Surface for K9 Trailing

Most dogs when they encounter the hard surface transition for the first time will immediately go heads up and look into the wind searching for the odor. This is because the amount of scent on the cement is so minimal, the dog looks for it somewhere else and in the wind can be a good spot, they know this instinctually. It is not that there is no scent in the area or right in front of them, the scent just does not seem to be enough and they want more because young and new trailing dogs are often very impatient. These dogs will move off the curb and even into the street but will usually circle into the wind and back to the trail attempting to reacquire.

The next type of dog is the dog that is naturally good at following wind blown scent and may not look for wind scent. Instead of going heads up a running back to the trail on the soft surface. The dog may throw a proximity alert to the road cross and transition to following a wind blown scent pattern where it lies naturally. This will be a curved shaped pattern if viewed from above that starts at the place the subject stepped off the curb and flows with the direction of the wind, gradually heading to the far curb and back up towards the point the subject stepped back onto the soft surface. These trails almost look like a lazy half circle from the A-step off curb point to the B-step on curb continuation; even though the physical track went directly from point A to B.

Fewer dogs will trail right to the edge of the road crossing and begin to follow ground odor as it drifts with the wind down the road being crossed. This is almost just like the stream crossing where the scent flows downstream and collects on the bank. In this case, the scent flows downwind and collects against the curb or along cracks in the road. The cracks in the road are just like the rocks in the stream; they stop and collect scent. The behavior I see most with these types of dogs is they literally trail right to the edge with little to no reaction to the street, follow scent down stream and pause at nooks and cracks, with a special emphasis on the curb. As the scent peters out, wind speed and crossing width dependent, the dog simply turns towards the far curb and works it back right to the point the subject crossed to the other side. This whole process is really beautiful to behold when one truly takes the time to observe it. These dogs learn transitions easily.

The next dog I am about to describe is the Natural, the Phenom, or the trailing dog everyone wants. These dogs take to cement like it was supposed to hold scent just like grass and they often work it the same way. These dogs are scary accurate and if one wants to recreate a subjects trails footstep to footstep, this is the dog for the job. I never had one of these dogs until much later in my career and when I first saw it I was overcome with the absolute poetry in motion of it all. I watched a dog in its element, doing what was natural and effortless. The only parallel I could draw from would be watching an Olympic athlete in the gold medal performance of his or her career. The performance that brings tears to the eye and an audience to their feet. In my world of K9 athletes, this moment leaves me breathless.

This is the dog that finds the exact step off point and then follows the scent in the changes in cement surface, not just crack to crack, but micro-elevation changes in surface. The nose is simply glued to the pavement and if one truly tracks the path of the nose, one can draw an imaginary line from one side of the road to the other. These dogs need no training really and simply need exposure to new situations. This is the natural urban dog that needs to be bred for. Trailing dog breeders need to look for this trait and make it a primary trait to breed for. I do not care if the dog is hairless and has a cleft lip. If it can do this, it will get a filet mignon every night. Appearance be damned, I want trailing ability and a good working relationship.

The last dog I just described is really rare and I am not so sure it is because some dogs just cannot do it. I think the real reason is some dogs just do not LIKE to do it. Cement and black top, in particular, does not smell good. It is especially oppressive when hot. I believe this cover odor is distracting, almost like too much perfume or greasy burger joint odor. If you do not believe me, just get down on your hands and knees and take a whiff on a warm day. I also believe that the very minute amount of available odor is difficult for an impatient dog to follow and they will abandon it for a distraction very easily. The dog’s drive is the key. A dog that is motivated to follow human odor only no matter what is in the way can have this level of scent ethic…..