You could just get up at 3 am and track with us on Saturday.

I do this with Bison because he isn't really interested in tracking. It helps give him incentive. I love using the Cesar dog food that comes in the disposable containers. They are about 3 inches square and low enough to the ground to not distract. At this point, I am not using them with Grizz because he is already flying down the track. I don't want to give him and reason to get there faster.

With a dog with a lot of drive you have to be careful about using a high value reward at the end of the track. This can actually increase drive to go down the track (speed) instead of increase the drive into the track.

I use a few things to increase intensity on the track. More food, small or unusual articles and more difficult tracks.

Lies, if you were to go to a pinch (which, watching the video I don't see as necessary) I would double line. I had to do this with Donovan because of his size. Any other dog I have always been able to set the pace and use half halts (horse term) to settle the dog. Yes, some would pull harder, but eventually they find it is easier and less exhausting to stop trying to pull. Donovan I just didn't have the physically strength to do this since his desire to race down the track didn't show up until last year. I decided to try double lining him with one line going to his fursaver and the other going to the pinch. I will do the half halts or light corrections on the pinch while telling him "easy" if he starts pulling too hard. The rest of the time the line to the pinch is loose and the only contact he will have with me will be on the fursaver. As I went along I could give the half halt on the fursaver and he would slow down and if he didn't then I have the pinch still for back up. I also removed the ball from the end of the track and he usually ends at an article where he then gets a jackpot from me. I may put the ball on the track once in a very great while.

Funny, when I first started tracking I always had an article at the end like Anne. Then I got away from it. I am thinking I will go back to this when I start Elena tracking again this year.

Lisa, I have seen you mention this a couple times. When you put the ball on the track, how do you get focus back after they "find" the ball. Or do you only put the ball at the end?

I'll skip the pinch for now, I agree it's not necessary but didn't want to automatically write it off (I really don't have much experience using it for tracking, not that I'm against it). Nikon had a speed problem for a while and I did use a pinch but it didn't help, it really didn't slow him down at all. Instead I tied the line around his back (hard to explain) and that worked really well except it didn't train him anything. The second it came off he was backing to tracking like it was a race. The only thing that ended up helping was just tracking A LOT (like 6-7 times a week for a few weeks straight heading into both trials) and adding more challenges based on how the track was laid.

I like to always have *something* at the end of the track - food pile, ball (would probably not be good for Pan), or article. I did not use an article in that track b/c Pan hasn't seen them in forever. I taught them off the track when he was like 4 months old. Last night he acted like we've been doing them for a year so I'll start adding them in. He offers the platz, straight and clean and he stays down until released. I'm not put off by having to tell the dog "platz" a few times on the first track, and usually once he figures out what I want he's happy to keep doing it on his own.

I don’t have much new to add that others haven’t already said.

Just some of my own personal experience this winter;

I know you’re farther along in tracking with Pan than I am with Sundance but when I brought Sundance out for tracking after not having tracked for a few months he was going way to fast also. I went through all sorts of things that I could have done wrong. Watched and re-watched the video several times.

For me part of it was how I laid the track and part was just how little tracking he has done.

For us, we needed more bait at the beginning, smaller pieces of bait, and I needed to walk normally . (Trust me you don't want to see that video.) So, I personally needed to be more careful how I laid the track. And then a few more times out and he’s right back to the pace I like.

Yes, the way I have been taught, you have something at the end of the track from day one. A ball wouldn’t be a good idea with Sundance (or Dalton) so we use a flat 3”x5” (approximate) Gappay leather tug (no stuffing) with a handful of bait (treats). It lays flat on the ground like an article but is way to visible when there is a little bit of snow. It also helps me to know where the track ends.

A prong would also not be a good idea for Sundance at his age, probably not very fair just yet either. He has to learn what I’m expecting a little more first. However, we do use the prong to teach him to calmly walk up to the start position and sit. Then we switch the leash to the flat collar, leash under legs and the prong comes off. Command given to search – off we go. If I don’t start him off slowly, he’ll drag me to that little orange flag at warp speed! Trust me, I'd have some nasty grass stains on my face.

Amy – I am not sure but I’m guessing that Lisa means at the end of the track since she said “removed the ball from the end of the track”.

I thought in another post I read that she used them in the middle too. Maybe I misunderstood though.

Amy, I have used the ball in the middle of the track for my more advanced dogs when working on FH length tracks. I have never used one for normal tracks. My goal is Vala's FH2 this year and I will probably use the ball on the track once in a great while when I am mentally conditioning her for those longer tracks.

I know a lot of people that track on pinch collars who are very successful. I just don't except when I started to use it with Donovan. Then it is there for corrections only on a second line. Tracking only on the pinch never made sense to me.

So do you actually take a break on the track to play with the ball?

I would toss it once and then restart my dog.