Tracking/Trailing - Elevation K9

Tracking / Trailing

Tracking is fun for all levels — whether you’re looking for a new hobby with your dog or pursuing a path toward Search and Rescue work. Our tracking and trailing programs tap into your dog’s natural scenting instincts, teaching them how to follow scent trails with focus, precision, and determination. Each program is tailored to your goals, helping you understand how to read your dog, interpret changes in behavior, and work effectively as a team. From beginners building foundational skills to handlers preparing for operational deployment, we provide the guidance and structure needed to help you and your dog succeed.

Lessons

Our K9 Tracking/Trailing Lessons are designed to guide you and your dog step by step through the tracking process. Each class builds on the last, helping your team develop consistency, confidence, and seamless teamwork.

Every session includes up to three tracking exercises or scenarios, tailored to your dog’s skill level and stamina. As you progress, lessons gradually increase in complexity—ensuring steady improvement while keeping training engaging and rewarding for both handler and dog.

Whether you’re just beginning or refining advanced skills, our structured approach ensures clear progress at every stage.

Imprint Board & Train

During this intensive course, your K9 will be imprinted with a proven tracking method and trained to achieve dependable results at distances of up to 300 meters.

Each stage of training is conducted to international double-blind standards, ensuring that both the dog and the process meet the highest levels of accuracy and professionalism. Through carefully structured sessions, your K9 will develop precision in scent detection, environmental awareness, and the confidence to perform effectively in diverse real-world scenarios.

Ideal for those seeking a mission-ready tracking partner, this program builds the essential skills needed for field reliability—combining scent discipline, focus, and adaptability into a cohesive, high-performing tracking team.

Day Trains

Our Day Train Program provides focused, hands-on training sessions where your K9 works directly with our experienced trainers throughout the day. Each session emphasizes progressive tracking drills and realistic search scenarios designed to strengthen accuracy, confidence, and reliability in varied environments.

Handlers play an active role in the process—participating in at least one track per session and encouraged to join more for optimal team development. This involvement fosters stronger communication, trust, and understanding between handler and dog, ensuring consistency both during training and in real-world applications.

Perfect for teams seeking structured progress without the need for overnight stays, the Day Train Program bridges professional instruction with ongoing handler engagement to build a dependable, high-performing tracking partnership.

Puppy Selection

Choosing the right puppy is the first and most important step in developing a successful working K9. Our Puppy Selection Program is designed to help you find the ideal candidate for future trailing, detection, and scent-based work by focusing on temperament, drive, and trainability from the very start.

Our experienced team conducts thorough evaluations using a puppy testing checklist to assess each prospect’s motivation, confidence, environmental stability, and natural scenting ability. Through careful observation and structured testing, we identify puppies with the strongest potential to excel in professional tracking and detection disciplines.

Whether you’re seeking a K9 for law enforcement, search and rescue, or sport applications, our selection process ensures you begin with a well-matched partner—setting the foundation for long-term success, reliability, and teamwork.

Trailing Fundamentals Workshops

Interested in discovering a new hobby, expanding your dog’s skills, or exploring the foundations of scent work? The Trailing K9 Fundamentals Workshop is designed for civilian dog owners, sport enthusiasts, and professional trainers looking to learn the art and science of canine trailing in a supportive, hands-on environment.

This workshop introduces participants to scent theory, leash handling, line management, and the fundamentals of reading canine behavior on the trail. Through a combination of lecture, demonstration, and real-world fieldwork, teams will learn how dogs use scent to locate human odor and how handlers can effectively support them in that process.

Whether your goal is to develop a fun new hobby, enhance your obedience and engagement, or build a foundation for future Search & Rescue or detection work, this course provides the structure and experience to get started.

No prior tracking experience required—just a love for learning and a willingness to work as a team with your dog.

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Law Enforcement Officer Workshops

At Elevation K9, we specialize in Law Enforcement–focused trailing instruction designed to enhance operational readiness and handler confidence in the field. Our workshops combine classroom lecture, hands-on training, and real-world deployment scenarios to build proficiency in tactical tracking, scent-discrimination trailing, and environmental problem-solving.

Each course is tailored to the specific needs of law enforcement and professional working-dog teams, covering topics such as reading proximity alerts, interpreting scent behavior, tactical movement with cover and concealment, and maintaining situational awareness under pressure.

For experienced units, we also offer advanced workshops that challenge established teams through complex field scenarios, cross-contamination exercises, and integrated tactical tracking drills. These sessions are designed to refine communication between handler and K9, ensuring precise decision-making in dynamic environments.

Our goal is to strengthen your team’s ability to perform with confidence and control—from urban settings to rural terrain—through evidence-based methods and proven field tactics.

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Search and Rescue Team Workshops

At Elevation K9, we’re proud to support Search and Rescue (SAR) teams with specialized K9 trailing workshops designed to strengthen handler skills, refine operational technique, and improve overall team effectiveness in the field.

Our SAR workshops combine lecture, hands-on training, and real-world application to build confident, reliable K9 teams capable of performing in diverse environments. Training emphasizes scent theory, reading canine behavior, environmental problem-solving, and effective communication between handler and dog.

Participants will work through realistic field scenarios modeled after true SAR missions, including rural, urban, and mixed-terrain searches. Instruction also covers proximity alerts, scent discrimination, tactical movement, and effective deployment strategies for missing-person cases.

Whether you’re part of a developing team or an experienced unit seeking advanced refinement, our SAR workshops are customized to meet your operational goals. Each session ensures your team leaves with actionable skills, deeper understanding, and improved field confidence.

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