Tracking is about the small details | SOURCE

We always say that training is not about accomplishing the task, but how you accomplish the task. Anybody can teach a dog to track, find drugs. I mean, there's countless YouTube videos out there that can show you how to do it. The differentiator, though, is how the task is accomplished, and that's really what we look at. So even when we look at a dog working or a dog doing the things that we teach them to do or want them to do, it's really about the small details that make them great at what they do and at the tasks that they're going to accomplish. So we have to look at many things in that task, break them down to the minute details, and really pick apart each and every element of it. To make it successful. So even in this case, as Sarge is tracking with his dog, it's about the small things that he does. Tucking the line, holding the dog accountable to the track, making sure the dog's nose is down, sniffing the ground, following odor, and even the way that he works his line. And being ready, being in his, what we call, his ready position, right? His hands, the way he keeps the line and all the things he does in training to make this dog team successful. Vitally important to reach that final goal on that task. A couple of things you saw during that was him holding the way he holds the line. The way he works the line, the way he holds his dog accountable on the commitment to the odor. And what you didn't hear is him talking. He's listening, watching, and feeling the dog as he's on that track, because that translates to success later on, especially in the real world. So what's the moral of the story? Pay attention to the minute details in your training processes. They'll lead to success in the future and won't contribute to you not being successful. Pay attention to those small things that make the biggest differences in your training plans and in the outcomes that you hope to achieve.