Nearly 4 weeks ago when Heidi was 13 weeks old, I had her with me whilst working at a customers property, that had a very large lake in the grounds. For a good 15 meters all around the edge it was quite shallow, I would say just under half a meter deep. I thought this would be ideal for Heidi's first introduction to water, especially as it was one of the first really hot days of the summer. After asking the owner if it was okay to do so, I took Heidi down to the waters edge, and waded out in my wellingtons. After just a few moments thinking about it she decided to slowly but surely ventured into the water, and it did not take her long to get out of her depth and start to swim. She really took to it well with no panicking or whimpering, just very calmly and effortlessly swimming like a professional. Mind you if you have ever seen a BMH's paws I'm not surprised, they're built like flippers!
All in all she spent about fifteen minutes cooling off and enjoying herself in the water, retrieving bits of weed, and chasing dragonflies. She actually seemed disappointed when we had to leave. I now wonder if she can track across water? :-)
I knew that today was going to be hot, and that was a concern. Heidi's previous track had been 300m long, left for three hours, and apart from a couple of distractions did really well. My plan for today had been to try a 400m track, and what the hell, leave it for 4 hours. I went out about 7.00am, laid the track, and returned home having to cross the track, just after where the first turn was. Four hours later we went for it. I led Heidi to the starting point, and 'Track On'. This first section, all the way to the first left handed turn was a grass path that was topped about 2 week previously, and was somewhat sheltered by trees, therefore fairly cool. We got off to quite a good start with the exception of a very low flying helicopter, which caused even Heidi to stop, look up and watch but we got to the first turn without too much fuss. If you watch the video you can see that this is where things started to go a bit wrong. Once out of the shelter of the trees, it was blazing hot sunshine, and I was not feeling confident. Rightly so as it turned out. I think any scent had almost disappeared with the heat of the sun, and this gave Heidi a major problem. She seemed a little lost as she went well left of the track and seemed very interested in something. She was, it was me earlier. I know this because it was at a point on the line that I had to cross to return home earlier this morning, and curious to what her reaction was going to be I made a mental note of it. It does show an interesting point about tracking shoes though. Obviously when putting out the track I was wearing them, and she seemed to have lost the scent. When ringing around to relocate it, she found mine from earlier without the shoes on, and would have followed that given the chance. Does this prove that wearing tracking shoes really does help eliminate some of the human scent? I think this is yet another piece of practical proof that it does. Moving on with gentle persuasion we progressed slightly, and slowly. The heat of the sun was now intense on the open unsheltered track. Heidi was really, really struggling, not only with the lack of scent, but the extreme heat that she was now working in. I'm sure she wanted to give up, but I couldn't let her finish on this big low. So I just kept edging her on gently, for what seemed like forever along this long, open mid section.
Just before we reached the second and last left hand turn is the point where pathway becomes a little more sheltered and cooler. This was a pivotal point for Heidi, as she easily picked up the turn and showed to be very positive about where she was now going, which as spot on. She was on a role, and only two things seemed to slow her up. The first was some big leaved weeds which were just taller than her, and almost blocking her path, she spent a few moments here getting sorted out, then worked her way around them, and back on to the last stint. All went well until the last few meters where she ran in to her old friends-thistles. There was just a few of them, and not very big. Luckily she had enough drive to press on through them to reach her goal, where we both seemed very relieved and happy. She was rewarded with her liver treat a Munty leg, and a game with the skin, but perhaps more importantly a good drink of water.
I had gone prepared with water because of the heat, using a dog water drinker that I have had for sometime, of the type where a small trough like bowl folds over the water container, when you unfold it squeeze the bottle and water trickles into the trough. Trickle is the right word and is too slow to be practical, so I have now replaced it with a sports/cycle type container with a nipple type affair on the top. This is great, as after a bit of practice Heidi now lets me pour it into her mouth! Conclusions: Be fully aware that the shorter and drier the vegetation is the less it seems to hold scent. Baking hot sunlight is to be avoided wherever possible, not only for the dogs sake, but also it appears that the scent dries up. Whether or not it rejuvenates as the damp moist air of the evening comes down will be interesting to discover.
