September 7, 2008 - Sadie Finds Her Voice

It used to be that sweet little Sadie stood by quietly watching. She seemed content to take it all in and watch from the sidelines. Not anymore.


Every morning and most evenings we take the dogs tracking. To begin a dog in tracking I stamp on a patch of grass in the shape of a square. I am crushing the grass and leaving my scent behind. Then I place bits of food where I have walked. This is called a tracking box. The goal is to teach the dog to first search for the food and over time to search for my scent with the knowledge that following the scent ultimately brings a food reward.


The next step after tracking boxes is to lay out a straight line track and teach the dog to follow the track, laced with food. Later the track becomes more complex with turns and articles left behind, such as keys, for the dog to find along the track.


Sadie is in the tracking box phase. It took her a couple of weeks to eat from the tracking box, and now, she is doing a tracking box 4 times a day.


I alternate the girls in tracking. First I lay a box for Sadie, then I lay a track for Mika. With Sadie's new found excitement for tracking, I now have two whiny dogs, both barking in jealousy as the other takes her turn. Miss Sadie is turning into a monster, just like my Mika.


You should see the two of them as I lay the food in the box or on the track. Both licking their lips, whining, with streams of drool pooling on the ground around them. Talk about your Pavlov's dogs!