What About Crossing A Lake, Pond, Or River?
Unfortunately, all water is said to do is carry your scent back to the ground as water drips off you, making it even easier for a dog to pick up your scent (so say the experts).
If you cross a body of water and a tracking dog and its handler believes you’ve entered the water, they will either have to cross the water also, or circle around to the other side where they will likely pick up your scent again where you exited the water as your scent drips off you and along the ground.
Crossing bodies of water is a trick to lose human trackers, who rely mostly on visuals. It breaks off your track because you won’t leave footprints or other telltale signs of human activity in a body of water. But this doesn’t work on dogs, who rely primarily on scent.
Patrol Dogs That Search Out Resistance Fighters And Or Refugees
It’s one thing to call in a tracking team and go after someone suspected to have fled, and another thing to bring in tracking teams for the purpose of finding and rooting out escapees and or resistance fighters.
On a map, trained personnel have the means to circle an area they suspect to find people in, and then they can come in from different directions, to round up anyone caught inside a search area. Refugees during wartime for example, or even people fleeing from martial law.
Staying in one location for an extended length of time, especially within range of a military base or outpost, increases the chances that your location will be found on a patrol or on a search.
A “patrol” in this case is something that takes place as part of standard operations; a “search” is when a person or persons is suspected to be in the general area and can continue until that person(s) is found.
The lesson here is this: Refugees during wartime need to keep moving and head in a direction that does not take them toward an area where a second military outpost or base is waiting.
What dogs are best for tracking?
Top 11 Dog Breeds for Tracking