Lyme Bay Tracking

Field and Competition tracking
These courses are at the heart of tracking training with a dog.

 Introduction to tracking course.
Our basic tracking course will take the student and Dog team to a point where both have a good fundamental understanding of tracking. The course includes the theory of scent, reward and motivation, equipment and terminology, the rules of track laying, line handling and reading your dog.
This course comprises six 1.5 hour sessions, for up to 4 dogs and is priced at £150.

 Intermediate tracking course.
This is a follow on from the basic course. Here teams will be introduced to articles laid on the track, gate and box starts and an increase in the age, distance and complexity of the track.  At the conclusion of this course teams can expect to achieve a  1-2 hour old track of several hundred metres across eight or more legs with their dog indicating articles en route.
This course will comprise of six 1.5 hour sessions for up to 4 dogs and is priced at £150.

 Advanced tracking PATHFINDER Programme

These courses complete our tracking training, having completed our introductory and intermediate courses you may wish to progress to one or both of these top level training programs.

PATHFINDERS EXPERT LEVEL PATTERN TRACKING.  At the conclusion of  this 8 week course teams will be at an expert level within this discipline, following a 3-4 hour old track for up a kilometre, with 10+ legs indicating articles en-route . During this course teams will also learn to negotiate obstructions like dead legs, cross tracks and loops. 

PATHFINDERS EXPERT LEVEL PURSUIT TRACKING.  During this course teams will learn to follow the scent of the tracklayer to the exclusion of others, across varying terrain ie woodland, farmland, built up areas and everything in between.  This energetic and exciting form of tracking aims to replicate the pursuit of a fleeing criminal or searching for a missing person.  

Our PATHFINDER courses comprise of eight 2 hour sessions and are priced at £250.



What our trackers say:

Hi Richard and Sally

Thank you so much for the course over the last three weeks. I’ve wanted to try tracking for a while and was so lucky to get on this course with you. I really enjoyed it.

In terms of feedback and what I’d say to anyone thinking about the course, I’d really really recommend it. There’s a lot to learn about tracking and you need someone like Richard with knowledge and experience along side to explain how to go about it step by step. Even laying the track involves planning to take into account wind direction, landmarks etc. Richard gave us very clear instructions and took us through each step - patiently reminding us what to do when needed. And it was needed - there’s so much to think about.

By the end of the course we’d learned how to lay a track, set up the dogs and instruct them to follow the track with turns and over some distance to find the reward. This involves line handling and reading the dog - ultimately you’re trusting the dog to tell you the way.

The dogs on the course were different breeds and temperaments but they all got their noses down and enjoyed the “work”. This really is an opportunity for dogs to use their senses and be rewarded for doing something they enjoy and do naturally. My own dog didn’t always get it right (nor did I) but with Richard’s help she can now follow a track, find turns etc - and do this in a large field at dusk without being distracted by the wildlife. She can be nervy and I think doing tracking work together will build on her confidence and our trust and confidence in each other.

The dogs work individually at their own pace. The handlers worked together, laying tracks for each other and providing prompts if the dog lost the trail. This is an outdoors activity and you need to be prepared to move briskly across fields when laying tracks and when tracking with your dog. 

I really enjoyed the course, learned a lot and had fun. The course was structured and well organised, Richard and Sally are lovely people, very supportive and we all had fun together. I’ve already asked to do an intermediate course with Richard to build on the skills I’ve learned. And will be meeting up with the others on the course for practice sessions. 



Hi Rich, just some feedback for you.

WOW! What an amazing course even though we’re only halfway through I’ve already learnt so much about my dog and the endless possibilities of such amazing creatures. Richard and Sally are very lovely people and they know their stuff. Both myself and my partner were very sceptical to start off with but now we want to progress with our dog and look at joining Search and Rescue once Paddington is more experienced. If you have a working dog you should see results, we did on the first day with our springer. And a great way to exercise your 4 legged friend (and yourself).