Kleinen Wiese German Shepherds

Posted By Sandy Wilson on August 21, 2009

Today was the third time Will took Delta out to the scent pad.  It was early morning and the grass was still a bit wet.  He stamped out a nice square and put Delta’s favorite little treats on the scent pad.

You can see there is a clear cut scent pad for Delta to detect and also for us to visually see when she is on the pad or off. 

You can see a pretty well defined edge on the pad.  This moisture in the grass should hold some really strong scent for the puppy to distinguish when she is on and off once she realizes the significance of the scent pad.

Again, Will took Delta to the scent pad and just said, “Such”.  Delta started sniffing and quickly she found her first piece of food.  She  picked up several more and then wandered off, but only a short distance and this time she was back to the scent pad very quickly and went calmly back to work and find the food.  Seeing her this time, I could tell she was making a connection.  She definitely was smelling around the edges of the pad and picking up the smell and staying within the boundaries of the scent pad to find the food.  Her third time out and already I could see her learning from her past experience. 

My son didn’t say a word, but just stared at the pad and then when she was done, again we took her off and praised her.  The funny thing was after we took her off the scent pad, she wanted to go back to it when we put her down on the ground, but we took her back to the house with her having thoughts of wanting more.

Later we took Delta back to the field where we laid the scent pad for a little walk and that little pup headed right back to the scent pad and started sniffing and looking for food.  Amazing – she really is learning.  We couldn’t call her away, so we had to just pick her up and take her farther from the pad for a little walk.  I can tell she is really putting things together in her head and learning because she smelled that pad and right away she was nose down searching!  My son was beaming!

We’ll do this for the next month to really give her a good foundation and repetition so that she knows and understands the concept fully.  Also I think once she really is dead on, we can make the pad smaller and then try dryer ground and different conditions before we even start her on an actual track. 

My son cannot wait, but I told him to be very patient, for she is just a baby and just turned 8 weeks old and to not expect alot right away.  Tracking takes time and patience.  It is so exciting to watch and see how things come together.    It’s as though you can see the toggles in their brains going around and around!

We’ll keep you posted on Delta’s progress as she grows and improves her scenting skills.

Category: Puppies, Tracking
Tags: D Litter Pups, D-Litter, Delta, German Shepherd