Tracking
A dog’s sense of smell is 10,000 times stronger than humans, so they are often used to search for lost people and animals, drugs, disaster victims and even to detect cancer. Tracking is an AKC sport that demonstrates a dog’s natural ability to recognize and follow a scent - the basic form of search and rescue for a canine. Bernese Mountain Dogs enjoy a job and take to tracking with great enthusiasm, the challenge is teaching them to follow a scent that is chosen by the handler and not one that they choose.
Training is done outside, spending hours of interaction with the handler providing great pleasure for the Bernese. AKC Tracking events demonstrate that a dog can follow a human scent through a multitude of other scents to locate a specific item, such as a glove or a wallet. In the test, the “track” is laid by the tracklayer who is a stranger to the dog, the handler must follow no less than 20 feet behind the dog on a long leash and the handler gives verbal encouragement.
When the dog finds the item at the end of the track, they have displayed their scenting ability and their perseverance to follow under a variety of conditions which would earn the dog a title. These tests are a pass/not pass and there are several titles to be earned with your Berner through the AKC.
For more information, see
Training is done outside, spending hours of interaction with the handler providing great pleasure for the Bernese. AKC Tracking events demonstrate that a dog can follow a human scent through a multitude of other scents to locate a specific item, such as a glove or a wallet. In the test, the “track” is laid by the tracklayer who is a stranger to the dog, the handler must follow no less than 20 feet behind the dog on a long leash and the handler gives verbal encouragement.
When the dog finds the item at the end of the track, they have displayed their scenting ability and their perseverance to follow under a variety of conditions which would earn the dog a title. These tests are a pass/not pass and there are several titles to be earned with your Berner through the AKC.
For more information, see