His biography: Geoff Stern has been involved with obedience training for about 20 years with Golden Retrievers, an Australian Shepherd, and Belgian Tervuren. He's been a teacher (middle school, high school, and university), artillery officer, store clerk, nightwatchman, and technical writer. Currently, he and his Best of Opposite biped live near Boston, Massachusetts, and are owned and operated by two Goldens and two Belgians who are active in bench, agility, tracking, field, and counter-surfing.

Tracking programs and regulations

The American Kennel Club has the best known and most extensive tracking program in the U.S. The AKC Tracking Regulations are available online: You can search the online AKC judges’ directory to find a tracking judge near you for certification. Also, in this part of the country, the AKC Web site may be the best list of upcoming tracking tests, clinics, and seminars

The Australian Shepherd Club of America’s tracking program is similar to AKC’s. The ASCA Tracking Rules are available online

The Canadian Kennel Club (CKC) has a tracking program, also similar to AKC’s and including a new Urban Tracking program. The CKC Web site has an event calendar, but doesn’t have rule books or other information online — you’ll have to call or write for hardcopy.

U.S. Police Canine Assn has a tracking program as part of its police dog certification:
T You can earn Schutzhund (or VPG) tracking titles through various organizations without doing the protection phase of Schutzhund:
DVG — www.dvgamerica.com
USA— www.germanshepherddog.com
You'll need to pass a Begleithunde (BH) test — obedience and temperament — and you’ll need a scorebook from DVG, USA, or other organization.

Craig Green's Tracking Articles
See also “Small Successful Steps: A Tracking Dog Philosophy”

Dennis Helm: .big-planet.org

“Article Indication in Tracking the Schutzhund Dog”
finographics.com
vomlowenherzigrottweilers.com

“Teaching Turns in Tracking”
vomlowenherzigrottweilers.com
finographics.com/schutzhund

“Handling the Tracking Line”
danika.com/library
vomlowenherzigrottweilers.com

“Tracking Through Drive” and other articles by Gary D. Murray
k9resources.com/trainingarticle.shtml
memlane.com/business/tightlines

Allison Platt:
“Take Your Westie Tracking”

“Serpentine Tracks: A New Method of Introducing Dogs to Tracking”
siriusdog.com
tcow.net

“Essential Skills and Common Problems with Beginner Trackers”

“Tracking with Your Berner”
sierrawest.org/tracking.htm
softcom.net

“TDX Pointers”

Dan Tratnack

Tracking with Your Beagle"What's the fun in tracking?", "When and how do I get started?", "What do I need?" and "How do I prepare myself and the dog for actual exercises?"

Cindy Pischke on tracking: Aging Your Track

Cindy Pischke on tracking: Turns

Introducing Articles for Tracking

Cindy Pischke on tracking: Article indication

E-mail discussion lists

… CKC Tracking

… CyberTracking

… TinyTrackers — for dogs under 20 LB

… Tracking Dog

… The Tracking List

… Tracking-L

Introductions and overviews

“Beginning a New Tracking Dog” by Anne Copeland & Ruth Rechtoris

Pam Green’s Tracking Overview

“Puppies and Tracking” by Joe Hamzy

“Getting Started in Tracking” by Lynda McKee

“Why Tracking…” by Susan Stanley

“Tracking with Eli” by Trish Wright

“Tracking with Your Newf”(Newfoundland Club of Seattle)

Variable surface tracking

“Getting Started Tracking Variable
Surfaces” by Carol Pernicka
www.mantrailing.com/blh_vst.html

“An Introduction to VST” by Ed Presnall

“Getting Started In VST” by Ed Presnall

Miscellaneous

Guidelines for Tracking Test Secretaries

“Articles of a Personal Nature” by Deb Coates
[A short story dealing with tracking]

“Oh, What a Fine Tracking Morning!” by Pam Green
[To tune of “Oh, What a Beautiful Morning”]

“Getting Ready for the Grand Parade” by Pat Norris
[Preparing for an AKC tracking test]

“Imagine This: Preparing for a Tracking Event”
by Elizabeth Reynolds

Schutzhund tracking

http://users.skynet.be/hexental/training.htm
www.dvgamerica.com/FH2Rules.pdf OR .html
www.danika.com/library/trackdif.html OR
www.vomlowenherzigrottweilers.com
www.geocities.com/gasaonline /Trackingdiagram.htm
www.schutzhund.com/art/16.cfm
www.topworkingdogs.com/tracking.html
www.uwsp.edu/psych/dog/LA/krsnich1.htm
www.vomhausledda.com/tracking_tips.htm OR www.siriusdog.com/ritatips.htm
www.willametevalleyschutzhundclub.net /tracks.htm

Books and videos on tracking

Most of these books are available from Dogwise, J&J, and other suppliers. You may want to try to get your club to buy copies, or if you have a group of friends with whom you’re tracking, get every to pitch in on a joint purchase.

