Where it all began.
These are pictures of my outdoor pig production unit. 500 sows on 50 acres. On the unit I am assisted by two GSDs. Pigs and GSDs are a very good working combination. Both species exhibit comparable intelligence, emotional and cognitive, which makes for sympathetic and cooperative interaction. I can also reveal that both are extremely good at digging holes, in a contest however my money would be on the pigs 
. And of course both are brilliant at odour detection. Who would I put my money on in a tracking contest? Well that is a very good question and one that I couldn’t truthfully answer. The pigs can sniff out underground delicacies extraordinarily easily and of course are equipped to root them up and eat them. The dogs are equipped to travel more lightly and accurately follow surface laid tracks. Noise wise……. the pigs have it, hands down. The pigs like to make a lot of not so tuneful sounds involving a lot of ‘wind’ after eating all those roots, and playful engagement with their indestructible metal toys. By comparison, running around with a Kong in your mouth is pretty tame from the dogs.
. And of course both are brilliant at odour detection. Who would I put my money on in a tracking contest? Well that is a very good question and one that I couldn’t truthfully answer. The pigs can sniff out underground delicacies extraordinarily easily and of course are equipped to root them up and eat them. The dogs are equipped to travel more lightly and accurately follow surface laid tracks. Noise wise……. the pigs have it, hands down. The pigs like to make a lot of not so tuneful sounds involving a lot of ‘wind’ after eating all those roots, and playful engagement with their indestructible metal toys. By comparison, running around with a Kong in your mouth is pretty tame from the dogs.
The top picture shows my dog Hannah simultaneously tracking and following a visible border made by a tyre mark. She tracks everyday and checks the perimeters. She tracks and indicates for me any breaches of security. This is because young piglets like to gather into gangs and play daring games of “let’s go to the neighbouring farm and scare ourselves silly” before racing back (to their mums), barking their heads off in ‘laughter’. It’s a natural game of daring-do. Of ethology in action. Of exploration and of maturing. But it’s not allowed in the English countryside. So a dog, with a nose, is essential kit to the farmer who needs to keep tabs and take appropriate action.
This is a picture of the tractor axle deep in mud as the automatic feeder flings giant biscuits over the field. Two things here. The biscuits are dinner for the sows and they are thrown and spread out to ensure that everyone gets a share and aggression cannot flare up over a food bowl or similar. The health of the soil and the soil tilth that pigs make when they begin working this mud back down into a fine seed bed is highly prized. They will turnover the top soil, filter bits of vegetation out and they root and nibble and finally they ummmm ‘fertilize’ as they go.
Here is one of the working dogs, Hannah, falling asleep on the wheel arch of the tractor at the end of the day. The mental fortitude and physical tenacity required by a working dog is not really comparable with your own lovely pet dog (please understand there is no intention to be disparaging, their different experiences equips them differently). These dogs are behaviourally resilient.
And a posed picture of some of the dogs and their charges.
I have very limited availability for you to learn about tracking the way that tracking should be learned and applied if you want to be able to accompany your dog tracking in multiple situations, urban and rural, with your dog’s authenticity intact. The entry point is Get Cracking with Tracking. There are only 12 days of this available and only three spaces left. We have had a lot of enquiry about these spaces and would advise that if you are interested you get in touch sooner rather than later. To find out more, and to book, please go to www.dogtaggs.co.uk
