[Dailydrool] Tracking

[Beverly Szaton]

TRACKING FROM THE GROUND UP by Sandy Ganz and Susan Boyd is one of my
all-time favorites.

TRACKING FROM THE BEGINNING by Gary Patterson
Do not try to do tracking with a Basset the way it is outlined in Glen
Johnson's book, you will go mad and your Basset will be so bored he'll quit.
Generally I have found that practicing two or three times a week is PLENTY.
When you start, maybe that's good. I am sure other, more experienced
trackers have other opinions but for mine I found that when i trained with
other breeds that worked three or four times a week, my dogs had it down
long before the others and got bored. Bassets were bred to track and
believe me they are really, really good at it.
I would stop him from tracking deer if you want to even think about a
title, if you don't care what he tracks, that's something else again.
I don't know where you live, but medium deep cover is the best around here
because it is apt to hold what little moisture there is. Short grass is
hard to work on altho I trained my first dog on it not knowing any better.
I also used a middleschool soccer field, never even thinking about the 2000
kids that ran across it every day. Nevertheless, those were NOT the tracks
he followed-- he followed the ones he was supposed to.
I cannot tell you how thrilling it was when Mitchell won his TD title. He
was flawless, and it was a gorgeous thing to watch, my dog doing exactly
what he was meant to do. In 7 minutes. Across a watery ditch. Down a
ravine. I still get chills, and it was a long time ago. Nigel was also an
excellent tracker. He can still track but needs his wheelchair.

Good luck and have fun.
MomPerson to Nigel TD, Llewis and Conley (& Mitchell TD, atb)

Ps There is also a book called TRACKING WITH YOUR BASSET but I cannot find
my copy. Go to Dogwise or SitStay to look for books this specialized-- you
will find more at those sites.
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