Heat and Tracking

The last few weeks have been really hot.  The heat impacts not only some dogs desire to work but actually impacts their ability to track.  A dry track is harder for a dog to follow than a track with moisture.  Even though a dog’s sense of smell is 100,000 times better than a human’s, it can still be difficult in the heat.  I get up early most days, but these hot days I’ve been even more motivated to get out early to track with Magnum.  I either try to ride my bike at 6:00 AM and track right after or go tracking and then ride my bike. 

Although I talk about the heat affecting a dog’s ability to smell, heat doesn’t seem to affect Magnum’s enthusiasm.  He is excited and continues to be a fast tracker.  The heat has probably made it a little more difficult for him to find the new acute turns we are working on.   He is following a human scent we lay by walking.  I am now aging the track so that the human body odor has dissipated.  The track is on the ground now and not in the air.

We went to northern Michigan for 5 days and it was about 10 degrees cooler, but still hot.  Magnum got to track in sandy soil, high grass and woods.  He also got to smell a deer’s skeleton and skull, which were near one of the tracks.  He stopped to smell them, but when I said “Back to work.” he continued on the track.  I am tracking with him 6 days a week with one day off following a lesson plan from Glen Johnson.  We have 3 weeks left to complete all the work.  I have already scheduled a day to have Magnum certified by an AKC Tracking Judge in Indiana.  Hopefully he will qualify and then I can enter Magnum in a tracking test at the end of September held at the English Springer Spaniel Field Trial Association’s Nationals.  Springers with no title are given first preference, so I will keep my fingers crossed that he gets certified and entered in the test.

I also work most days with him on agility.  He is doing well.  I am still in the process of teaching him the weave poles.  I have used channels with him running down the middle, and then gradually close the distance between the poles so he is forced to weave in and out of the poles.  The poles are now about 1 inch a part and he weaves great, but I have not been able to close the gap and still have him weave.  I think the biggest challenge is teaching this skill with the dog running as fast as he can.  Shadow was a very accurate and reliable weaver, but was never really fast.  So, I am working with the channels to keep the speed up for Magnum.  It’s a different training method.  I have entered him in his first agility trial, also at the Springers’ Nationals, so he has to weave perfectly before the end of September.  I’ll let you know how it goes.