about a raccoon tail that I had attached to a fishing pole. This way, I wasn’t so close to it and she could feel comfortable really going for it. After two weeks of this, her drive went from zero to 50. Then she just planed. She will chase and grab at her toys and pull with about 50% of her strength. The club members are skeptical that she will ever go beyond this level of drive and they are not sure she will have the nerve to do protection at all. I’m now also not sure how much of her behavior is genetic and how much is inflicted by me. I guess the only thing I can do is keep trying and see what happens after 6 months to a year.  She may have reached her genetic potential, which is ok too.

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Schutzhund tracking – Step 1

By Maya on February 18, 2011

I am currently in the process of training Lizzie in tracking.  Again, I am no expert.  This is my first dog to try to train in this way; I am just recounting what the gurus are telling me.  I’m just going out there, getting information and and being trained by those who really know what they are doing.

The first step, or homework, I was given from the working dog club was to start feeding Lizzie on a scent pad outside. This is the first step to teaching a dog how to track. To prepare the scent pad, you go outside with your dog’s food and basically scuff up a little rectangle area about a foot by foot and a half in size. After you have scuffed up the grass with your feet a bit, you sprinkle the food around into the grass. Then, you bring your dog outside and show them the pad and they sniff around and eat the food. The part I missed is that you are also supposed to put a little flag next to the scent pad. They learn quickly that the flag means scent pad.

The point of this, as it was explained to me, is that when you scuff up the ground it creates the scent of disturbed grass. Dogs can distinguish the difference between disturbed areas where you have stepped versus undisturbed areas. By feeding them in the scent pad, they learn to associate the scent of disturbed earth with food.

This YouTube video show this first puppy training step:


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Working Dog Club – Schutzhund: An Introduction

By Maya on February 18, 2011

Well, I took Lizzie to a working dog club to see what it was all about.  I had no real idea what to expect; I just looked them up on the internet and followed my GPS out to a remote location where I found a lot of German Shepherds congregating.  First, these clubs are not for the casual pet owner.  These people take their sport seriously and spend hours and hours perfecting their skills.  I found they are nice people, but they certainly will not have patience for someone coming out and fooling around.  Some of these people have been in the Schutzhund sport for 20 years or more and really know their stuff.  They are excellent handlers and I have never seen such disciplined dogs in my life.  It’s very different from dog club AKC obedience.  This is for working dogs and people who really work with them, every day, rain or shine, sleet or snow.  Hard core!

I have been joining these guys every weekend for the last two months now.  The veterans train together multiple times a week, but I try to at least go to one or two.  There are three parts to Schutzhund:  tracking, obedience, and protection.  It’s like a triathalon for dogs and only the best dogs and most dedicated handlers actually can get titled.  There are three titles, Sch1, Sch2, Sch3 and there’s a lot more detail in there that I don’t grasp yet.

The first thing I learned is that Schutzhund not only is not for every person, it’s not for every dog.  It doesn’t mean you have a bad dog, but even for dogs specifically bred for Schutzhund, up to 90% will not make it all the way through.  The dogs have to have natural drive for the sport and the MUST enjoy it.  You can’t force a dog to participate in something it doesn’t want to do or enjoy.  That’s not fair to the dog.

With that preface, I don’t think Lizzie has what it takes to get a Sch1.  She is a very mellow, chill, puppy, which makes her a fabulous companion dog, but unlikely to excel in the protection aspect of Schutzhund.  The Schutzhund dogs have a practically unbreakable toy drive.  As I watched them, the dogs are so focused on earning a quick bite on their toy, they’ll work for it tirelessly.  Lizzie, well, she’ll get excited about the toy then a moth will fly by and…”MOTH!” or “LEAF!”   She just doesn’t see the point it going insane over a toy.  Why bother?

Despite the fact that Lizzie is not quite a star Schutzhund prospect, the club members are still willing to teach me as long as I show up and am interested in learning.  There is still tracking and obedience which she is perfectly capable of doing.  So, I continue to show up at daybreak in rubber boots to slog through the black gumbo muck to learn to track.  Lesson one, I was informed, is to forget having a clean truck ever again.  This I have found to be very true.  Lesson two, leave your ego at home.  Check.  And expect to feel like a bit of an idiot greenhorn.

These are some pics one of the club members took of a training session last month.  It is highly unlikely Lizzie will ever compete in this aspect of Schutzhund unless she unexpectedly shows interest in it as she gets older…but again, highly unlikely.  The dogs in the pics cannot wait to get onto the field.  It’s like the ultimate game for them and they just LOVE it.

Apollo

Gana

I’ll keep updating my progress with the working dog club and my associated daily training sessions at home.  I am really curious to see how this goes.

If you want to read more about Schutzhund, the United Schutzhund Clubs of America has a lot of information.

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