Age of track: 4hrs Length of Track: 400m. Type of track: Shoe and diluted blood. Amount of blood: 250ml (1/2 diluted with water). Wind direction: From the left and behind initially Wind strength: 1-3 mph Temp: 27ºC Weather: Dry ground, hot, sunny. Time: 11.00amAge of Dog: 16 weeks
Be warned: There are 3 videos to this track. The first two around 10mins each, and the last one about 3mins. As usual they are not great quality, and you may find them boring. Part1
Today was yet again, another ambitious session with Heidi. As her last track was 250m, and 2.5 hrs. old, with no problems, this time we were to step it up to 300m, and leave it for 3 hours. The field we used was another one of Ian's, quite close to the previous one. The wind was gusting pretty strong, and with dry, hard soil, together with dry vegetation, and being quite sunny. I knew this was going to be tough. So we started the track, and Heidi picked it up fairly quickly. This time I did not take her right to the beginning, but put her tracking collar on quite a few meters before it, letting her try to pick up the start point by herself. After a few meters of good strong grass, there was an open patch of hard dry soil, which I thought was going to be a problem, but she proved me wrong. Along this section of the track line the wind was coming in pretty strong from the left front angle, and predictably she was pretty much tracking about 1 meter wide to the right. Things then continued to go well, even though being spooked by a screaming motorbike in the close vicinity. Then about 30 to 40 meters before the first left hand turn, we hit a patch of small, very fierce stinging nettles. Now when I had laid the track I had tried to avoid nettles and thistles, but I thought she would be able to deal with these. Not so however! You can see just before the end of the first video she definitely refused to go through them, by sitting down and looking at me, as if to say NO WAY. I couldn't blame her, especially being so young, and did not want her to become afraid of these as she grows older. I knew I had to get past these, keeping her positive and sticking to the track. I thought that if I took her wide of the nettles, (which would have been very wide), that it would be wrong to come off the tracking line by so much. I therefore went for the idea of picking her up, and carrying her on the line, putting her down just clear of the nettles.
This is where the part 2 video starts. She very quickly got her nose back down, and on to the line, dealing with the first left turn pretty well, then again the crossing wind made her visibly track slightly to the left this time. She pressed on, coming to the next left handed turn, which again she dealt with pretty well, with the wind predictably affecting her actions on the turn itself. We were now on the final run, heading towards the finish, when suddenly she went off to the right hand side, scenting as she went. After about 3 meters she got to the fence line, which had thick undergrowth coming through it, when there was an explosion of two pheasants, erupting from the ground, so much so that it made the young Heidi give a short scream. Verbally I calmly quietened her down, and we made it to the finishing point, where she was given the usual liver treat, plenty of praise and a game with the skin. Conclusions: The stinging nettles and thistles are becomining a major problem in Heidi's training. At this time of year finding suitable training ground that does not have any is very difficult. I feel that if we continue trying to work in these areas, that it might affect her in the future. Also if you watch the videos, Heidi does seem to wander around a bit whilst on the line with this track. I know it was windy, but I am also aware from reconnaissance that there is quite a few game birds in this area which I think is the problem. I have never encouraged her with these, and never will do. I guess the only thing to do is to ignore her behaviour when she smells these and praise/reward her when she keeps to the track line.
