Your relationship with your dog, both of you knowing how each other operates, should boost your confidence. The two of you should act as one unit, an unbreakable unit, ready for the highs and the lows. When the times get tough, push on through.

Confidence in your team is critical in being successful. Always remember you don’t know it all. Everything is situational. Even when you put yourself in enough situations to create that nonchalant act of swagger and ease based on pure experience, you shouldn’t be surprised when you get a curveball. Whether a beginner or a pro, these situations boil down to how you handle them.

Understand What Your Dog is Saying

Know how your dog works. You should know his action and reactions and know the indications to what they mean. It can take time to get to that point of knowing immediately. Just don’t ever pre-predict a situation as to how you think it is. Everything is situational and should be handled as it comes. 

Confidence is key, but do not let it blind you to thinking bullshit. Always have a professional mindset. Examine with a clear, conscious, focused, adaptable mindset. Slow down to speed up. The amateur wants to be right. This can lead you astray.

Prepare!

Before your first season, you should imagine what you and your dog will encounter. These thoughts and ideas should enter your head on a daily/nightly basis. Prepare for everything you think you will encounter, also, broaden your thoughts on this, expect the unexpected. It will all come in time. Just set yourself up to succeed before your first call.

Is your dog comfortable with big animals running up to you on a track? You could find yourselves walking through a pasture full of cows running up to you. Hopefully, you have exposed your dogs to this situation before.

They should know you are there, and your part as a tracker of the dog is to keep things safe and secure, so they don’t even have to second guess your role. Their job is to track. A part of your job is to keep things secure.

You have spent enough time with your dog. Hopefully, you have built that relationship up to gain full trust in-between you and your dog. 

 You could come across a dead deer right in the middle of the track to the deer you got called out for. If it’s your first season, your dog could show confusion as to what is going on, being overly intrigued at the new find. If it is known that this isn’t the deer, this is where the interdigital gland training comes into play and your role as the handler. This is also where you should soak it all in because times like this is where experience are built from.

I would advise letting them check out the new find. All is good because after all, it is very interesting. After a few moments, all parties should realize this isn’t the one. It’s time to push past and continue on with the track of the deer you were called out to find. Get them back on that track. 

Times like this are where you come into play. Dogs act in the moment. Know when to pull them out of that moment and simply redirect them.

Stuff like this is often an occurrence on a track.

Things can throw you off. Things can throw everyone off. Adapt, Redirect. Continue on for the desired end result.

You are the Orchestrator

You have to be open-minded, adaptable, and quick to realize your role. View it as if you are the orchestrator. Your dog is the instrumentalist.

Make the right moves, make the right calls, always come up with answers.

It is true to always believe in your dog. With redirection, don’t be too quick to redirect. Believe in your dog.

You are the coach. A good characteristic is to see things before they happen, make the correct judgments, and make a good call when things may not be that clear. On the flip side, don’t be stubborn as not to let your dog coach you as well.

You may have the hunter with you saying things are one way. Depending, a good tracker should acknowledge, but keep an open mind thinking of other possible scenarios.

You are a tracker. Take into account everything. When things seem one way, be aware that they could very well be a different way.

Open-mindedness makes a good tracker.

Going the extra mile makes a good tracker. 

Build the connection

The connection in-between you and your dog will define the two of you. Every track is a different song to play. After enough tracks, things will become a blur, and you will rely on almost a muscle-memory-like state, but really, you will just let things play out and how you should proceed.

The end goal is to have complete trust and faith in your dog. This will come from time after time success. It will come from people saying the track is one way, but your dog proves them wrong. To continually build confidence in your dog creates an unbreakable bond.

This is why it is very important not to overcorrect your dog in the training stages. Yes, there are instances where guidance should be given. We do not want our dog looking at us for help or looking at us as if to say, “Am I doing this right?” The main goal here is to be very confident in your dog.

Other Considerations

Besides just being confident in your dog, you should look into and consider a couple of things. You will want to prepare for your first season. Set yourself up to succeed the best you can in your first season. When you think about the broad picture of how you will do it and what you will put in your arsenal, it will create a smooth working environment.

Here are a few things to consider. How will you start on finding tracks? How will you manage and organize your tracks? What equipment will you start with to form an equipment set that works for you? How will you charge for your services? 

Overall, enjoy it. Be ready for some adventure. Get as many wins as you can. When you are at a loss, give it as much thought as possible, push past it, move on to the next track. Keep learning with an open mind. Form your own opinions based on your experience.