K9 OPS

02/06/2026

Buried Target Training

02/06/2026

Le repos du guerrier

01/06/2026

Mantrailing

01/06/2026

Mantrailing
Bravo Oden

29/05/2026

Obéissance groupe

26/05/2026

17/05/2026

Tracking to articles/toys versus to a person

Whilst there are different methodologies to develop a tracking dog, if your role is to find people in real life I do have some strong opinions about what best practice looks like.

There's no substitute for tracking up to a person at the end of a track. Toys and articles at the conclusion simply do not cut it.

Article tracking methods work perfectly well if you like to develop a dog that way in tracking (I rather train a dog in weeks than months so don't use those methods anymore).

But as we look to transition towards reality, having a person, or multiple people, waiting at the end of the track is critical if we want to be successful in the real world.

This is because of the odour pool created by humans, if they're stationary for any period of time, only gets bigger with time. This is in and of itself a huge challenge at times and one that a dog should be proficient in solving.

Additionally, if you're laying tracks yourself for the most part there are some issues to consider as part of your development process; possible lack of generalised value in the track (hopefully you have a bunch of different people to track), and if you walk out and back on the same track you're missing a critical lesson where the dog learns fresher odour equals correct direction (important if you got a track mid way).

I am a huge advocate for tracking to a person from the very first steps, and do not use articles, crushed grass or anything similar, everything is learnt through self discovery.

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13/05/2026

Éducation groupe niveau B