Age of track: 3hrs Length of Track: 300m. Type of track: Shoe and diluted blood. Amount of blood: 250ml (1/2 diluted with water). Wind direction: From the left and front initially Wind strength: 20-25 mph gusting higher Temp: 14ºC Weather: Dry ground, overcast Time: 17.00 Age of Dog: 15 weeks
Once again we are pushing the boundaries with Heidi's training. This time I laid the track in the same field as last time but covering a totally different area. The blood used this time was fresh from the Muntjac shot the previous day, and I want to go just a bit further than the last track, and leave it a bit longer. The reason being that for some reason Heidi struggled at the start last time, but when she got going things went well, and I wanted to make sure I wasn't expecting too much. This time I had left the track 2.5 hours, and the weather had become very hot and windy. My expectations were definitely low. However we got to the start line and she did a little bit of ringing, then was off, and we never really looked back. She kept her head down a lot this time, and was really using her nose well, I have to say she knew better than I where the track went. Thankfully I had put down my marker flags as I had laid the line, otherwise I would have had no idea where it went, and many times I thought Heidi was going off line, but when looking ahead I could just pick up the next flag in the grass-amazing. When we got to the first sharp left hand turn, she realised something had changed on the track and took about a 2-3m radius to the left, probably picking it up again in the wind, and off we went. Next left hand turn was even a sharper turn, but within a few seconds she had this one sussed, and was again away right up to the finish. She was again rewarded with a game and what is is becoming her favourite-a small piece of fresh liver!This was to me an amazing show of her abilities. The weather was not what I though would have been ideal for tracking, and the line had been left for the longest time yet. If you watch the video you will see that on this day I think we could have gone on and on distance wise, she was having no trouble. The ground was a fairly damp river meadow, and the blood was fresh, and only diluted about 1/4. Was this the reason for success, I don't know, but it proves that she is more than capable of following an older and longer track next time! Age of track: 2.5hrs Length of Track: 250m. Type of track: Shoe and fresh blood. Amount of blood: 250ml (1/4 diluted with water). Wind direction: From the right and behind Wind strength: 13-18 mph gusting higher Temp: 18ºC Weather: Damp ground, sunny, becoming hotter. Time: 16.30 Age of Dog: 15 weeks
The other evening a good friend of mine by the name of Kim, invited me to see if we could shoot a Muntjac on one of the places that he stalks. One of the reasons to be invited is that he and his wife wanted to meet Heidi, as they are thinking about the possibility of getting a BMH in the future. Another reason was that I had mentioned to Kim a while ago, that any deer bits would be useful for Heidi's training. We arrived on Kim's land around 8.00 pm and had a slow drive around to see if anything was about, and to generally show me the place. Not seeing much activity regarding Muntjac, we parked up, leaving Heidi in the back, and went and sat up a high seat for a while. Presently a buck briefly showed itself but there was too much cover between us, then after about ten minutes a doe and buck came out into an open piece of ground, and it was very clear that they had other things on their mind! Kim suggested that I leave the buck, and within seconds the doe lay motionless on the ground. After a few minutes waiting for the buck to leave the scene, I unloaded and we both got down from the high seat. As the truck was in sight and very close it was agreed that we would take the rifle back to the vehicle and pick up Heidi, we then took her on a lead to within about thirty meters of the motionless doe, whereupon I changed her lead for her tracking collar set up. Then quietly and patiently encouraged her to 'track on'. Now as this was not a proper follow up on a shot animal, i.e. it dropped on the spot, I did not expect too much, however Heidi soon had her nose down and was scenting where the Munty had been walking prior to being shot. I slowly let out the tracking lead, and very soon she came upon the fallen beast. Initially her reaction was one of uncertainty, looking at the animal and sniffing the air from a distance of about two meters, then with some words of praise, she went up to the animal, sniffing around, and started to lick a small pool of blood, and the entrance wound. This was obviously followed by lots of praise and fuss, which she accepted very well. The picture below shows Heidi, still showing interest, once we had returned to the vehicle. I think the small size of the Muntjac was a great way to introduce her to the real thing, without her becoming to overwhelmed.
