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to CyberHound First, congratulations to Jane Jonas of Lincoln, Nebraska for her newest Basset Hound TDX. CH Jonas' Madelyn Q. Rufian, CD TD (now TDX) was the only dog to pass the Nebraska Kennel Club TDX on November 30, 1997. My wife Kay was there to watch one of our TD students (see below), so she got to see a wonderful TDX performance. It was a great day for Basset Hounds (a TD and a TDX).
For several years, I've been writing about how easy it is to overtrain a hound in tracking. I've often recommended tracking only once a week after your dog has begun to actually use his nose to track (as opposed to just looking for the glove). This theme was continued last time, when I talked about peaking for a test. This involves tracking just enough to keep the dog interested, but not too much so his/her best performance is left in the practice field.
Kay and I were fortunate this last year to have the opportunity to train or advise the training of five Basset Hound bitches, all of whom have had tremendous success. We've revised our thinking about some things, which is always hard to do.
Thad and Carol Makowski began working two 8-year-old Basset bitches about a year ago in my tracking class. Loretta, an alpha bitch, took to tracking like a duck to water, and was always the star. Sophie, her kinder, gentler littermate, wasn't as good at first, as she struggled with motivational problems. While Loretta easily passed her TD last spring and then a second two weeks later, Sophie wasn't ready, having flunked her first certification try.
Sometimes, Kay and I find that rules we've lived by for a long time need to be broken. This was the case when we volunteered to keep the Makowski's two eight-year-old Basset bitches with us while they attended the Nationals. We were worried about Sophie, who didn't seem too motivated about tracking. Loretta, training for TDX, was great at tracking, but wasn't particularly interested in finding multiple articles. So, we thought we'd try a little tracking boot camp to see what we could do in 10 days. We were stunned by the results.
First, we broke our long-standing rule of tracking only once a week. But, we made sure the tracks were short, with plenty of reward on each one. We tracked them both every other day for 10 days on short tracks. In addition, we roadworked both bitches every day, for a little more than a half mile up and down some hills.
Sophie, the TD candidate, began a 30-yard starter track, with a glove and food at the end. Once she found that, she was walked a few steps to the main track, which also had food and a glove at the end. The main track had only ONE TURN, and totaled about 100 to 130 yards. She did well, and was still ready to track some more when we quit. Leaving her hungry for tracking turned out to be an important motivating factor.
Both starter track and the main track were aged at 30 minutes, which is the minimum age for a TD test. We repeated this two days later, and she did well. We decided to try a certification next time.
On the third session of our mini-camp, Sophie easily passed a full-length certification track. We were quite surprised she did so well, and attributed her success to the short but intense tracks the previous few days. We continued to track the two short tracks every other day until the end of our 10-day experiment, at which time she told us she was getting tired of tracking every other day (she slowed down from her former enthusiasm). So, we returned her to Carol and Thad with instructions not to track her for a week.
Next time out, Carol (Sophie's handler) was expecting the same slow, unmotivated deadhead she left with us, but instead, Sophie was so excited to track, she broke free and RAN the starter track without Carol. Lucky for us, it was only 30 yards. She did the short one-turn track (with Carol's death grip), and was finished for the day still hungry for more.
Sophie was peaked for the late October test in Denver, but it was canceled after we got more than two feet of snow. So here we were, all dressed up and no place to go. How do we keep her peaked for another month, when there was a test in Nebraska? Once a week, doing the short starter track and a short, one-turn track. Two weeks before the test, we put her on a three-turn track, which she nailed. Then, we backed off with an easy track the week before the test (only one turn). She was still hungry, peaked, and raring to go.
Sophie was one of two who passed her TD in Nebraska on Thanksgiving weekend Sunday (November 30th - the same combined test as Jane Jonas' TDX). The tracking test chairperson described her performance as "perfect."
Loretta, a natural, motivated tracker who easily RAN two TD tests in the spring, had no problem working up to almost three hours in preparation for TDX. However, at the time of our little October training camp, she had not been indicating articles. Her favorite tactic was to just breeze right by them, as if to say: "I'd Rather Be Tracking." So, we had to find a way to get her more interested in articles. First, we tried the old Glen Johnson technique of placing articles about every 30 yards, and calling her back to the article, giving her goodies and praise. By the end of the track, she was even more disgusted with articles, and avoided them. Strike one - back to the drawing board.
After some experimentation, we found that salami in the glove (which she gets only when tracking) motivated Loretta to stop and investigate. Once we found this (some dogs prefer toys, other food, or even a good rub on the belly), we could reinforce that motivation with each article.
Now, Loretta is indicating articles well, and gets her special treat at each one. The next TDX test around here is in March, so we are helping Thad (her handler) work toward that goal.
We broke our long-standing rule about training only once a week, and it worked. But, at the end of the 10-day training camp, both girls were telling us they had enough. So, now its back to once-a-week. Sophie is going to begin TDX training, something I never thought I'd say after her lackadaisical springtime performance. But, with a little of the right kind of motivation at the right time, she was magically transformed into a tracking machine. Loretta, likewise, is now indicating her articles, and is doing her natural great job in other phases of tracking. She seems to get bored, so we have to constantly think up new challenges. However, these challenges don't have to involve long tracks. She typically tracks between 400 and 600 yards in training (TDX is 800-1000 yards).
Both of the Makowski's bitches benefited greatly from our little training camp, and we learned a lot as well. We learned that you can train a Basset more often than once a week, but it's probably a good idea to do it in short spurts to solve a particular problem.
Dogs and their trainers are never too old to learn some new tricks.