Wilderness Tracking Level 2
The purpose or goal of participating in any tracking class with K9 Leadership is for pure fun. It is an amazing experience to work with your dog while it is following a scent as anyone who has taken the classes can attest to. Dogs are amazing creatures with an incredible olfactory gift. If you wish to pursue a tracking title with the Canadian or American Kennel Clubs we can help you with that, too.
Wilderness Tracking Level 2 builds on the teachings of the level 1 course and adds new challenges such as grass tracks, road crossings, distance tracks, variable surface tracking, scent discrimination, blind tracks, human scented article indication area searching (trailing) and more.
Level 2 tracking classes are open to those students who have completed K9 Leadership's level 1 tracking class. Classes are comprised of 5 weekend classes that are 2 hours in length over a 6-week period (excluding civic holidays unless otherwise stated). The current class schedule is posted here
Cost is$295.00
Tracking is:
- mentally stimulating;
- stress relieving;
- excellent exercise for high drive dogs;
- opportunity to improve guardian dog relationships;
- challenging; and,
- mutually rewarding.
Classes teach the guardians to assist their dogs to discriminate between all the other scents in a forest and follow a predetermined scent which is attached to the ground on command. Tracking is always done on leash and we will show you how to use a ‘tracking-line’. Tracking is a team effort, if your dog follows a scent without you working with them to get to the destination they are simply hunting, not tracking.
Canines have a natural ability to follow a scent regardless of their breed or mix of breeds. Some dogs, because of their genetic background, may work faster than other breeds but they all have the instinct and desire to track. This is because tracking is a form of hunting which is an instinct that was handed down to canines from their wolf cousins. If a dog has a nose we can teach it to track.
Wilderness Tracking Level 2 classes combine scent theory, how a dog uses its nose to follow a scent, forest orientation, practical tracking laying exercises and canine body language interpretation while tracking. The focus is on following unknown or blind tracks, article identification along tracks and within the area search. Your dog is also taught how to air scent (trail) to find hidden objects within a confined area, called an area search.
Advanced Variable surface tracking and Urban Tracking
Advanced tracking introduces the dog and handler to a different, and more complex, elements in tracking. Aged tracks and track lengths are increased substantially as well as an introduction to multi-surface tracking on grass, mixed vegetation, gravel, mulch, as well as road crossings. It is also a primer for those wishing to get their dogs prepared for their TD and TDX titles with the CKC. Wilderness tracking 1 and 2 are prerequisites.
Cost for the Advanced Variable Surface Tracking (AVST) is $285.00
Urban tracking is just as it sounds. The dogs are brought out of the forest and into the neighbourhood. A variable multisurface tracking environment such as those that would be found in an industrial area where dogs will be taught how to do hard surface tracks, road crossings, tracking on pavement article indication and more. Pre-requisites are Wilderness tracking 1 and 2 and Advanced variable surface tracking.
Cost for Urban Tracking is $295.00
Note: Both AVST and Urban tracking classes are 2-3 hours in length