What is Tracktrailing?
Professional nose work for passionate scent work enthusiasts, detection dog fans, mantrailing teams, ISDC Scent Games competitors, and everyone who wants to enjoy search games with their dog.
Tracktrailing is expert knowledge for every dog. It’s a well-designed training concept that combines, refines, and aligns proven methods from different areas of scent work. The goal is to make these approaches accessible not only to professionals, but also to family dogs and hobby sniffers – practical, thoughtfully structured, and with an extra dose of fun for both humans and dogs.
A good example is scent detection training: it offers not only an almost endless variety of creative exercises and can be used on its own as a wonderful form of engagement, but also as valuable building blocks for developing a persistent and distraction-resistant search dog. At the same time, it provides a solid foundation for scent memory – a complex skill that the dog learns in order to deliberately locate the same scent that was previously presented to it by its handler.
If scent memory is trained at the line-up under controlled conditions, there is a high likelihood that the dog will also be able to pick up the correct trail more reliably during a search for a person. Searching with a low nose – close to the ground – requires and promotes a strong focus on the actual track. Under certain environmental and surface conditions, this can enable a more effective search than a high-nose technique.
At the same time, searching with a (semi-)high nose – detecting scent particles in the air – also has its established place in training. It helps the dog respond more flexibly to interrupted tracks (for example, caused by mechanical factors such as abrasion), reorient itself, and work out the true location of scent sources more quickly.
The abundance of training elements makes it possible to find the right puzzle pieces for every team – fostering greater joy in learning, genuine moments of success, and shared growth.
Tracktrailing isn’t about “right” or “wrong” – it’s about purposefully developing a wide range of skills. This creates a comprehensive toolbox that equips both dog and handler for a variety of situations – from basic beginner training to exciting puzzles, complex scent-tracking challenges and the opportunity to successfully compete in scent detection competitions such as the ISDC Scent Games.
Tracktrailing is more than just a training concept – it’s a shared journey of discovery. Our dogs take us along into their fascinating world of scents. All we have to do is give them the opportunity to do so.
A comprehensive approach
Scent Detection
In scent detection, your dog learns to distinguish a specific scent from others and indicate it. Scent dog training can be incredibly creative and versatile on its own, but it also forms the foundation for many specialized scent disciplines.
Scent Matching Games
Within the scent matching games, your dog learns the concept of ‘show me the same’ using scents. It’s memory play through the sense of smell — essential for tracking individual scents in search-and-rescue work, and also a wonderfully engaging and challenging activity for home.
Search with deep nose
In tracking, your dog learns to follow the trail a person has left behind — aiming to stay as close as possible to their actual path. An intense, trail-faithful search is reinforced and rewarded by finding even the smallest objects along the track
Search with (semi-) high nose
In (semi-) high-nose searching, your dog learns a search strategy in which they pick up and follow the individual scent of a target person or object through the air.
The true fascination lies in the combination of these building blocks. Tracktrailing uniquely unites different search strategies into a highly effective search concept.
You’ll receive ideas for engaging your dog on rainy days or when time is short, yet still provide them with an exciting challenge. The individual scent games you’ll learn can be easily adjusted in difficulty, keeping even experienced dogs engaged and stimulated for years to come.
Specially designed for the needs of scent dog teams and search-and-rescue teams, you and your dog will develop a broad range of skills that can be flexibly applied depending on the situation.
Each building block can be trained and intensified on its own. Combined, they create an extraordinary skill set for a reliable search dog, one that constantly faces new challenges during the search.
Think this is only possible for professionals or highly experienced dog-human teams? I’ll show you how to become a dependable partner for your dog. Are you ready to dive into a world that largely remains hidden to us?
Welcome to the fascinating world of scents!
Ready to get started? Here’s where you can find the upcoming dates:
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For everyone who wants to dive deeper – detailed articles on the topic.
Here you find topics that frequently come up in training and concern many teams.
