itzfoxfire58

Last weekend when I took Fallen to the park (not the dog park) it has been raining so much that I can't let him out in the back yard its like mud bank and I got tired of wiping his feet off all day, so we started going to the park across the street early in the morning and letting him run around. Well I found a ball over there and started throwing it, he ran to were it was looked couldn't find it put his nose to the ground and started tracking it. At first I thought it was a fluke and threw the ball again. Then I took the ball while he was just running around hid the ball and said Fallen were is the ball he put his nose to the ground and started tracking. First doing big circles, then running to another area circling until he found the ball. How did this happen and know he does the same thing with toys I show him and hid and tell him to find it. Who would have known. He keeps surprising me. LOL

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Today was the first day I knew a Poodle could Fly

sarpoodle

All dogs have scenting skills to some degree or another, and poodles seem to have really good ground scent ability (when my new girl Saydee hits a ground scent while we're walking, she'll pull like a sled dog and track it). When you said you "hid" the ball, do you mean that you walked to a spot to hide it, or threw it without Fallen seeing you? If you walked it to the hiding spot, he was likely tracking your ground scent left behind. Also, it sounds like your boy has good hunt drive (that's what made him want to find the ball in the first place). You should keep playing this game with him, and let him build that skill up. If he's that into it, he'll get a lot of pleasure out of the problem solving behind it.

You can also try throwing his ball into some brush while he's watching, then let him go after it. If he finds it, trying turning him around (so he can't see where it lands) and throw the ball into brush or out of sight; then tell him to find it. The ultimate test is to throw it some where, but not let him go after it. Then leave the area, wait a few minutes, bring him back, and ask him to find it. If he can do that, you likely have a good candidate for tracking. What I've just described is actually one of the evaluation tests for older dogs to in part determine if they're possibly well suited for disaster search and rescue (at least I've seen this described in some books I've read).

If you enjoy this sort of activity, you might want to look into tracking groups in your area.

Greg

Fluffyspoos

To better Vegas's tracking, I put bird scent on the tennis ball (you can buy it at sporting goods stores) and I'll cover his eyes when I throw it, throwing it low to allow the scent to 'wash' off.

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petitpie

Would putting "bird scent" on an object confuse a dog by changing the scent of the object that you want the dog to track? Really interesting stuff here........

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Fluffyspoos

I have one tennis ball specifically for bird scent (quail only) and it's important not to mix bird scent up on the items being tracked. The species doesn't really matter, it's teaching the dog to follow A scent. I don't hunt quail, but it's what was available for me. I've practiced also with full goose, duck, and dove wings.

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petitpie

Fluffyspoos, thanks for that post;

I have no experience with tracking or hunting, but my husband had a Labrador Retreiver/hunting dog that he said taught herself to retreive. And that she was better at it than any other "trained" dog he knew. He said that he did work with her but stopped when it was apparent with hunting that she beat every other dog to the bird. So she didn't need the training, because she already knew what her job was.

I also think that poodles are so smart they can learn anything and do it well!

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itzfoxfire58

Hi Greg, I hid the ball while he was off sniffing something out he was about 20 feet away, then I walked about 30 feet away from the ball, called him to me and told him to find the ball. At home he has a toy raccoon, he loves this toy and when I put it up, its never in the same place, could be on top of one of the bar stools or on top of the piano, after he gets let it he goes to sniffing until he finds it. Fallen is just 13 months. I met a Breeder earlier this month and she invited to a Dog Show were she was showing her Poodles and she lives really close to me, maybe I will give her a call and find out if she knows a group that does tracking.

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Today was the first day I knew a Poodle could Fly

itzfoxfire58

I'm finding that out first hand. LOL

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Today was the first day I knew a Poodle could Fly

itzfoxfire58

Hmmm that is interesting, I think buying the scent would be better for me then getting a wing (that grosses me out). Thanks good ideal.

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Today was the first day I knew a Poodle could Fly

outwest

Impressive Fallen! The only 'tracking' Bonnie does is bark under the couch. I pull a ball out. She plays with it for a while then barks under the couch again even though there is no longer anything there. She thinks the couch is a magical ball producer.