Let’s talk about Line Length

By now, after just 3 classes, we hope you have all figured out that Mary Ann & I are nuts about working on short lines.  I’m going to try to explain why….

1. For beginners, the shorter the line, the closer you are to the dog, and thus the closer he stays to the track.  If he has no choice except to go forward, he will learn pretty quickly that the next cookie is straight ahead.  And then, since he uses his nose the way we use our eyes, he will begin to sniff for the next one.  And, since dogs recognize patterns very quickly…he will notice that the footstep takes him to the next cookie.  Now we have the basis to train him to track.  Until the dog makes the connection between the track scent (whatever that is, I don’t know), and the food….you can’t proceed.  IF the dog is given an extra foot of line, he will probably “scallop”—eat the food, point away from the track scent, make a curve back to the next food drop. That dog is learning to find the food, and not learning to use the track scent to take him to the next food drop.

2. If you are a little more advanced, or very advanced…..your dog gets to a turn.  You are at 20 feet.  Your dog overshoots the turn…now he will be working a circle 40 feet in diameter.  Do the math—if the circle is 12 ft in diameter (you are following at 6 feet), the track is a larger percentage of the area of the circle than if the circle is 40 feet in diameter.  The odds of the dog finding it are simply higher if the search area is smaller.  Simple math.

3. If you are handling the turn at 20 feet or more, and the dog hooks into the track at 20 feet….you’ve just taught the dog to search out there.  And then, when he doesn’t find it at 20 ft, you give him 10 more, and he (maybe) finds it at 30 feet.  Wouldn’t you rather he found the next leg at the corner???

4. If the dog hooks into the turn at 30 feet…and you’re not sure, you have exactly 10 feet of line to play…and then you are going to have to move with him, reinforcing his decision, right or wrong.  If you are at 10 feet, you can play line and use tension to either say, “are you sure buddy?” Or “yup, good decision, here I come.”

“Yes, but, I have to learn to handle my dog at 20’ in a test.”  Yes, you and the dog DO need to learn to work at 20-40 feet.  And before you two learn that skill, you (the handler) have to have solid skills at recognizing when your dog needs support and immediately moving up; moving up when your dog has made an awesome decision; letting line slide without changing line tension; moving up to 6 feet and out to 40 on long straight legs; and responding to any change in line tension.  What MaryAnn and I are looking for is to see you respond when your dog is having trouble—we want to see you DO something, not stand there and figuratively wring your hands (oh, should I, shouldn’t I, maybe if I just wait he will make the right decision).  Most handlers, when ‘wringing their hands,’ just let the line run. Handler indecision usually looks like line running. We need to see you know your dog so well that you recognize he needs help and you step up to give him support.  You make a decision. Support doesn’t come from your vocal cords, it comes from your position, relative to the dog, on the track.

I just tracked both dogs. I’ll post videos to this blog when I get into town and can upload them.

Gusto is fully retired, we track because he loves to track and I love to follow him.  I still want him to track well (no need to be sloppy in retirement😁).  I worked on a 10’ line today.  I encourage you to notice how clear his loss of scent indications are, and how he works the area where he lost the scent and looks for the track in that area.  That’s what Mary Ann & I are trying to teach your dogs. https://youtu.be/Yzqrc8HPvGI?si=XriMJkOLrXyZSg4U

Fletch is training both X & V. Today was woods day #6.  10’ line.  I threw some serious challenges at him today, and I want it to be easy for him to make the correct decisions.  I’ll post the videos later as part of this blog. If you watch our ditch crossing you’ll see clearly wants to explore the ditch.  I restrain him, he hops up the other side and clearly finds the track, is rewarded with food from the track and then an article.  IF I had allowed him to explore the ditch, I risked him finding something interesting in that environment.  I’d rather he learned following the track is more reinforcing than searching the environment.  At the second turn, you may notice I am tempted (just like you all are) to give him line to check out the wrong direction.  I am human!  BUT, since I am limited to 10 feet…and I strongly prefer having a bit of line in both hands,….I restrain both myself and him, he comes around and finds the turn confidently. https://youtu.be/7BBijRngKlM?si=63kwBTO8e9p4_qYH

We all see the photos of dogs working way out in front of their handlers and I think get the impression that’s what the sport should look like.  What is missing from those photos is the dog carefully and precisely working the scent, and the handler working with them as part of the team, to support the search, and the find.  It’s not (or shouldn’t be) the handler being the “dope on a rope” who stands there and waits for the dog to do something.  It’s a team sport.

I would love to entertain questions! Mary Ann is away, we may hear from her too.