# Blood tracking



## Cannon (Jun 28, 2012)

Hi,
Last year we undertook a blood tracking course with Reilly, our 3yr old Viz. Although a slightly messy hobby I was absolutely impressed at his enthusiasm and natural ability to follow a trail. It's something I now try and practice with him purely as a form of mental training - not as a sport. Does anybody else have experience of this with the breed? 
The two things I need to improve on (that's I not him!) are to slow him down whilst tracking and to be more patient when he goes off the track. On the end of a long tracking line he is like a torpedo! Any advice to help slow him down would be appreciated. I find this hard to do without distracting or discouraging him. Plus I find it difficult to tell how much I should let him off the track and how much I should encourage him back onto it. I try to interrupt him as little as possible and trust him as much as I can.
We hope to get him tested and qualified but I know for that his tempo has to slow a lot! 
Fantastic though to come back 24hours after setting a track and seeing him put his nose to work. Very rewarding to do something where we must learn to read his body language and learn to keep our mouths shut. 
I can take him for a three hour hike but he is more tired after a thirty minute blood trace


----------



## einspänner (Sep 8, 2012)

What's your setup when you take him out? Do you hold a lead attached to a harness, or? You may already do this, but I'm thinking if you get a lead designed to go around your waist you may be able to slow him down with all of your body weight.


----------



## zigzag (Oct 4, 2011)

I don't know enough about blood tracking. It would be nice to learn more about the training process and testing requirements. That said, if you want your dog to use his natural ability you must be patient.


----------



## texasred (Jan 29, 2012)

Here is a nice video of a dog being trained for tracking at Rio Concho kennels.

http://youtu.be/gvzcoAjBBMk


----------



## Carolina Blue (Sep 20, 2012)

We just completed a Level 1 Search and Rescue workshop this weekend - so by no means am I an expert, but I thought I would share what I learned and observed with other dogs.

We did not track blood, but live people using the same method as blood. The missing person left behind an article that was personal to them, we let the dog smell it - then off to find.
My dog took her time on the trail...smelling every blade of grass - found some wild animal scat - then eventually finding the person. There was another dog that took off like you describe. The handler held the long line and ran with the dog. The instructor was right there running with her and not discouraging to slow the dog down at all. I'd say keep running with him! He is motivated and excited to find the prize at the end of the trail.

As far as going off the scent. Mine got way off at one time and obvious she lost it. My instructor told me to take her back to where I thought she had the scent and start her again from that point. (we were searching cadaver at that time - I had no idea where the content jar was). I circled her back to where I thought she was on the smell - gave the command to 'find dead' and in about a minute, she located the jar.

I would say not let him stay off the scent for too long. Since he is that motivated, he may get discourged when he looses and cant find it again - especially if he is way off.

Good Luck!


----------



## Kafka (Jul 24, 2013)

Carolina said:


> We just completed a Level 1 Search and Rescue workshop this weekend -


Are you in the US? which state? I'm interested in doing something like that, but haven't been able to find any good information on where I can take classes.
I'm in San Diego, CA.


----------



## Carolina Blue (Sep 20, 2012)

Kafka said:


> Carolina said:
> 
> 
> > We just completed a Level 1 Search and Rescue workshop this weekend -
> ...


Hi Kafka! Yes i am in North Carolina. The class info was given to me by a friend of mine that is very active in a dog training club. Have you checked with your local Sheriff's Department? The SAR group I trained with is affiliated with them here.


----------



## einspänner (Sep 8, 2012)

Kafka, you might also look for a working dog group in your area. My local pet store just told me about one near me. It's mostly german shepherds doing schutzhund stuff, but that includes tracking. I might check it out.


----------



## Carolina Blue (Sep 20, 2012)

einspänner said:


> German shepherds doing schutzhund stuff, but that includes tracking. I might check it out.


E - if you do, let me/us know. I looked at schutzhund but the whole protection part frankly scared the $&%* out of me! K does not like barking dogs, I can't imagine what her reaction would be seeing the GS doing that. I know she would not do that....more likely give kisses to the guy in the suit! ;D


----------



## einspänner (Sep 8, 2012)

Carolina said:


> einspänner said:
> 
> 
> > German shepherds doing schutzhund stuff, but that includes tracking. I might check it out.
> ...


Will do! If I understood her correctly, the local group just does the nosework schutzhund activities and not the trained attacking stuff. Scout doesn't really like GSDs though. When she was younger a neighbor's dog jumped out of a bush, playfully, and scared her. The next week we saw one in a pet store and she started barking. : Might be worth a try though.


----------

