62 Saber Tails Fall 2017

Petit Basset Griffon Vendéen Club of America

Chasing The Elusive Chamption Tracker Title

By Sue Volkmer

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here are many journeys in one’s life.  Some are expected, others are not.  I have always loved sports.  I started play-

ing sports in elementary school and continued playing competitive volleyball into my early 40’s.  I thought I would 

be playing volleyball in the master’s leagues well into my 60’s.  But, it was not to be.  A knee injury ended my volleyball 

career.  At the same time my dog of 16 years died.  So, there I was…no volleyball and no dog.  The 1st dog to enter my 

life at this time (spring 2006) was my beloved Bouvier des Flandres, Zane.  He was supposed to be my obedience and 

agility dog.  But he turned out to be quite handsome and, to my surprise, the conformation wins helped fill my com-

petitive needs.  Thus, my unexpected journey into the dog world began.  Zane was gone a lot, making training a dog for 

performance and conformation at the same time difficult for me.  Plus, let’s face it Zane is a little lazy. Through Zane, I 

was introduced to the dog sport of tracking.  I loved the sport from my 1st lesson, but I needed a more full-time partner.  

I decided to fulfill a long-time wish of owning a PBGV.  These little hounds made me smile every time I saw one.  After 

looking into a few options, Sheryl Bradbury entrusted me with one of her retired conformation champions, Eleanor.

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leanor and I began our tracking adventures in August 2009 shortly after she joined our household.  Before hearing 

about our 3 passing title tracks, let’s take a brief look at what encompasses the 3 tests/titles which comprise the AKC 

Champion Tracker title.  

AKC 

tracking titles consist of Tracking Dog (TD), Tracking Dog Excellent (TDX), and Variable Surface Tracking 

(VST).  Pass each of these 3 tests and your dog becomes a Champion Tracker (CT).  Sounds easy, right?  Not 

so fast.  Unlike search and rescue tracking, in AKC Tracking the track itself matters.  The dog can’t go from the start ar-

ticle to the end by cutting all the corners and skipping legs.  The dog must follow the track.  The dog and handler run 

the tracks blind with no idea where the track goes.  They are walked up to a start flag with a scented start article and 

the rest they must figure out.  A TD track is 440-500 yards long with 3-5 turns, 2 of which must be 90 degrees.  The tracks 

are run at 30 minutes to hours of age.  There are 2 articles on a TD track: a cloth start article and the end article, usually 

a leather or cloth glove.  The pass rate of TD tests is approx 50%.  Once you pass your TD, you can move on to either the 

TDX or VST.  There is another entry level title available, Tracking Dog Urban (TDU).  However, this title was not part of 

our journey.

TDX 

tracks are 800-1,000 yards long with a minimum of 5-7 turns, 3 of which must be 90 degrees.  These tracks 

are 3-5 hours old and include at least 2 obstacles (such as cover changes, tree lines, road crossing, streams) 

and 2 sets of plotted cross-tracks.  In addition to the scented article at the start and the end, there are 2 scented inter-

mediate articles left along the track which the dog must find in order to pass.  Articles for TDX can be cloth or leather 

and are usually personal items like mittens, caps, slippers, towels, etc.  The pass rate of TDX tests is approx 25%.  TD and 

TDX tracks are generally located in undeveloped areas, fields, and/or recreation areas.  TD and TDX tracks are run in all 

types of weather as long as there is no danger, including pouring rain, high winds, and snow.  

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s the name implies, VST tracks are comprised of variable surfaces such as short vegetation, pavement, concrete, 

gravel, mulch, or dirt; therefore, VST tests are generally held at business parks, old airports, and colleges.  VST shows 

that the dog can track on non-vegetated surfaces.  A VST track is 600-800 yards long, includes at least 3 different sur-

faces, 2 of which must be non-vegetated.  The non-vegetated area must be at least 1/3 but not more than 2/3 of the 

total track length. The track should have 4-8 turns.  At least 3 turns must be 90 degrees and 1 90 degree turn must be 

located on a non-vegetated surface.  This is called the moment of truth turn.  Like a TDX track, there is a start article, two 

intermediate articles, and an end article.  The articles are small approx 4x5” and include 1 cloth, 1 plastic, 1 leather, and 

1 metal.  VST can be run in inclement weather; however, there cannot be snow cover because that would give away the 

track.  The VST pass rate…a whopping 11%.

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here are other requirements and limitations to all 3 types of tracks, but at least you have a general idea what these 

dogs and handlers face.  Remember, the dog and handler are running these tracks blind.  They have no idea where 

the track goes.  The dog must follow the scent and the handler has to be able to read the dog and more importantly