When setting a track in woodland or scrub, you can use bi-degradable tape tied to twigs, branches etc., even things like clothes pegs are a good idea. However when laying a track in grass I found it best to use a small flag as shown below. They don't take long to make can be used time and time again, and when the tape gets scruffy, just replace it. Firstly find some strong wire. I have a supply of training flags for Petsafe Freedom Fence (dog and cat radio fence). You could use these as they are, but I found the white flag does not show up as well as red. Snip the flag off with a pair of side cutters, this leaves around 230mm of wire. Then using a pair of long nose pliers or a multi tool, bend a small tight loop at the end that you have just cut. Taking a hobby glue gun, apply a blob of glue to seal any gap between the the end of the wire and what is now the main stem. This forms two functions, firstly sealing the gap which will prevent your flag material from sliding out of the loop, and secondly covering any sharp end from the initial cut that you made. Next take a length of your marker tape, pass it through the loop you have made, and around half way along simply tie it in place with one knot. To carry flags I found a great way is to use a piece of garden hose pipe attached to the outside of my kit bag. It will hold almost a dozen flags securely, and allows easy access to them when setting out you line, as well as making it easy to replace them afterwards.
As this site is a diary/log of Heidi's tracking training it will cover the highs and lows, and on this occasions it covers both on one training session. I had decided that as we were going to start stretching Heidi's abilities, in other words 100m plus tracks, that I would start cutting down to 2 or 3 tracks per week. This hopefully will not tire her and help to stop her from becoming bored with the whole idea. As well as this I also needed to find some more land with the suitable type and length of vegetation, making sure that we weren't covering the same tracking lines all the time. Someone I know owns some grassland that he keeps in pretty good condition so I went on a reconnaissance mission, perfect, a while ago he had topped half it, and the other half a bit more recently. I gave him a call, no problem he said, you can go wherever you like, and even drive your truck to where you need to get to. Ian you're a star, this is really going to help. So I went to the site, equipped with the usual gear plus some red tape markers, so I could see where I had laid the track. I had decided that as some of the ground was a bit wet and soft that this should help Heidi, so decided to stretch things out, and reached 185m, with one 45° right handed turn and one 90° left handed turn. By the way the tracking shoes with the new studs on were no problem. After going home for lunch, and having to deal with a couple of phone calls, it was two hours before we got back to the track with Heidi. This was to be not only her longest track in distance but also the one left for the most time. Remember she's still only 14 weeks. Well we started with the usual 'track on', and she really didn't seem all that keen, not even wanting to make a good start. I had put a fair bit of blood down for the first couple of meters, but it didn't seem to be helping. I gently and quitely tried to encourage her, but as you can see it was almost as though she was on a different planet. I had heard that if things don't start well, take the dog back to the start and try again, so that's what we did. The wind was coming in from the left and behind, but not too strong so I didn't think that was a problem. Anyway we got back to the start and 'track on'. Still she was not really up for it, and it took a lot of coercing to get her along the track, and I have to say that after twenty or thirty meters, I was starting to think we should give up on the whole idea, and just take a guided walk to the skin so as to end on something positive. Then just at that point her nose started to work and off we went. Unfortunately it was just about at the point of the first shallow turn, and she went just past it, but with a bit of patience she picked it up again and off we went at a steady pace, and at times I thought she was going off the line and thought the worst, but there ahead I could always pick up my red markers in the grass - they always say 'trust your dog'. Its also worth mentioning that to right of us was a river and about eighty meters the others side was a noisy industrial area. Ahead of was a busy main road with a fair amount of traffic on it, and it has to be said that once she got going she took all these distractions in her stride. We got to the left hand turn near the end, which she picked up on, and really went a bit too wide, but never the less persevered and got back on it, eventually finding her prize, where we had a game with the skin, and a nice piece of liver as a well earned reward. Conclusions: Tracking is fun and there is always some preparation to be done. This day the weather was threatening to rain and I wanted to pick a time slot in the day when it was going to be dry, giving Heidi the best chance at this age. Tiredness. This is something to be aware of with the pup. Like most young ones, she has a daily cycle of exercise, play, and sleep. I'm sure that on this occasion she was in sleep mode when we first started, and together the presence of young stinging nettles, really put her off getting stuck in. I can imagine how off putting it must be as a young pup, with your nose down to come up against nettles or thistles, both off which seem to be everywhere we try to lay a track!
