The idea of Tracking Trials is to encourage dogs to make use of their strongest faculty by emulating as closely as possible, the seeking and finding of a missing person while
acknowledging that in the interests of a fair assessment, the tracks cannot be aimless wanderings more likely to characterise the trail of a lost person nor include the possible
machinations of one deliberately trying to deceive any following dog. In all other ways sight should never be lost that it is a person being followed and every aspects of the track
must relate to a person and, in the case of articles, must be items of personal possession.
For a dog to be eligible to enter a tracking trial it must be registered with a Canine Control Body affiliated with the ANKC.
Required Equipment
The dog must be in a suitable harness and on a lead of a minimum length of 10 metres.
Tracking Titles
The following are the exercises you are required to complete in order to qualify for the Tracking Titles Tracking Dog (TD), Tracking Dog Excellent (TDX), and Tracking Champion (T Ch).
Tracking Dog Test 1 (Known Person)
Test 2 (Known Person)
Test 3 (Unknown Person)
Tracking Dog Excellent Test 4 (Unknown Person)
Test 5 (Unknown Person)
Test 6 (Unknown Person)
Tracking Champion Test 7 (Unknown Person)
A maximum of two tests can be worked on by any one dog on the same day. For the TD and TDX titles, the dog must qualify under at least 2 different judges.
Once a dog has passed a test, it is then only eligible to enter the next level of testing, and once the dog has qualified for Tracking Champion it is no longer eligible to enter Official Tracking Trials.
Test 1
Tracklayer: Known Person
Length: 400m
Turns: 2 angle turns
Articles: 1 placed on track
Track Age: min 20 minutes
max 40 minutes
Pass:
- Finds tracklayer at the end of the track.
Test 2
Tracklayer: Known Person
Length: 800m
Turns: At least 2 angle turns
Articles: 2 placed on track
Track Age: min 30 minutes
max 60 minutes
Pass:
- Finds or indicates at least 1 article.
- Finds tracklayer at the end of the track.
Test 3
Tracklayer: Unknown Person
Length: 800m
Turns: At least 2 angle turns
Articles: 2 placed on track
Track Age: min 30 minutes
max 60 minutes
Pass:
- Finds or indicates at least 1 article.
- Finds tracklayer at the end of the track.
Test 4
Tracklayer: Unknown Person
Length: 1000m
Turns: At least 4 angle turns
Articles: 3 placed on track
Track Age: min 1 hour
max 2 hours
Pass:
- Finds or indicates at least 1 article.
- Finds tracklayer at the end of the track.
Test 5
Tracklayer: Unknown Person
Length: 1000m
Turns: At least 4 angle turns
Articles: 3 placed on track
Track Age: min 1 hour
max 2 hours
Diversion Track:
Track crossed once by a known person approx 30min after original tracklayer passed.
Pass:
- Finds or indicates at least 2 articles.
- Finds tracklayer at the end of the track.
Test 6
Tracklayer: Unknown Person
Length: 1200m
Turns: At least 5 angle turns (including 1 acute angle)
Articles: 3 placed on track
Track Age: min 1 hour
max 3 hours
Diversion Track:
Track crossed twice by one or two unknown person’s approx 30min after original tracklayer passed.
Pass:
- Finds or indicates at least 2 articles.
- Finds tracklayer at the end of the track.
Test 7
Tracklayer: Unknown Person
Length: 1200m
Turns: At least 6 angle turns
2 acute - greater than 45 degrees (>100m from start)
Articles: 3 placed on track
Track Age: min 90 minutes
max 3 hours
Cross Track:
Two diversion tracks laid by one or two unknown persons, laid according to the judge’s direction, but at least 30min after the original tracklayer passed.
Start:
Blind Start – Scented start article in sealed bag, the line where the track layer entered is indicated but the dog needs to find the track.
Pass:
- Finds at least 2 articles.
- Dog must positively indicate the articles (sits, stands, drops, picks up article, or at least pause).
- Finds tracklayer at the end of the track.
Rule books containing more detailed explanations of all of the exercises, equipment, scoring and judging can be purchased from the DogsWest website (DogsWest).
© Graeme Baker