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  1. #1
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    Default How do tracking dogs track - what did you see.

    I have moved along the animal tracking dog hobby somewhat from the early days of trying to use what I have - a Border Collie.
    As was questioned and discussed here on GS I learnt about these dogs and the forms they come in. I believe it has been 3/4 years since the desire to have a tracking dog arose to the acquiring of this
    yyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy by David Frank Allen, on Flickr

    There were many considerations and a GSP was top of my list till almost last year of considerations. I saw this dogs parents in a picture on the internet and tracked the owner to the USA, to find the dogs were on his farm in Transkei area.
    The dogs name is Ratiolla,when Cody was 8 yrs old he watched the movie Ratatouille, which fascinated him to no end but could not say that word" Ratatouille' it became Ratiolla. He said one day if we get a small dog he would name it Ratiolla, not bad since his cat is Gannet (a seabird), his hen is Omelet. Unfortunately the word Ratiolla means the ratio of nipple to areola on a female breast

    The dog is now 6 months old and we train it as we can, but I am noticing some unusual or perhaps need explaining activities.
    I would like to compare notes on how dogs track and possibly the understanding of the how they do so.

    At first (9/10 weeks old) Rat would hit the ground running and start tracking the spoor we had laid. When I say hit the ground running I mean like a motor cross bike on launch. We decided we would always carry her to job site and then place her down in/at work area. Very early in training I noticed she was already running when in the air, and the wheel spin take off is quiet impressive.

    She would nose down fly along the track and find the blood bottle in a straight to the objective manner.
    In the following weeks she was introduced to corners which clearly indicated she was working on nose and not just guessing. A sharp turn to one side would be made in the track and she would more often than not turn on turn as if it was not even a change of direction, indicating she was not just relying on the ground track. Sometimes how ever she would overshoot the turn like that motorX rider and come to a stop some way on from last blood. It is a thrilling thing to see this puppies brain at work, she stops and tests the air in front of her with her nose outstretched like a blind man feeling ahead of himself.Its at this point she often squats and has a pee. She then casually walks back to last spot and does a sniff about and then rockets of again on trail.
    Now 4 months later we have added bigger gaps to the blood drops (introduced from a Energade bottle vigorously shook at intervals). Bigger gaps, turns and U Turns were made in the trail and blood was lifted to branch's and tree trunks at intervals. All this in a track of no more than say 50 m, a turn and a kink and a loop.

    It was at this stage that I started noticing little changes in the how it was done, so much so that I always observe from high ground if possible now. I see she sometimes makes big circles with no apparent purpose, I could understand if it was down wind every time, but its not. Sometimes she does this cut across too a spot and picks up the spoor again and sometimes she loops away to one side and come up on the animal or blood bottle.
    LIKE SHE IS FINDING THE ANIMAL - as in apposed to tracking the animal. Like a scholar answering a question with out knowing how to do the equation.
    This worries me somewhat, I want her to track and find lost animals, not just sniff out a body in the bush.

    So I started the high ground thing, watching from up top.
    It seems to me that she is still tracking, but nose up, not just nose down. I will now risk ridicule and try dog thought to paper as I understand what I see.
    Its like, Ok! here's a drop and here and here and there are some more, sniff sniff I can smell them from nose up - sniff sniff, strong track this, I can smell blood from way over there, not gonna waste time following this lot I will just shoot over there so long, cut along here Yea!! hoo ha I am on it, impala this, just know, smell that shitty plant stuff they eat in their blood, not like kudu with sweet stuff they eat, Impala yea, definitely, male, got some cow dung mud on him too can smell along track. Sniff sniff, what that, that on the breeze, its him? Up that way can smell him on the wind coming to me, his cattle dung male smell, also smell he is still bleeding, smells sharper than the blood thats been out in the air for half hour, bit of pens smell from up there, I will cut across here and skip this drop drop nonsense, I know where he is. Somewhere here, I know it, give me a mo sniff sniff, where **&^* is it I know its here, you cant fool me - there, got it, forget the blood, smell that impala smell, fills the air, how can you miss it.
    Ta taaa ! told you wag, grin, wag, bark.

    I have worded what I have seen from up higher. I took a 17 kg Impala that had been shot and fell on the spot. Dragged it some distance downhill and across and a bit back up hill. Went back to vehicle drove around hill went up to top sent Cody and dog down and got him to where animal dropped. He put dog down and I have written what I saw above.

    The Impala Cody shot in the light trigger post.
    I was not close enough to see the tracking, but as related back to me by Cody.
    The animal bolted on the shot as per a heart shot, and he was almost in tears because he thought it was wounded, "Yo dad it went so fast, gone, one jump gone"
    The dogs were put down and they sniffed around and wandered off, my dog first and off in way wrong direction up a hill, the WHT went in right direction, and as Cody relates, he was just going to go fetch his dog obviously on wrong track, but then Daddy I remembered you said to let her do her work. So he shouted "work Rat Work"
    The WHT then tracked up and across to our dog. Quick picture, the animal was shot in a valley, small valley 20 m high side 100 m across. The animal was shot from 06h00 to 12h00 direction which coincided with lowest track at bottom of valley, the animal when shot turned and headed straight away as along the path the bullet would have taken on exit. The dogs had wondered off and up to higher ground along right side.
    Cody ran after his dog as best he could and then saw his dog enter a thicket and when he got there the WHT was already there at the buck.
    The buck had run from 06h to 12h then turned to a 15h position where it was found considerably higher than the valley floor. So a a straight line away from shooter and then turned right up hill, likely at a constant angle more than a turn.
    The dogs went from 06 to 15h00 from animal shot position at a right angle away from animal shot position, then turned left to the animal and went to it in straight line.
    cccccccccccc by David Frank Allen, on Flickr

