Dog Tracking Information

Dog Tracking Titles

The following are the tracks you and your dog are required to complete in Tracking Trials. With the introduction of the Tracking Champion title (T. Ch.) from 1 January 2000, the requirement for a dog to have an obedience pass in order to enter Tracking trials has been deleted. The T. Ch. is used before the dog's name, and T.D. and T.D.X. are used after a dog's name. As higher qualifications are obtained, the lower one is no longer used.

A dog must be at least six months of age and have passed the Preliminary Tracking qualification test to be eligible to enter a Tracking trial.

TRACKING DOG (T.D.)

TRACKING DOG EXCELLENT (T.D.X.)

TRACKING CHAMPION (T.Ch.)

Test 1 - Known person	Test 2 - Unknown person	Test 3- Unknown person	Test 4 - Unknown person	Test 5- Unknown person	Test 6 - Unknown person
Approx. 800 m	Approx. 800 m	Approx. 1000 m	Approx. 1000 m	Approx. 1200 m	Approx. 1200 m
At least 2 turns	At least 2 turns	At least 4 turns	At least 4 turns	At least 5 turns	At least 6 turns
2 articles	2 articles	3 articles	2 articles	3 articles	3 articles
			Track must be crossed once by a known person approximately 30 minutes after original tracklayer has passed	Track must be crossed twice by one or two unknown persons approximately 30 minutes after original tracklayer has passed	Track must be crossed twice by one or two unknown persons, laid according to the judge's direction approximately 30 minutes after original tracklayer has passed
					Two flags mark the start of the track. Thirty metres from the start the tracklayer places an article marked with his/her scent into a clean bag and hands this to the judge. When the track has aged sufficiently, the judge will take the handler and dog to within 30 metres of the starting line, hand the unopened bag to the handler and inform the handler they are free to commence tracking.
Commence minimum of 30 minutes and no more than 60 minutes after laying of track	Commence minimum of 30 minutes and no more than 60 minutes after laying of track	Commence minimum of 1 hour and no more than 2 hours after laying of track	Commence minimum of 1 hour and no more than 2 hours after laying of track	Commence minimum of 1 hour and no more than 3 hours after laying of track	Commence minimum of 1.5 hours and no more than 3 hours after laying of track
At least one article to be indicated & tracklayer to be found.	At least one article to be indicated & tracklayer to be found.	At least one article to be indicated & tracklayer to be found.	At least one article to be indicated & tracklayer to be found.	At least two article to be indicated & tracklayer to be found.	At least two article to be indicated & tracklayer to be found.

Once your dog has qualified under two different judges you are now eligible to apply for the Title - Tracking Dog (T.D.).

Once your dog has qualified under at least two different judges you are now eligible to apply for the Title - Tracking Dog Excellent (T.D.X.).

Once your dog has qualified you are now eligible to apply for the Title - Tracking Champion (T.Ch.).