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Reading Corners As you are
practicing tracking with your Golden Retrievers, one of the most important
things to learn is how to read when your dog is approaching a corner.
Corners are the key to success in passing a tracking test, as you must
negotiate 3 to 5 of them to get to the end glove in a TD test, and 5 to 8 of
them to get to the end glove in a TDX test. One of the most
frequent frustrations of my students of tracking is how to know that the dog is
at a corner and how to properly read that they are committing to the next leg of
the track. Let me start by
saying that while tracking down a leg of the track, we go back to the old adage
of “if they do something different, stop and let them get back on the track”
before proceeding forward. The
straighter your dog tracks, ie. not quartering, or circling, the easier it will
be to tell that they are at a corner. Next, you will
definitely see a different behavior as your dog hits the corner.
Some dogs are going so fast that they will overshoot the corner, but they
will eventually lift their heads when they run out of scent.
The amount of distance that this will take, is dependent on which way the
wind is blowing. For example, if the
wind is at your back, the dog who overshoots corners will travel farther past
the corner than if the wind is in your face.
This is the reason we mark corners with some reflective surveyors tape.
New students of tracking will try to control corners that are marked by
slowing dog and attempting to control the dogs direction to the new leg, but
marking corners should really be a way of seeing how far the dog travels past
the corner with the wind direction and mentally making a note of the
observation. In training, as your
dog overshoots, back up to the marker and let them work out finding the new
direction. DO NOT slow down at the
marker though. Allow them to make
the mistake, pick up their head, then back up, but continue to face in the
original direction so the dog learns to find the corner, not become dependent on
you to show them. Some dogs will
circle at the corner and then proceed to find the new direction.
Most times, you will see your dog ALWAYS circle in the same direction
first before working out the corner and finding the next leg.
Again, use your marker as an observation time of your dogs behavior. The third kind
of common behavior at corners is a dog who frantically searches right and left,
or left and right but does not circle or put its head up.
This type of dog is looking for the same scent that they just had on the
previous leg and is checking out all the scents available at this particular
corner. The key is to
use your marker at the corner to observe and make mental notes of what behavior
your dog is showing you. As your dog
works out the corner and proceeds down the next leg, give them a verbal cue to
let them know that your are acknowledging their work.
You can then use this cue in a tracking test to confirm their work and
give them encouragement to go on. |
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