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Title: Component Training for Variable
Surface Tracking
Author: Ed Presnall and Christy Bergeon
Publisher: PawMark Press
Length: 164 pages
Price: $29.95
Best Thing: Detailed, exhaustive, comprehensive coverage of how to train a dog
thoroughly and completely to be an effective urban tracker.
Worst Thing: Detailed, exhaustive, comprehensive coverage of how to train a dog
thoroughly and completely to be an effective urban tracker. This is NOT a book to curl up
with and enjoy on a rainy day, any more than one would curl up with the also tremendously
useful phone book.
Cool Quote: "Articles are our friends."
Appropriate For: Serious students of tracking. Although advanced trackers will find
this book extremely valuable, novices may be more confused than illuminated by the
diagrams and discussions of scent theory. You’ll be much more able to use this book
with at least one TD under your belt.
In Brief: An introduction to training for the VST title, aimed at the experienced
and serious tracker. Presnall and Bergeon isolate specific skills (which they call
"components") that are necessary to VST success and explain carefully and in
detail how to master these individual skills before putting them together into a complete
VST track. Contains 50 photographs and 70 track component diagrams.
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Ed Presnall and Christy Bergeon’s Component Training for Variable Surface Tracking quite simply contains everything that you need to know to train your dog in this demanding, controversial sport. VST is a hotly debated topic among the tracking community: many believe that the title is simply too difficult to attain, particularly for the average dog and trainer. Presnall and Bergeon argue that the tile is not only attainable, it is attainable by dogs who have only earned a TD (and who have not gone through a training program for TDX). When Presnall and Bergeon started training their dogs in VST, they quickly saw that there was no structured training method for the sport—the few people training for VST were all trying something different, and very few were successful. Through thorough analysis of potential VST sites, reviews of judge’s maps from actual tests, they developed a structured method of training (which they entitled component training) to fill the void.
Presnall and Bergeon cover a lot of ground before they even get into the meat of their training theory. Introductory chapters include a comparison of VST requirements to those of TD and TDX; a general discussion of scent theory as it relates to VST; the basic rules of VST tracking; some tracking terminology; tracking equipment; possible articles to use in VST (anyone have an extra birth control pill case?); a crash course in basic map making; how to choose a training area (they recommend four main ones: a business park or campus; a retail center parking lot; a public school; and a parking garage); proper lead handling; methods of motivating your dog through the mental demands of VST training; methods of introducing your dog to non-vegetated surfaces; and potential hazards (antifreeze, coolant moisture, transmission fluid, road salts, traffic, etc.) to be alert to when training for VST. This preliminary section is extremely valuable and important, and it is the reason that the discussion of track components as the building blocks of VST doesn’t even get underway until the second half of the book.
The philosophy of component training is refreshingly elegant: Presnall and Bergeon isolate particular elements from actual VST tracks. Although many of these components might appear similar, each one should be treated as a separate exercise in order to build a stronger foundation for handler and dog. Most components are executed by adding a start or ending leg or "L" to the exercise. Presnall and Bergeon believe that the tracks should be relatively short—150 to 250 yards each—and that they should be run no more than two or three times in a given training session. Since VST work requires intense concentration from a dog and is extremely draining, training sessions should always be ended on an emotional high for the dog, even if that means a session must be cut short.
There are 72 components discussed in the book; Presnall and Bergeon divide these into particular chapters: transition components; start components; turn components; building components; fence, hedge, and wall components; curbs and gutters components; elevation components; alleys and walkways components; standing water components; stairs and ramps components; open buildings and garages components; and automobile components. Each of the components contained within these chapters are situations that the dog might meet in a VST test, such as a track running over dirt, mulch, or stone islands in a parking lot, crossing a sidewalk, tracking next to a building, turning onto a road, tracking around a building, tracking between a fence, tracking in an alleyway between two buildings, manipulating puddles, tracking on stairs and wheelchair ramps, tracking between automobiles . . . the possibilities are vast. Presnall and Bergeon have done a wonderful job of breaking an apparently overwhelming task into discrete and manageable chunks.
Component Training for Variable Surface Tracking concludes with chapters about putting the components together into actual tracks and advice on preparing for an actual VST test. One of the most outright enjoyable parts of the book is the appendix, in which Ed Presnall discusses the training and careers of each of the three dogs on whom he and Christy Bergeon have put VST titles. All in all, Presnall and Bergeon have produced a fine work that will probably be the definitive guide to training in this new sport of Variable Surface Tracking for quite a long time to come. I imagine that the rather low initial pass rates are going to improve within the next several years, and I wouldn’t be surprised if these higher rates were directly related to people buying and using this book. I know that I’m inspired—why should I struggle over ditches with my TDX-wannabe basset when I can stroll through a nice comfortable office park? If you have a TD dog sitting home gathering dust, consider buying a copy of Component Training for Variable Surface Tracking and giving VST a try.