TRACKING

My Tracking sessions entails training your dog to follow a trail made by person by keeping their nose to the ground.  On the way, they will learn to let you know they have found 'dropped' articles, by niffing them out.

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You may already play with your dog asking them to search for food treats but tracking has further benefits.

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The difference with scent work is that involving you as the guardian into the game. When we hide treats for our dogs the dog gets loads of enrichment from sniffing but they are out there doing it by themselves. If we get them looking for a specific scent whether that is detection or tracking etc they are working with us as they are not just looking for the food and getting rewarded at the scene , but they are looking for the scent then telling us they have found it and then we get to reward them. This makes it a game with both us and the dog and the dog enjoys it so much more when we are directly involved.
We can also do more with tracking etc like developing an indication which is a behaviour for them to tell us they have found the scent instead of just eating the food when they find it. This makes the dog think more and this tires them out more too.
With racking we are asking our dogs to find a smaller amount of odour than treats, treats give off a huge amount of odour, so we are honing the dog’s skills and their nose hugely by doing scent work. This not only makes the game harder for the dog which means they enjoy it more as they have to problem solve more but it also tires them out more so you get a quieter dog quicker with directed scent work.
All in all food searches are a great place to start and moving onto tracking etc will develop those skills even further, enrich your dog more, include you in the game and tore your dog more!

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In summary, Tracking is great for both you and your dog. The benefits are:

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Improve bonding

Mental stimulation

Physical exercise

Reduces stress and anxiety

Great fun for both you and your dog

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Contact me to book, if you have any questions or if you want to go onto a waiting list for next set of sessions.