    What am I seeing, whats happening, is this the usual progress?, is there matters I should try curb.
    We now use a spry bottle to squirt and mist a trail, I notice the less understood way of tracking is more evident using the sprayer, this indicates there are things going on I do not see, understand.
    Who has good blood spoor animals, and how do they operate?

  2. #2
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    Default Re: How do tracking dogs track - what did you see.

    Wind direction?

  3. #3

    Default Re: How do tracking dogs track - what did you see.

    Wind is your friend. Always note the wind direction. Most dogs once they learn this, and unless they have a fresh blood track, they will always run a cheek wind until they scent what they want. Traditional scent hounds will naturally quarter depending on their genetic range, but JR's and Foxxie's which are popular choices for these purposes will generally just head off until they get whatever it is they are looking for up their noses and then turn and move straight into the wind. Ground scent is another issue.

  4. #4

    Default Re: How do tracking dogs track - what did you see.

    Dogs operate broadside - on to the wind. They turn into the wind only
    on striking scent which enables them to home in on their prey.

  5. #5
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    Default Re: How do tracking dogs track - what did you see.

    Quote Originally Posted by Springer View Post
    Wind is your friend. Always note the wind direction. Most dogs once they learn this, and unless they have a fresh blood track, they will always run a cheek wind until they scent what they want. Traditional scent hounds will naturally quarter depending on their genetic range, but JR's and Foxxie's which are popular choices for these purposes will generally just head off until they get whatever it is they are looking for up their noses and then turn and move straight into the wind. Ground scent is another issue.
    ********************
    Hi Springer.
    You seem to know this stuff some what.
    What is a cheek wind? If not meant as "check wind" , then please explain in greater detail, may be some tracking jargon.
    You going to fast for me ! Traditional scent hounds will naturally quarter depending on their genetic range, please, if you have the time tell me more here as well - you seem to have raised more questions by responding than when I posted. What is quartering and how does genetics come into it - you need to post a longer story, much longer.

    Your post just keeps raising more questions,.
    Do they know what they looking for from past experiences? If not what decides the priority follow for them? Follow the herd, follow the interesting fox that was around or follow a feint blood trail.
    Do they know by you putting them at/on start. Does this mean they tracking blood or a animal?
    In the Karoo where wind is very still often, does the scent just lie about like clouds along the trial.
    Are they also following the animal scent when on a blood trail, can dogs track a animal that is no longer bleeding?

    Pre 64 had a JRT that just found things, even a day later, how.

    Which is my dog using, ground scent or air trail - which is better? I am thinking ground scent is better, but maybe not better if i was a dog.
    What do terriers normally use?
    Can you train them to use one method over the other, or do you work with what you got?



  6. #6
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    Default Re: How do tracking dogs track - what did you see.

    Quote Originally Posted by Luker View Post
    Dogs operate broadside - on to the wind. They turn into the wind only
    on striking scent which enables them to home in on their prey.
    *******************
    Your post arrived while I was cross questioning poor Springer in the 3rd degree.

    Ok Luker, I hear you, but is that not only for air scent?
    Is ground scent ground scent that becomes air scent? Like a dogs turd is on the ground, but permeate the air?
    Is my perception of ground scent correct? This just struck me now, I may be understanding this all wrong?

  7. #7
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    Default Re: How do tracking dogs track - what did you see.

    All scent is "air scent?" in essence?

  8. #8
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    Default Re: How do tracking dogs track - what did you see.

    Treeman , take bushpig hounds, They are placed on a pig spoor made the previous night. When the dogs start on the spoor they are ground scenting. condition dependent. As the spoor gets fresher you will see the dogs no longer running with their noses on the ground but in a normal dog running posture. They are now air scenting.The tracks are fresher,smell stronger.

  9. #9
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    Default Re: How do tracking dogs track - what did you see.

    I am absolutely convinced that my Jack Russel could tell within 5 seconds of being shown blood , whether the animal was mortally wounded or not. Every animal that he tracked was found within 200m of where it was shot. That little dog would almost turn inside out with excitement when put on a blood trail.
    On 5 or 6 occasions he sniffed the blood , gave everyone a dirty look , turned away and refused to have anything more to do with the matter. On all of these occasions the animal had covered a big distance and all but one had to have a follow up shot to end matters.
    I do not know if blood has a different smell coming out of different parts of the body , but the only ones he tracked [and some in really thick stuff] were those mortally hit.
    Some of my hunting buddies said he was just lazy and didn't want to work too hard. Being a Jack Russel,i suppose anything is possible.

  10. #10

    Default Re: How do tracking dogs track - what did you see.

    Definitely dogs can differentiate between live and dead game. Seen it often.

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