A track is a scent trail or scent path left behind as a person or animal walks or moves, along the ground. There are a lot of varying views and theories on what forms the scent track and without becoming too complicated, it is generally accepted that the track is formed in two ways:

Ground Scent 

Partly from ground scent, that is the scent of the ground disturbance left where the person or tracklayer has walked, and composed of odours emanating from the bruising and damaging of grass and foliage, the crushing of roots and the scent of soil bacteria and moulds, released where the surface of the soil is broken. As the track ages, there is also the scent of the decay organisms working on the damaged roots and plants.

Body Scent 

Then there is what we call body scent, this is the personal scent left by the tracklayer and formed by the normal body odour which he leaves in the air around him and where his hands or the skin of his legs or body have brushed against scrub or grass, and also from any particles of skin, hair, clothing, fluff or shoe leather that is shed along the track.

The trained tracking dog is expected to smell an article belonging to the tracklayer and from this scent, find the person's track and follow the track till he finds the end of the track. The dog must also find and indicate any object dropped along the track by the tracklayer. Under present rules, in a tracking trial, the track may be from twenty minutes to three hours old.

For the up to date rules follow this link to the ANKC website.

Track and Search

Track and Search is a newer component introduced to tracking to enable those people whose dog has gained it's Tracking Championship to continue to develop their skills. The tests are designed to mimic real life situations where a person has wandered off and become lost. The tracks are different in that they will cover many different surfaces and are designed to replicate the erratic behaviour of people when lost or confused. Some of the advanced tracks need to be worked out of daylight hours

The time limit for these types of tracks varies from one hour to four hours.
