What about puppy tracking? Should you train a young puppy to track? What age is the right age? As you can see, Madison is ready to hit the trails and learn to track. Puppies can learn to track easily, but you need to take baby steps and keep it all fun.
You know Bailie has loved to track since the day we got her, and she got her Tracking Dog Title at two years old. Madison, it turns out, is a lot like Bailie. From day one, she has had her nose to the ground and tracks everything from toys to her sisters to people. Mom decided to start training her to be a tracking dog when she was nine weeks old. Puppies actually track naturally in their very early weeks to find their mother’s milk, which is why they learn it so easily.
Teaching a puppy tracking!
- Decide if your puppy enjoys tracking and does it naturally.
- Start slow with very short tracks around ten yards.
- Put tasty treats every few feet to keep the puppy on the track. Mom uses small balls of liverwurst as bait.
- Use a start and end article with your scent.
- Offer high value food reward, or a favorite toy at the end article.
Be patient. It will take a few times for the puppy to figure out what you want. Remember the key to success is to keep it super fun for the puppy.
- Increase the track length slowly. Madison is now up to about fifty yards straight or twenty with a turn.
- Decrease the bait along the track as your dog starts to bypass it.
- Start on mowed grass.
- Once the puppy is solid, add a turn.
- The goal is not to challenge the puppy but for them to have fun and success.
Mom took Bailie to practice tracking in tall grass last weekend and decided to take Madison along too. Madison had only tracked on mowed grass previously, and had started to work on turns. Because the tall grass is a new challenge, her track was just a straight forty yard track with a few pieces of bait along the way. Madison was a bit confused at the start, but she then figured it out and did the entire track, hopping over tall grass and all! She was not super fast, but she was mostly on track, and check that tail wag at the end article! The tail is a sure sign she loves to track and she knows the end article is a good thing to find.
We are super excited to see how Madison advances in tracking as she seems to be a natural like Bailie! Bailie did some simple tracks as a tiny pup, but nothing like what Madison is doing, so it will be fun to see the difference later in life! Pretty soon Madison will need to get into a tracking harness, but since she is still so small, Mom uses her collar and leash. Speaking of small, Madison is growing like a weed. She was at the vet for some immunizations this week and is now 12.7 lbs. She is gaining about a pound a week, and is super healthy!
Loved watching Madison track! Awesome!
She is pretty fun to watch. You can see how she is figuring it all out.
Madison is awesome. What a smart little girl.
She is super smart and a quick learner.
So cute the way Madison leaps over tall grass. Pretty soon she will be as big as me. XOXO, Sparkle
We might stop feeding her so she doesn’t grow…well, maybe that isn’t such a great idea.
how cute she jumped over the grass … it’s inside of you, little lady… you once will be the bestest nose of the US :o)
We think she is going to really be good at the nose sports, just like Bailie, or maybe better.
Wow! Madison is going to a champ in no time! Congratulations. ♥
She has so much fun with all the training she does and she is good at everything.
How cool that Madison seems to be a natural and we hope she has lots of fun!
She loves it so far!
Go Madison!!! Another smart sister in the pack!!
Smileys!
Dory, Jakey, Bilbo and Mayor Elect Arty
We are already getting tired of hearing how smart she is!
It is GREAT when one LOVES to LEARN…
Puppys are like a blank canvas covered in a learning sponge. She loves it. In the evenings, Bailie and Madison practice her obedience homework together. Madison can get some learning done watching Bailie do things correctly.
Yeah Madison!!! i love how she keeps looking back for “hey mom am I doing this right ” LOVE the tail!
The tall grass for the first time in her life was a huge challenge, but she was not afraid to figure out how to get through it.
I find it amazing that a young puppy can be so focused to do something like that! She is going to be an overachiever just like her sisters!
I love the little hops over the grass, and her excitement when she finds it!
She tracks all the time, just like Bailie has always done, so setting her up to track is a perfect activity. Mom loves to watch her and train her.
Well done, M. You are so cute hopping along over the high grass to do your work. You are a child prodigy!
Love and licks,
Cupcake
She is game for anything and we are so happy she is experiencing so many things so she will be a better dog as she matures.
Go Madison, your so darn cute and adorable. Never to young to train
As long as it is fun, training is a great thing to do.
Me and Brinley try to track rabbits in da front yard.
Ok, I know it ain’t really da same thing since we’s not really scent dogs, but we does our best!
It’s a good hobby for you. Actually, Bailie’s tracking trainer tracks with her Westies. She got a new puppy a few months ago and it is tracking just like Madison is. Some breeds are more suited for tracking, but any breed can do it if you train.
Way to grow, Madison!
She is pretty impressive.
This is so exciting – and so much fun to see!!
She is a pretty incredible puppy so far.
So cute! That grass is taller than you are, but you manage very well! Love the video.
She braved all that tall grass and we were sure impresses with her hard work!
3 bum swings! 3 more!
Pawsome work Madison! Loved the video!
Nose nudges,
CEO Olivia
Thank you. Her tracking is really coming along.
Super cute little puppy! Nice video too. Puppies are smart and training them is fun.
Puppies love to learn.
Nice job Madison. I am not really in favor of dogs learning to work at such a young age unless it is all fun with no rules. I think it is important that puppies be puppies and a piece of advice we received from Freighter’s trainer. He said if you want the dog to get to the highest level (not merely the beginning level) of a sport, do not push them as youngsters. So we started Freighter’s training at 6 months and in some ways I still think he was a bit immature for it. Next time we will wait until the pup is older.
We do a lot of training with young pups, but it is always super fun and really short with lots of praise and rewards. Nothing really difficult or challenging.
Goodness they grow up fast! Mom wishes she would have done tracking like this with me when I was a puppy. When mom gets home and lets me out I can track where she’s been, if it was in the car or on foot. I can also track my dad when we come home from a walk I know he’s home. Love Dolly
It’s not to late to take a tracking class and work on your skills.