Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)This book seems to draw heavily on the Schutzhund method of training. It's a big improvement on the average tracking training book because of the emphasis on scent-discrimination training from the outset but it falls short of some of the books that focus on bloodhound training methods.
A specific example to highlight the difference: P 138, the authors invite you to reward your dog for refusing to continue to track where the track-layer mounts his bicycle and rides off, leaving only an 'artificial' track. Is this really what we should train our professional tracking dogs to do? What if the missing person puts on his skis in the mountains? Should we train our dogs to refuse to follow him? A trained trailing dog will barely hesitate before continuing to follow the human scent in these situations.
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An incorrect approach to training dogs in tracking can lead to a confused animal and a frustrated handler. The dog's ability to follow a scent is far beyond what humans are capable of, yet unless a handler can make the dog understand which scent he is to follow, failure is bound to follow. Gerritsen and Haak's methods are based on acquiring a clear understanding of what is involved in tracking, what the dog's scent capabilities really are, and what conditions can affect the dog's tracking ability, and how. From this background, handlers can choose from a variety of methods to train their dog to track.
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