# Tracking in dry and hot conditions



## Packen (Sep 14, 2008)

It can be done! This is from today, 100F heat bone dry ground and fire-ants abound! Welcome to Texas 

Gnash Track in Texas Heat! - YouTube


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## Packen (Sep 14, 2008)

Puppy learning too 
Creasy Track 8/24/2013 - YouTube


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## Nigel (Jul 10, 2012)

I know nothing about tracking, what are they doing when it looks like they are biting the grass?


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## Packen (Sep 14, 2008)

They are sniffing the footsteps of the tracklayer, following the path he walked. About 3 out of 10 have a tiny bit of food for them to eat. This style of tracking is called Foot Step Tracking, there are other types also but we use this type for Schutzhund trials/competitions.


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## Jax08 (Feb 13, 2009)

I've tracked in the Texas heat with fire ants in MAY. My poor girl was like "get me back to Pennsylvania! NOW!!"


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## Nigel (Jul 10, 2012)

Packen said:


> They are sniffing the footsteps of the tracklayer, following the path he walked. About 3 out of 10 have a tiny bit of food for them to eat. This style of tracking is called Foot Step Tracking, there are other types also but we use this type for Schutzhund trials/competitions.


Ok, that makes sense, I couldn't tell if they were pulling up grass, but I thought maybe it was treats, thanks.


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## erfunhouse (Jun 8, 2013)

That's awesome! he tracked for AGES!!!!! Did you start with the whole "rub the treat on the ground" first???


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## Packen (Sep 14, 2008)

erfunhouse said:


> That's awesome! he tracked for AGES!!!!! Did you start with the whole "rub the treat on the ground" first???


Thanks, it was a short track due to heat! No rubbing treats on ground but mostly broken grass from stepping on it creates the scent. Every now n then there is a corn sized treat for them to find in the footstep if they stay on the track, so they try to stay on it and get rewarded.


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## Gwenhwyfair (Jul 27, 2010)

Nice! I hope I can achieve that! I'm still working on it with Ilda...

AND for us beginners those dang ants are a real problem.

I.HATE.fireants.

I spoke with a lady who lives up north and does advanced AKC tracking, she was glad she didn't have to do a lot of tracking in the south.

Miserable, nasty, horrible, monstorous pests with not enough natural predators here.  

/fireantrant end.


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## Traveler's Mom (Sep 24, 2012)

I'd like to know what everyone is putting in the tracks that don't get overrun with fire ants before you finish laying the track!


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## hunterisgreat (Jan 30, 2011)

Traveler's Mom said:


> I'd like to know what everyone is putting in the tracks that don't get overrun with fire ants before you finish laying the track!


Dehydrated treats work


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## hunterisgreat (Jan 30, 2011)

Packen said:


> Thanks, it was a short track due to heat! No rubbing treats on ground but mostly broken grass from stepping on it creates the scent. Every now n then there is a corn sized treat for them to find in the footstep if they stay on the track, so they try to stay on it and get rewarded.


Look into the HITT method. Works very well in hot & dry conditions, and teaches the dog to track the human scent rather than environmental scents like broken grass and disturbed earth.


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## Nigel (Jul 10, 2012)

Gwenhwyfair said:


> Nice! I hope I can achieve that! I'm still working on it with Ilda...
> 
> AND for us beginners those dang ants are a real problem.
> 
> ...


Sounds like it could go from bad to worse.
Invasive Crazy Ants Are Eating Up Invasive Fire Ants in the South | Smart News


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## Gwenhwyfair (Jul 27, 2010)

I've tried freeze dried treats, that seems to help. (whoops I didn't see hunterisgreat's post, beat me to it!) 

Some have suggested freezing the treats but again, aging the track in our southern heat they melt pretty fast.

...or track at night when the ants are mostly asleep.

Other then that I've tried to lay tracks early in the morning and by the time I finished the treats at the beginning of the track were literally a seething ball of the little monsters.


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## Gwenhwyfair (Jul 27, 2010)

uhhgggg...more ants, though they don't sting they probably will eat the same food and mess up a track....



> their colonies are allowed to run amok, sometimes growing* 100 times the size* of other species of ants living in the area





Nigel said:


> Sounds like it could go from bad to worse.
> Invasive Crazy Ants Are Eating Up Invasive Fire Ants in the South | Smart News


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## Traveler's Mom (Sep 24, 2012)

Gwenhwyfair said:


> I've tried freeze dried treats, that seems to help. (whoops I didn't see hunterisgreat's post, beat me to it!)
> 
> Some have suggested freezing the treats but again, aging the track in our southern heat they melt pretty fast.
> 
> ...


