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The term “operant conditioning” existed, but not in the dog world that I had been exposed to. I sat down and began to think about the specifics of what I was trying to communicate to the dog. What was the dog supposed to be doing? When you start to examine the process, it is quite simple, but wait! That’s exactly how the dog thinks, in simple terms. Remember, he can’t lie and my dog simply said, “I think you want me to pull.” He deduced that going to the field every morning was about pulling and not about tracking. After all, that is what I had been trying to communicate and I had succeeded.

What is it that we want in tracking? What is the set of behaviors that we are trying to teach? We want the dog to follow the human wherever he might go. We also want the dog to show us where a specific person has gone and point out things that the same person has left along the way. The best way for the dog to show us the way, is to put his nose in each individual footprint and follow those footprints to each of the articles dropped by the person. In the end, the dog should go from heel to toe, footprint to footprint, article to article…

Tracking Footprint to Footprint
with a Deep Nose

…These notes are about how to communicate the process of following footprints and eventually articles to your dog. I’ll outline a specific method for you, but let the dog guide you. At times you’ll need to deviate from my methods. That’s OK! Deviate enough to communicate to your dog and then get back on track. Each dog is an individual and his learning needs may be different. Also consider if the method isn’t working because of something that you are leaving out, or doing incorrectly. Examine your own behavior very carefully…

Puppy Eragon Following the Footprints

…Perhaps these notes should be entitled “Tracking with Energy!” Everything that you do with a dog, whether it’s obedience, agility, fly ball or tracking, should be done with energy. You should always ensure that the dog is in high energy before training. This is one of the most important fundamentals of training. The dog must desire the opportunity to earn a reward. If the dog understands the reward and really wants it, he’ll transfer this energy into the behavior to earn the reward. In other words, you want an extremely excited dog that takes all that excitement and energy and channels into searching for footprints. The dog may appear calm, and methodical, but you want him searching with enthusiasm and energy. You can train without a high level of desire, but the dog won’t be happy. For me, training must be fun for the dog, and then I enjoy it also. Yes, there’s those moments in training that aren’t fun, but try to minimize those times…