The NAVHDA Natural Ability Test has been designed with the hunter on foot in mind. We all love to watch when our dogs fan out over the fields and establish a staunch point. We love being able to walk casually up to the dog. Flush the bird and shoot it. Send the dog for the retrieve and accept a perfect presented bird. Unfortunately, this pretty picture is not developed every time. Sometimes your shot is not the greatest, the bird is only wing tipped and it flies far away. It is now up to you and the dog to find that wounded bird. You walk as close to the point where you believe the bird touched down and command your dog to fetch. If your dog is not trained in tracking you may stand there for a long, long time and the dog may not be successful especially if the bird has high-tailed it out of the immediate area.

As a hunter and conservationist it is your obligation to get that wounded game. It is up to you to teach your dog how to track and retrieve wounded game. This little piece describes the method I use in teaching my dogs to track.

I start taking my new puppies into the fields and the woods shortly after I receive them. I expose them to all the scents that are there and as they grow older and more comfortable with the nearby area and wander off away from me I occasionally hide for the puppy. When the puppy realizes that he cannot see me he starts looking for me. He runs back the way he came. He may go too far from the point where I have left the path so he generally stops and looks a little bewildered. If he comes back the path towards me I stand still and wait. If the dog runs aimlessly around I eventually give a faint whistle so the puppy have a direction to follow towards me. What generally happens is that when the puppy gets closer he does indeed pick up my scent and happily runs to me.

At that point I profusely praise the puppy and we may even roll around in the bush or field and enjoy having found each other. I don’t repeat this exercise for another week or two. I don’t want the puppy to be afraid to leave me. I want the puppy to have developed independence before I play the hide and seek game again.

As the puppy gets older I use a more structured approach to tracking. I can either start the puppy out by myself or I can use an assistant. Let’s start with just myself. Also, all tracks are laid downwind or cross the wind.

I tie up the puppy and I go out of sight. I make a mark on the ground and I walk around it a couple of times. I then walk in a straight line for about 30 yards and lay down an old glove. I follow my foot track back to the start and I go and pick up my puppy. I bring the puppy on my standard 6-foot lead back to the starting point of my freshly laid track and get the puppy interested in the scent on the ground. I command the puppy to track (this is the only command the dog receives) and I indicate with my hand that there is some scent on the ground in the direction of the glove. As the puppy moves along the track I follow holding on to the lead. If the puppy veers off the track I stand still and steady the lead so the puppy cannot get too far off the track. When the puppy is back on the track and follows it in a forward direction I follow until we get to the old glove. When the puppy finds it I profusely praise the puppy. I may at this point take him up in my arms and carry him around while I praise him.

After a little while I bring the puppy back to the tie-up place and I prepare another track. I drop the glove and I backtrack. I bring up the puppy and ensure that he is able to move freely forward on the track and prevented from straying too far off to the sides.

That is enough for the first day. Learning to track takes a lot of energy and brainpower for a little puppy.

The next time out we repeat the procedure followed the first day. If the puppy does a great job on the first track then I lay a new track but I don’t backtrack. After having dropped the glove I continue and walk in a big circle back to the puppy. The puppy is brought to the starting point and is commanded to track. The only difference between before and now is less scent since I have only walked the track once. Generally it will not take the puppy long before he decides to go forward and now you should make sure that the puppy does not over-shoot the glove. We want the puppy to stop at the glove. If he picks it up it is really great but that is not as important as finding it.

Assuming that the single track was done fine, then the next track will again be a single track but maybe about 50% longer, like 45 to 50 yards long. After the dog finds the glove we have a romp and I show great enthusiasm so the puppy learns how happy he makes me by doing this kind of work.

I repeat these tracks on a once a week basis until the puppy is really staying with it. I increase the length of the track and then I go to a longer lead. I use a 30 foot lead. As the puppy goes out along the track I let the lead out and I follow on the track. If the puppy veers off I stay still as with the shorter lead. By holding on to the lead I avoid the puppy from straying too far off the track and I take up any slack that may occur in the long lead when the puppy comes close to me. I do not pull the puppy in my direction. The puppy is free at the end of the lead. As the puppy settles down on the track and follows it forward I follow him and let the lead out. When the puppy finds the glove I again profusely praise him.

If I have an assistant I will become ‘the glove.' I will be the person that lays the track and I will be hiding behind a large tree. When I am out of sight the assistant will bring the puppy to the starting point and get the puppy’s interest in the track. The assistant then follows the puppy with the long lead as described above and when the puppy pulls hard and goes in the direction of where I am hiding then the assistant just lets the puppy go so he can find me behind the tree.

Through all of these exercises the puppy has learned that when it comes across scent on the ground it is able to follow it and find something pleasant at the end. When the puppy is solid following foot scent I will make a track for it dragging a dead bird on the ground. I drag the bird using a six-foot string for about 60 to 80 yards. I leave the bird in tall grass and continue beyond the bird and in a big circle back to the puppy. I follow the puppy on the track letting the lead out as we go and I don’t stop the puppy if he overshoots the bird. I give him an opportunity to sort it out himself. If he has followed the scent and overshot the drop he should run out of track scent and return to where he last smelled the bird. Again he is praised profusely when he finds the bird.

When puppy is solid following the track of a dead bird which he in all likelihood will be after just two bird tracks he will get an opportunity to follow the track scent of a live bird. In my experience I have never had a dog that failed the ‘tracking test’ on a live bird after he had been introduced to tracking in the above described manner. The principles as described above are based on ‘Train with love, not fear.’ I ensure that the puppy has only happy experiences and never is faulted for doing anything wrong. The process is designed so he cannot do anything wrong. Go to it and enjoy working with your dog.

On the day of the NAVHDA Natural Ability Test a flight-inhibited pheasant has been let free to run out over the field. When called by the judges you can after having prepared your dog walk calmly and confidently up to the start of the track. You see the feathers that have been left to mark the drop and you take your dog to them. Your dog will start going in the direction of the path taken by the pheasant and you can let your dog loose. After having watched your dog work during training, you know immediately if your dog is tracking, and when you see it, you can sun yourself in the delight, it is to see your dog find the pheasant, however far it has gone into the field or woods.

When you are hunting with your dog you will realize that the tracking work you have put into your dog is worth every minute of it. It takes me great pleasure to say that I have never left a wounded bird in the field. And I really crow when a fellow hunter asks me to come and help him and his dog find a bird that has eluded them. I trust you will be equally proud hunting over such a dependable dog.