How to Teach Your Dog to Begin Tracking

You can train your dog to track by using its instinctive scenting behavior. Tracking can be for fun, hunting, competition, police work or search and rescue. Younger dogs are preferred for more serious search and rescue, but most dogs can learn to track unless they are already trained to air scent, according to Ohio Valley Search and Rescue.

Things You'll Need

  • Harness
  • 20- to 30-foot lead line
  • Collar (optional)
  • Scent article
  • Treats
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Instructions

    • 1

      Fit your dog for a harness. Use a harness instead of its normal collar to help the dog associate the harness with tracking work. Select a 20- to 30-foot line to attach to the harness.

    • 2

      Select what you want your dog to track. Food, a person or a combination create the easiest scents to begin teaching your dog the commands.

    • 3

      Create a scent article by rubbing a cloth with a small amount of food or have a person wear an article of clothing (sweating in it helps) or dampen and rub on his body.

    • 4

      Place the harness on your dog. Take your dog into a room, throw the scent article and give a command word you do not normally use, such as "track" or "find." Each training session, when the dog approaches the article, reward it with a treat and say "good find." Repeat each new lesson three to five times each day.

    • 5

      Repeat the instruction on the next day, but cover the article with a newspaper, cloth or under something that the dog can easily move. Give the command. Cover it with more clothing or paper each time so the dog has to work to retrieve it.

    • 6

      Take the dog into another room or outside on the third day while you place the article in the open. Open the door and give the command.

    • 7

      Repeat the instructions but cover the article on the fourth day. Cover the article a little more each time. Your dog should be scenting to find the object. If it is not scenting, hide the item in a harder location so it has to smell to find it.

    • 8

      Put your dog outside or in a room where it cannot see you. Lay a track by dragging the item along the floor of a different room. Bring the dog into the room and give your command.

    • 9

      Decide where to lay an outside track. According to Norm Nardi, retired Dade Police Department trainer, the best beginning tracks are in the opposite direction of any wind to decrease air scenting, on surfaces that hold scent such as short grass and out of direct sunlight as it may burn off the scent. Nardi recommends laying the track in a seldom-used area to avoid conflicting scents.

    • 10

      Lay the track by dragging the scent article for at least 20 to 30 feet. Increase the track by 10 feet with each successful training session. You can lay a treat laid down every 5 feet the first few times you track outside. Take the dog outside at beginning of track and give the command.

    • 11

      Expand your dog's tracking ability by using different scent articles. If your dog fails to find the article, back up to the previous step until it is able to find the article consistently.