Tracking

There are two types of tracking: Utility and Leisure. Utility tracking encompasses SAR (Search and Rescue), disaster, avalanche, earthquake and water rescue dogs, and explosive and drug detection dogs, to name a few.
Leisure tracking is done as a sport in order to obtain tracking titles.

Good candidates for Utility tracking have a keen sense of smell and are calm, poised and energetic. They are also sociable, both towards humans and towards other dogs, since more than one dog may work in an area. In addition, playfulness is essential in training. As in any work involving both dogs and humans, there must be a deep trust and cooperation between the handler and his dog. The handler must know his dog thoroughly and be able to "read" him as he works through the search area, anticipating his every move. Similarly, the dog must be able to trust his handler to follow him everywhere, regardless of the difficulties of the terrain.

In North America, Leisure tracking is very different than in Europe; in North America, tracking is a non-competitive sport where the dog only competes to obtain a tracking title. In Europe, the sport is very competitive with points and placements attributed to the dogs, potentially leading to a Championship title.

The Beauceron generally makes an excellent tracker, as he naturally possesses many of the qualities required. The rigorous selection over the past Century, combined with the excellent work done by the Club des Amis du Beauceron in France have preserved the working ability of the breed.

Training

Because is his willingness to work and please, it is easy to over train the Beauceron. Tracking is not recommended any more than once or twice a week; once a week on the longer and more difficult tracks.

The Beauceron tends to track differently than other breeds, such as the German Shepherd. The Beauceron will often have his nose higher off the ground and when confident about his tracking abilities, will only put his nose back down every few feet. This has the advantage of increasing the distance he can track without getting tired, as he is not constantly concentrating on every footstep. He can also track faster in such a fashion. The disadvantage is that it becomes easy for him to overshoot a corner. The Beauceron will often track at a gallop if allowed to do so. The true value of the Beauceron as a tracker is more evident as the tracking conditions become more difficult; because of his tenacious nature, he will often excel where other breeds fail due to varying and difficult tracking conditions. Tracking takes a great deal of energy and exacts a heavy toll on the nervous system.

The handler also plays an important role in tracking. Tracking is a team effort, not just a matter of the handler blindly following his dog. The better the handler understands how scent works and how scent is affected by the different conditions, the more successful the team will be. The handler must remain neutral and be able to read his dog. If the handler begins to either second-guess or try to direct his dog in any way, the success of the track will be jeopardized. There must be complete trust. The dog knows where the scent is; we humans don't.

Choosing a tracking dog.

Dogs are chosen based on the following qualities: energy, stamina, perseverance, ruggedness, hardiness, calmness, health, breed, a well developed sense of smell, the ability to concentrate and not become distracted by unrelated odours and the environment (focus and accuracy on the trail) and courage and indifference to gunfire. An energetic dog does not mean hyper.

In Canada, since the Beauceron is not recognized by the CKC (Canadian Kennel Club), the only organization with which the breed can earn a tracking title is with NAMBR (North American Mixed Breed Registry). The requirements for the NAMBR tests are essentially the same as those for CKC.

Tracking titles in Canada: TD (Tracking Dog), TDX (Tracking dog Excellent), UTD (Urban Tracking Dog) and UTDX (Urban Tracking Dog Excellent) and TCh (Tracking Champion).

To date, there has only been one Beauceron that obtained a Tracking Dog (TD) title while competing in Canada, and this is my female, Abby du Murier de Sordeille. There are no TDX, UTD or UTDX Beaucerons in Canada.

For more information on tracking, the following websites and books are excellent sources to refer to:

www.basset.net/track.html is a website with excellent articles by Craig Green.

http://cctrackingclub.com/main.html is a tracking club located in Southern Ontario, in the GTA.

www.nambr.cardoso.ca is the website for NAMBR (North American Mixed Breed Registry).

Scent and the scenting dog, by William Syrotuck, is a very technical book on scent; it goes into great detail explaining how the olfactory system of the dog functions, to how terrain, weather, humidity, elevation etc affect scent. It is an excellent reference for both novice and advanced tracker.