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AGING YOUR TRACK Generally, it will take you about 10 minutes to 15 minutes to plot a full length TD track of 440 yards. Depending on your training goal for the day, if you are regularly practicing ˝ length tracks, you are already aging them about 10 minutes. The AKC rules and regulations state that the track shall be aged a minimum of 30 minutes and a maximum of 2 hours. What this means is that if there is a hold up in the test from the dog that ran previous to yours, your track will not be aged more than 2 hours. In most situations with a well run test, and good working dogs, the tracks are aged at the minimum of 30 minutes. So, the good news is you are probably almost ˝ way there on working on aging. I have found it best to increase the age of your track in 5 minute increments. It is such a slight difference that the dogs do not even notice the difference and it is really rare for a dog to have an issue with aged tracks. Some factors do have an influence though on the aging process of a track. In extreme heat – 80 degrees or more, the scent will dissipate quickly, so if you are tracking on a hot summer day, give your dog a fresher track than you have been doing regularly. In extreme cold, 30 degrees or less, the same would also apply. If the tracking gods are smiling on your training day and it has just rained, or is misting out, you can increase your age even more significantly because this type of condition really holds scent. We will sometimes see our dogs have more trouble with corners as the age of the track increases, so this is when you will want to go back to triple-laying the corners and jackpotting with some tasty treats about 10-15 steps past the corners. Remember to not jabber at your dog, but do use your voice to tell them “good tracking” “good dog” when they have mastered a corner, or when go off the track and return. Tracking trainers get really nervous about aging, but 99.9% of all dogs will have absolutely no problem with an aged track if they have gradually been brought to the maximum amount of time. As an experiment to prove this to yourself, you can lay a track in the evening and go back and run it the next morning. Most likely, your tracking dog will chug right down the track. Make sure if you do try this you mark your corners well and make a map so you know exactly where that track went. Our dogs have incredible noses, unfortunately, we don’t!! |
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