… Glen Johnson’s Tracking Dog: Theory & Method is a classic of dog training literature. Dogwise also sells a booklet of just Chapter 7 of this book as The Tracking Trainers Handbook. It’s the core part of Johnson’s book, including his lesson plans and how to determine the “hump” factor — handy to keep in your kit bag.

… Sandy Ganz & Susan Boyd’s Tracking from the Ground Up is well-written (notwithstanding a somewhat unrealistically diligent training regimen). The companion video, Tracking Fundamentals, is a good introduction, well produced, and concise.

… Enthusiastic Tracking: The Step-by-Step Training Handbook by Sil Sanders also has a nicely laid-out curriculum. Interestingly, you can buy the field maps for this book separately.

… Try Tracking! (formerly The Puppy Tracking Primer) by Carolyn Krause (www.firedogenterprises.com) is a terrfic booklet by an accomplished tracker.

… Tracking: A Practical Guide for TD and TDX by the Tracking Club of Massachusetts is a concise introduction — a very nice little book.

… Betty Mueller’s About Track Laying: Guidelines for Dog Tracking Enthusiasts is a very handy, very well produced booklet which is worth carrying in your old kit bag. It may be especially good for the Chief Tracklayer of a test to have a copy for coaching rookie tracklayers.

… Julie Hogan & Donna Thompson’s booklet Practical Tracking for Practically Anyone has good advice for the beginner to TDX and VST.

… Lue Button’s Practical Scent Dog Training is a general introduction to scent work, very readable, but not as comprehensive as other books listed here. Also, Susan Bulanda’s little vest-pocket book Scenting on the Wind: Scentwork for Hunting Dogs has a good explanation of theory and practice.

… John Rice & Suzanne Clothier’s booklet, Following Ghosts: Developing the Tracking Relationship (www.flyingdogpress.com) is, like all of Clothier’s booklets, interesting reading for a philosophy of training, more than specific methods.

… The Audible Nose: Training Your Newfoundland to Track by Judi Adler is available from her Web site — www.sweetbay.com/booktrac.htm — or from Pawmark.

… Ed Presnall’s Mastering Variable Surface Tracking: The Component Training Approach supplants his earlier book on VST. There’s a companion workbook (www.pawmark.com).

… There’s an excellent chapter on tracking by Carilee Cole Moran in Sallyann Comstock’s Belgians from Start to Finished.

… Tracking: From the Beginning by Gary Patterson (www.siriustrainer.com) is based largely on drive theory and mostly concerns Schutzhund-style footstep tracking; but it has some good hints for AKC-style tracking. Several other Schutzhund books also cover tracking, notably Dog Training with the Touch by Tom Rose & Annetta L. Cheek. You might also look for videos on Schutzhund tracking by Joanne Fleming-Plumb and Gottfried Dildei.

… The Leerburg (www.leerburg.com) video Training the Competition Tracking Dog by Ed Frawley is also mostly about Schutzhund tracking — with some very old-fashioned, heavy-handed methods — but it has some good hints on track laying and using the track as a training tool.

… Resi Gerritsen & Ruud Haak’s K9 Professional Tracking gives the perspective of veteran SAR trainers from Europe — mainly concerned with scent theory, but has some practical training advice. Likewise Tracking for Search and Rescue Dogs by Boguslaw P. Gorny.

… Some older books that have some good advice:
— Go Find! Training Your Dog to Track by L. Wilson Davis
— Milo Pearsall & Hugh Verbruggen’s Scent: Training to Track, Search, and Rescue
— Tracking chapters in Winifred Strickland’s Expert Obedience Training for Dogs

… A Practical Guide to Training and Working the Trailing Dog by John Lutenberg & Linda Porter is the course book for Canine Training Academy (www.caninetrainingacademy.com) in Colorado, which provides training for law enforcement and SAR dogs.

… William Syrotuck’s Scent and the Scenting Dog is a technical discussion of scent by one of the founders of U.S. canine SAR training. See also “Scent: K9s’ Reason for Being” by Steve White & Tim Tieken — www.dogstuff.info/scent_reason_for_being_white.html.

… Roy Hunter’s Fun Nosework for Dogs has some training games that can help motivate a reluctant tracker — and amuse a dedicated one.