Page 63 - JRT Magazine - 2023 Issue 2

Teaching our dogs to search for specific odours,
food, or toys (i.e., scentwork) can be a very
enriching, rewarding, and mentally stimulating
activity for them. The flip side of the nosework
coin (i.e., tracking) can also be fun while being
very useful. Although scentwork, tracking, and
mantrailing are all activities that engage a dog’s
olfactory system, tracking and trailing require
that the dog follow a specific scent rather than
to search for it.

There are two ways a dog can follow a
human – tracking and mantrailing. Both provide
enjoyment for dogs and humans alike. Let’s
take a look at tracking first.

Tracking

In the competition world, tracking has been
around since the 1920’s or ‘30’s. It was based
on police-work wherein the dog is trained to
detect ground disturbances left by the ‘suspect’
and to identify any evidence or property
dropped along the way. Ground disturbance
would be things like crushed grass/vegetation
or soil changes where footprints have left
depressions. Because of that, dogs trained
to track may have a difficult challenge when
working on hard surfaces, such as concrete or
tarmac.

Ground or grass is easier for a tracking dog
as opposed to concrete or tarmac.
In competitions, each dog will have the identical
When tracking, a dog is expected to follow track pattern to follow with the same type of
exactly where the person who laid the track articles left at the same points along the track.
(called the track layer) walked, turning where Points are deducted for any deviation from the
they turned, and finding and indicating on any track and any articles missed. Because the dog
articles left behind by the track layer. Some isn’t specifically taught to follow human scent,
organisations also expect the dog to sniff in or to find a human, the handler can lay their
every footprint left by the track layer. own training tracks for the dog to work.

A Worldwide Magazine for the Jack Russell Terrier / Russell Terrier • Issue 2/2023 | 63