Age of track: 2hrs Length of Track: 185m. Type of track: Shoe and blood. Amount of blood: 250ml (Cleave juice diluted). Wind direction: From the right and behind Wind strength: 7-10 mph Temp: 16ºC Weather: Damp ground, overcast, rain threatening. Time: 13.30 Age of Dog: 14 weeks
When I purchased my tracking shoes I noticed that there was the facility to add studs to the bottom of the shoes for extra grip on wet or slippery terrain. There are in fact nine threaded holes in the bottom of each sole, and although they feel secure enough when walking about at this time of year, I thought that if I wanted to fit studs later on for extra traction, that the threaded holes would all be full of mud, and that I would stand no chance of screwing them in.
I shopped around, and found a pack of 12 nylon football boot studs for £3.00, so for £6.00 I had enough plus some spare. Other options would have been rugby studs, which were made from alloy and longer, or golf which are larger diameter, but a lot flatter and therefore not so aggressive. The football ones screwed in really easily, and all I have to do now is try them. The only problems I can see at the moment is that they may be uncomfortable to walk far in, especially on hard ground, also they may pick up or drag in long grass or weeds, and that I might need to extend the cleaves a bit more below the sole line. Worst case scenario is that I just unscrew them all, and use them as before
This was quite a milestone in our training. Heidi is now 14 weeks old, and this track was around 160m, and was just over an hour old. It was made by using tracking shoes and 250ml of diluted blood, some of the blood I dripped on to the cleaves, two or three times along the track, with a good dose at the start. The track itself was on the grass verge along our driveway, and because of wind direction and access, I drove her in the back of the truck to a point just before the track line started. Otherwise this would have meant walking down the driveway close and parallel to the laid track to the start, which I did not think was a good idea. It was also good to give her some experience of 'driving' to work, and did not phase her at all Now again as you can see, she does not keep her nose down too much. The grass was fairly short and not very dense, and I wonder again if the scent laid with the shoes is strong enough that she doesn't need to, or if this is something that needs to be addressed in some way to avoid any problems in the future, such as missing turns etc.? If so I'm not quite sure how to correct that at the moment. Once or twice she can be seen to come of the grass on to the driveway, and again I'm not sure why. There was a very slight breeze from right to left, but I can remember seeing a fox on the track line when I was laying it, and as you know the stink something terrible, so maybe that was the distraction. We got to a left hand turn into a field entrance after about 130m, and again she picked this up better than I did, but the immediately went wide of the line and looked at me for a few seconds, then seemed to suss it out, got back on line and found her skin!
Age of track: 1hr 15mins Length of Track: 160m. Type of track: Shoe and blood. Amount of blood: 250ml (Cleave juice diluted). Wind direction: From the right Wind strength: 3-6 mph Temp: 15ºC Weather: Damp, overcast. Time: 17.30 Age of Dog: 14 weeks
I have to show this leather lead made by Akah in Germany. For some reason I really love this piece of equipment. It is described as a noiseless sling lead, and that exactly what it is. Made from high quality 7mm Ø leather , it has no metalwork or stitching, but has a clever sliding system at both the dog and shoulder end (see inset photo). The lead is designed to be worn over the shoulder whilst stalking, keeping your hands free and the dog under control. Obviously I have not tried it out whilst stalking with Heidi yet, but it makes a great lead even when used conventionally. The lead itself is very tactile, and when new can be a little stiff. This I rectified by treating with Neatsfoot oil, which softens and waterproofs leather, the result being that the lead is now very supple. Another great piece of kit available from: www.paintandpins.com