You mean ants sleep? :laugh: I tried early morning, dusk, you name it. I'll take the suggestion from you and Hunterisgreat and try the freeze dried. Poor Traveler, right now he's like "Why the heck do I want to stick my nose in that footstep? You must not love me."


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## Lilie (Feb 3, 2010)

Gwenhwyfair said:


> Other then that I've tried to lay tracks early in the morning and by the time I finished the treats at the beginning of the track were literally a seething ball of the little monsters.


That is one of the biggest problems we have with laying tracks that we want to age. Fireants. I'm working now on water finds. That helps a whole lot. Harder for the dog...but easier for me!!!!!


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## Gwenhwyfair (Jul 27, 2010)

Yuppers, they aren't nearly as active at night, when it is dark. As long as you don't disturb a mound and aggravate them.

I ran an admittedly non-scientific experiment by placing bits of hot dog, stew beef, sardines and freeze dried liver treats near a mound.

The ants were slower to go after the freeze dried treats but a few did check them out. Plus Ilda didn't want to 'work' as much for the freeze dried treats, not as high value to her. 

I know how you feel, poor Ilda instead of getting rewarded she got a snoot full of ants and that doesn't exactly incentivize them to keep their nose down.

Plus being a total newbie at it, it adds another layer of complication for me.

I decided to read and study about tracking for now rather then create problems with my dog at my first attempt at it. 

I will start fresh when the cold fall weather hits...can't wait!!!


@Lilie I'll have to look into that too!


(and apologies to Packen.....for taking this off tangent!  )



Traveler's Mom said:


> You mean ants sleep? :laugh: I tried early morning, dusk, you name it. I'll take the suggestion from you and Hunterisgreat and try the freeze dried. Poor Traveler, right now he's like "Why the heck do I want to stick my nose in that footstep? You must not love me."


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## Freddy (Apr 23, 2009)

I tracked yesterday with pieces of Beggin Strips after my dog puked on his second leg (hot dogs/ants) last weekend. The ants did not get on them at all.


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## Gwenhwyfair (Jul 27, 2010)

LOL! Ants not liking the 'Beggin Strips' that may not be a good sign! 

I call those doggie junk food but like with kids, junk food can be 'high' value treats...maybe that's the ticket! 

I'm going to run my ant mound experiment on 'em too! 





Freddy said:


> I tracked yesterday with pieces of Beggin Strips after my dog puked on his second leg (hot dogs/ants) last weekend. The ants did not get on them at all.


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## Freddy (Apr 23, 2009)

The ants might not have liked them but I tore them up the night before, and my bitch slept by the island in the kitchen where i left them. Came down in the morning and it smelled like bacon in the kitchen


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## Gwenhwyfair (Jul 27, 2010)

Oh don't get me wrong, my dogs love them too! 

I was just kidding about the ants not liking them because the ants go for the 'real' stuff like stew meat bits. They just are not the healthiest treats in the world..

BUT if they are just used for a short time for tracking training then it probably won't cause any problems.

It's a good tip, thanks for sharing.


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## erfunhouse (Jun 8, 2013)

I'm gonna have to try this with Sabo---more as a fun game than training anything. Thanks for the "how to", We'll see how it works as soon as my grass grow in...we have to get him better trained on being focused before I bust out a long lead in a park!


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## JanaeUlva (Feb 5, 2011)

Nice tracking but I'm glad I live in Wisconsin where we have normal ants, which are bad enough. As Hunter said, dehydrated treats work well and I dehydrate my own liver. Easy, inexpensive and Minka likes it much better than any store bought treats, particularly freeze dried that she really doesn't seem to like. I dehydrate the heck out of the liver. Put it in frozen and dehydrate for at least 24 hours, usually more, until its really dry.


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## Packen (Sep 14, 2008)

I have seen 3 key items that make a big difference in high heat tracking as far as ants are concerned.

1. The field, whether it is a maintained field or natural. There are less ants in a maintained field so therefore in the height of the summer we will track on football/baseball fields. Our regular tracking fields are totally out of the question from June till end of September due to ants.

2. Type of bait used. Ants are highly attracted to certain baits versus the other. I track my puppy on kibble (just 1 piece of kibble burrowed in the footstep), but unfortunately ants zero in on kibble faster that say small bits of chicken meat! Weird but seems like they can pick up certain scents quicker than others.

