Kort's First Tracking Lesson!!!

Finally!!! I got off my butt & gave Kort his first tracking lesson! It was so much fun! I am starting Kort with a different method then I did with Tate. We started on a big scent circle that was filled with food.....this way Kort associates human scent with finding food.....after that I put him away to re bait my scent circle & lay a small serpentine track for him. He was anxious to get back to the scent circle where all the goodies were, but when I took him toward his serentine he was a little unfocused. On the serpentine I laid a treat at the big toe of every footprint I made, for about 10 steps....this made Kort associate the footstep with the reward......after that I spaced them out, sometimes rewarding at every second step, sometimes every 5th step....then I did 10 steps with no food at all to end at the glove...the glove had a huge jackpot on it & beneath it...he charged on to the glove & I made a HUGE deal out of the fact that he found it....we ended in a play session with him getting to run around with his glove!

He wasn't bang on the track, as a matter of fact he kept trying to "back track", which means he kept turning around to go backwards on the track looking for food, I had to stop him from doing this, the dog must always move forward. All in all he did great, very food motivated with only a couple of unfocused times....can't wait to get out again!

The pictures are the best I could do as I took them myself while Kort was tracking!!

Approaching the scent circle......

In the scent circle...... Tracking...... the flags mark where I have put a food drop......Kort finds the glove!...... Playing with his glove....good job Kort!!...... I know that tracking shots are boring to the person who doesn't track, but for people that do, they will understand why I am excited!