Sport Tracking for Your Dog!

Police dog style training for fun & exercise

WRITTEN BY JEFF SCHETTLER, Georgia K9 NTC

We are in an amazing period in the world today. The use of dogs for specialty detection work, human assistance, and medical purposes has skyrocketed. There has never been a time in our history where Canis familiaris has been more in tune to the human experience than now. From the primitive beginnings of mankind when the wolf first shared a meal with a humanoid to modern times and the detection of early stages of cancer in the human body, the dog has evolved on par with us; perhaps more so.

Dogs can perform tasks with their noses that no machinery could ever duplicate at a cost that is negligible all while acting as a calming agent for our souls. They ask for nothing other than a meal and our companionship. Their loyalty is beyond any human experience ever known. Just think about it for a moment…how do you feel when you engage with your furry friend after an incredibly long and arduous day? When everything that could go wrong, did go wrong but in the end, who was there waiting without a comment or complaint? We all know who that is. Each one of us opens to our dogs in ways unimaginable with another human. The relationship is selfevident, but often not equitable. Most of our companions rarely have the freedom to express their instincts openly and regularly. But we owe that to them. Our dogs deserve to be dogs whenever possible. They have a right to use their abilities with abandon and nothing stimulates their mind and their bodies more than hunting.

And here is the cool part…you do not have to be a hunter, a police officer, or a military working dog handler to do the same thing with your dog that they do! You simply must apply the hunting art and the principle to your pet dog. All dogs, not just working dogs, have the hunting instinct deeply imbedded in their being. It does not matter if you have a chihuahua or a French bulldog, they too have the wolf-like instinct to hunt and track wild game. Believe it or not, from a DNA perspective, these diminutive breeds are not all that far removed from their wolf cousins and have the same desires and drives; we simply need to harness it.

Tracking is the act of following a specific odor from a place last seen to an ending location and finding that thing, human or animal. Wild dogs do this for food, pack mates, enemies, and reproduction. This same instinct is in our everyday house dog, but they rarely get to use it. You may have even observed some of these things play out around your house and yard when the dogs seem to get attracted to something on the ground and begin to follow it from one place to another.

How did all of this get started?

Well, humans have been hunting other humans with dogs for centuries with some of the first writings on the subject appearing in Scotland where bloodhounds were used to hunt William Wallace and Robert the Bruce in 1307. The basis for this work came from hunting wild game with tracking dogs.

How does tracking help us in our contemporary world?

Tracking dogs are used widely today on every continent on the planet for everything from saving missing people to hunting down poachers or criminals. As a matter of fact, this is how my career started way back in 1994. I was a new police K9 handler for the City of Alameda with the very first single-purpose tracking bloodhound used full-time in a municipal police department. Ronin and I were partners for close to a decade and worked every manner of search possible throughout California as well as other states. We worked over 400 man hunts to include the Carry Stayner serial killer case as well as Eric Rudolf, convicted abortion clinic and Atlanta Olympic Games bomber. I wrote about our escapades in my book, Red Dog Rising. Since that time, I have retired, opened a dog training company, Georgia K9 NTC, and written four other books on the subject, primarily in the how-to genre. I spend my time now professionally training others to do what I did!

A human track may be in the woods, a field, a rural village, or deep in the city and tracking dogs can work all these places if they have become accustomed to them. A big part of what we do is not teaching the dog to track, but more importantly, how to track in certain places all while staying locked on just one odor. Believe it or not, dogs can track effortlessly for many miles and over hours without stopping.

Why is Sport Tracking so wildly popular?

It is very simple…pure fun, great exercise, and happier dogs than ever before. You can’t ask for a better combination. You can also do this anywhere with a minimal amount of equipment or cost. You only need a harness and tracking leash for your dog, and you are all set. Most people see immediate results on the first day of training.

At the end of the day, your dog will be tired, satisfied, and happier than ever before all because they fulfilled an instinctive requirement for survival. A happier, more satisfied dog also means a reduction in unwanted behavior such as digging or chewing, better physical fitness, and a far stronger bond with their human partner than ever before. It is simply win-win, no matter how you look at it. As the dog becomes happier, more energetic, and fitter than ever before, so do our human clients. It is truly a symbiotic relationship.

Class sizes are usually very small from a single student per trainer to five max. The whole idea is to maximize leash time for everyone. Most dogs will work 3-4 trails a day with 100 yards or so in the initial training and then up to about a mile or so depending on the dog and handler’s capabilities.

Our training locations vary, but usually start in the woods or fields free of human activity. We need this to ensure the dog stays focused on just one odor while they build their skills. As the dogs’ progress, we change locations to rural, suburban, and then ultimately, urban locations.

How do I get started?

Click on the link below and you will be directed to our main landing page for sport tracking. Simply fill out the inquiry at the bottom of the page and hit send! We will have a trainer call you to schedule an evaluation. The evaluation is free if you come to us, and it takes about 3045 minutes to complete. Our trainer will test your dog for ability and determine how and where you should start training. That’s it! It’s that easy to get into one of the best things you can do for you dog. Call us today!

SC: (843) 823-0660 GA: (770) 721-(MYK9) ■