This track was to prove to myself that Heidi was okay doing what she does. In other words, that she is ready to progress to tracking shoes and blood. The reason for this was because I was not certain in my mind that she was using her nose enough, and as mentioned previously, she may have thought she was out for a really good walk. I chose to lay the line in some slightly longer vegetation, tall enough not to be called an open path, but short enough that when I laid the track that I did not completely flatten an 'obvious' route. I had a small amount of blood in a pot ready to be used so this is what governed the length of the track. As you can see, things went well. Heidi did a bit of 'ringing' to start with, then when she'd figured things out of she went. Maybe because of the taller vegetation, therefore having to take things a bit slower, I could see she was definitely getting her head down and using her nose. I am sure now that using tracking shoes, a far greater scent foot print is put down. By this I mean everything that the cleaves contact or crush emits a wave of scent that the dog is able to pick up. When she reached the end we were both really happy, and after the video stopped she was rewarded with a lump of liver, followed by a great game tugging and pulling the skin around. Due to her behaviour at home of barking when she gets frustrated, I'm sure that later on in training I'll be able to get her to report. Age of track: 1hr Length of Track: 60m. Type of track: Shoe and blood. Amount of blood: 100ml (Cleave juice diluted). Wind direction: From behind. Wind strength: 5-7 mph Temp: 17ºC Weather: Dry, bright, cooling off after a hot day. Time: 18.00 Age of Dog: 13 weeks
This was Heidi's first attempt at tracking on a line made by tracking shoes and blood. The reason being that I am entering the transition period from liver drag to blood, and am not quite sure the best way to do it. She seems very good at liver drag (with blood trail), so I feel its time to move on a bit. We've tried blood only with dubious results, so therefore now trying it with the shoes and cleaves. The blood was diluted with 'cleave juice' as mentioned in the previous post, and the track was around 100m. For some reason I felt fairly confident of a good result, but still not sure of the outcome. Due to my incompetence with the video I've missed the first few seconds, but there's not a lot missing, it went like this: We approached the start of the line, and Heidi seemed failrly keen before we got anywhere close. I suspect the cleaves in the shoes were dripping 'juice' on my walk to the start when I laid the track. Anyway we stopped a few meters away, threw out the tracking lead, and put her collar on. I'd barely said 'track on' and she was away. No ringing at the start, but just straight off. She continued on her way at quite a fast pace, but seemed to have her head up off the ground a lot of the time. To me it appeared as we were almost going for a walk with her at the end of a long lead. Her line was pretty much OK, i.e. central on the track, but she did keep moving left to right slightly as she went. However she did not wander to far off the line this time as she had done previously. Towards the end I had put in a slight right hand curve, gone a few meters, and tethered the skin. This she picked up with no trouble, and I noticed at this stage she was really using her nose. Conclusions: Was she going left to right down the main track because it was slightly easier walking? Did she have her head up a lot because she could not pick up the track, and thought she was just out for a walk? Was the scent so strong using the cleaves that she did not need to put her head down, or keep tight to the line? Was this a very good track by her as she found the skin OK with no guidance, or a bad one, and the end was luck? I love this tracking training.
Age of track: 1hr Length of Track: 100m. Type of track: Shoe and blood. Amount of blood: 250ml (Cleave juice diluted). Wind direction: From behind. Wind strength: 5-7 mph Temp: 14ºC Weather: Dry, bright, but not hot. Time: 19.30 Age of Dog: 13 weeks
I consider way things are going at the moment, that Heidi isn't doing to bad. I think to progress and to help her with a stronger scent to follow, both from smell and ground/vegetation compression, that it is time to start using the tracking shoes with cleaves attached, at the same time as leaving a blood trail. The tracking shoes I have are made by Waidwerk in Germany, and are available at a very reasonable price from www.paintandpins.com . They come with just one hose clip each for attaching the cleaves, but I think it will be a good idea to use two (for which there is provision), for better strength and stability. The cleaves I am using on this occasion are from a Roe that were in the freezer. I laid them in a tray to defrost, at the same time, covering them with water. This juice I then strained into bottles to remove any hairs and debris, and used for diluting blood, hoping this will intensify the tracking line.
