JE-UK

Was just googling for a tracking harness and tracking line and found this company: http://www.palominelines.com/index.html.. Can't order from them, but I LOVE the tracking poodle theme!

Feralpudel

Yes, they were very nice about donating a tracking line for one of the raffle baskets at the PCA tracking test one year.

I haven't tried the tracking line. A friend has the shorter lead and it is very nice for the price.

bigpoodleperson

:( The link wont work for me. I prefer a larger/heavier line then most people do, so im not sure what kind they have.

amerique2

Nice poodle shot! Especially being the lead photo for the company.

This worked for me: palominelines.com

fjm

JE - can I ask where you are doing tracking? I would love to try it with Sophy.

__________________

To sit with a dog on a hillside on a glorious afternoon is to be back in Eden,
where doing nothing was not boring- it was peace.

~ Milan Kundera

bigpoodleperson

Ah, thanks! That is a very nice looking tracking poodle!! There is a local couple that makes these synthetic leather tracking lines too. They are very popular here, and quite a few of my tracking partners have them. They love them! Too thin for my personal taste though.

JE-UK

Well, nothing organised yet, but I want to try ... V has a very high prey drive and a very active nose. I've been near tracking dogs before, but never trained one, but am reading up at the moment. Definitely will be a warmer-weather/longer-day activity, I think.

I've started chatting up local farmers in order to get some people-free fields to start playing around with track-laying.

Feralpudel

My very favorite tracking weather is ~50 degrees F and drizzly or almost drizzly. Heat/sun are hard on a black dog and any dog's nose.

JE-UK, I'm not sure what you mean by people-free. The area you are working should be reasonably people-free at the time unless you want to give your dog a crash course in cross-tracks, but mostly it needs to be dog-free, especially free of unleashed dogs. And it doesn't have to be lush, thick grass or anything. I started Dexter out in the picnic clearings in our nearby (large, otherwise wooded) park. Early tracks should be very short (10-15 meters) anyway, so you don't need a lot of land.

The old books have you working miles and miles of straight track before you ever try a turn, and miles and miles of grass before you ever cross pavement, but my trainers advise introducing both turns and different surfaces early on (not at the same time).

JE-UK

Spring/summer in the UK is rarely sweltering, and we are knee deep in mud at the moment, so thinking more of firmer ground than temps!

I thought I would start him off in private fields, more to get the idea across than anything else. Our public open land and trails are well used (VERY well used) by lots of dogs and people, so not sure if I start there that he will get the idea of tracking.

I'm thinking of starting in a local sheepfarmer's field, without sheep in it of course. The grass is usually quite short, and aside from the lure of sheep poop, should be about as unconfusing as I can make it for him starting out. What do you think?

FJM, I've been reading , recommended by Feralpudel, and it's great. Super simple, well laid out, loads and loads of example tracks, guidelines on keeping a tracking diary, and a straightforward plan for how to progress your dog's tracking.

Feralpudel

Glad you like the book!

Don't discount the lure of sheep poop! But there's always poop/critters of some kind to contend with. As you track, you'll learn to discern working the track signs from amusing himself/crittering signs.

My favorite place to track is an agricultural farm park nearby. (Kinda like the Joni Mitchell song about putting the trees in the tree museum...when McMansions started crowding out all the real farms, they created a farm park.) One of the fields I used to like to use was adjacent to a sheep pen, and at some point Dexter developed an obsession with the sheep.