3. Track with no food on ground but use a lot of articles, feed on articles.


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## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

Have you tried using white pepper to keep the ants away...I've heard it does work. Sprinkle pepper in your bait bag so it coats the food. 
My dog won't pick up food on the track hardly ever, so I haven't used it even though I bought a can a couple yrs ago.


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## Packen (Sep 14, 2008)

Cool Jane, will try it out for sure. I have not even seen white pepper!


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## Packen (Sep 14, 2008)

hunterisgreat said:


> Look into the HITT method. Works very well in hot & dry conditions, and teaches the dog to track the human scent rather than environmental scents like broken grass and disturbed earth.


Well the criteria in our sport is foot step tracking so I stick with methods that teaches the dog to check every footstep left, right, left, right with meticulous detail. 

The other methods typically will get the dog to the end of the track quicker but not using this level of detailed search that is required in our sport. Have you used the HITT method and if so did you see the dog check every footstep? If so then I will definitely consider it.


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## Gwenhwyfair (Jul 27, 2010)

...I'm going to invest in a dehydrator! The ones I've seen aren't that expensive. That sounds great as Ilda doesn't like the freeze dried treats as you note below.

And thanks Packen for your tips. 



JanaeUlva said:


> Nice tracking but I'm glad I live in Wisconsin where we have normal ants, which are bad enough. As Hunter said, dehydrated treats work well and I dehydrate my own liver. Easy, inexpensive and Minka likes it much better than any store bought treats, particularly freeze dried that she really doesn't seem to like. I dehydrate the heck out of the liver. Put it in frozen and dehydrate for at least 24 hours, usually more, until its really dry.
> 
> 
> Sent from Petguide.com Free App


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## JanaeUlva (Feb 5, 2011)

One last tip on dehydrating liver - use the jelly roll tray and lightly oil it before putting the liver on there. I buy packs of 4 frozen sliced liver, do 8 at a time. That meant i had to get a second jelly roll tray. The hydrator usually comes with one. Dehydrate on high for at least 24 hours, I usually go about 28 hours until the liver is really dry. Break it up into little pieces and put into a plastic bag (gallon size) then I keep it in the freezer between use. 


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## jesusica (Jan 13, 2006)

Dare I say he looks to enjoy tracking now? Amazing transformation from the spring, well done! Can't wait to see it in person this weekend.


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## hunterisgreat (Jan 30, 2011)

Packen said:


> Well the criteria in our sport is foot step tracking so I stick with methods that teaches the dog to check every footstep left, right, left, right with meticulous detail.
> 
> The other methods typically will get the dog to the end of the track quicker but not using this level of detailed search that is required in our sport. Have you used the HITT method and if so did you see the dog check every footstep? If so then I will definitely consider it.


I've used the HITT method to great effect modified a bit for IPO. I've sprayed only wher I will walk, or had only small water stream as a bridge to the next footstep (but taking wider/longer footsteps similar to a running gait). Even when using an unbroken stream I weave it such that my natural gait is always on the line. The big advantage is teaching them that the human element of the scent is the key (but use the other scents as well). The other nice thing is if your track happens to hit a barren patch, or dramatically different flora, or you cross an asphalt road, the dog is unaffected... The focus on human scent carries them through. I've also noticed it helps a lot with the dog recovering when they've lost the track. The dog stops indicating on false articles, but always indicates on what has the right scent on it.You also have the freedom to track any time of day on any terrain. It's helped our tracking immensely... I lay our tracks barefoot or in flip flops using the lightest steps I can.


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## Packen (Sep 14, 2008)

Cool, would be great if you have someone videotape you laying the track then running the dog on it. I would really like to see it done to understand it.


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## Traveler's Mom (Sep 24, 2012)

With reference to the dehydrated liver that JanaeUlva mentioned.... I've also dehydrated liver but in the oven. I first boiled it on the stove until it's not bleeding anymore (blah!) then cut it up in tiny pieces and load up the cookie sheet. Oven at 200-250° for however long. I look for a crispy texture so it's closer to 2 hours- rubbery would be less. Store in freezer. Traveler will do just about anything for them. Tracking is easier since they are "aromatic" after thawing out a bit. I use the liver water as broth on his kibble.

I'd like to see HITT video also. This is the first I've heard of it.


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## Packen (Sep 14, 2008)

jesusica said:


> Dare I say he looks to enjoy tracking now? Amazing transformation from the spring, well done! Can't wait to see it in person this weekend.


Hey Jessica long time! looking forward to seeing you and Flash. Gnash is always happy, problem is he gets too happy every now and then. Key to handling him is to understand how to keep him capped just right.


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