In short...tracking dog is exclusively used for tracking wounded animals...it works on cold trail with "low" nose...true quality appears in working on cold trail (3 + hrs old) when high step of concentraiton is shown - tracking can last for more days and tens of kilometers...so after tracking a wounded animal is found there are two options - either dead or alive...when alive you must release the dog to catch with the animal and loudly barks - usually the game move as far until it feels its safe from you - there it seeks a good terain (to cover its back) at that moment dog must be there...the moment the game stops the barking change from higher (on the move) to lover howling like...when that happens you must silently, with good wind stalk within the range and give the animal "coupe de grace" or finishing shot...it might sound easy but to train the dog up to this grade there is a lot of work to be done, usually it takes 3-4 years before you have thrustworthy dog and you can hardly afford any mistakes in education...thats why you will see those dogs mainly in the hands of PH or very experienced hunter...
Here in our places we mainly use 2 breeds:
1. Bavarian tracking dog - lighter, with more hound - like character - mainly for higher mountain terrains - for chamois, red deer and boar...but also used in lower - flater regions:
2. His cousin or better his uncle and predecessor is Hanoverian - biger and heavier - with cool lazy character - mainly used in flatter terains for tracking mostly boar and red deer.
I have used them both - they both have their ups and downs - Bavarian is more handy according to its size, bares with heat better, is faster to catch up with fleeing game, however sometimes a bit jumpy on older trails (24 hr+). Hanoverian - they ripe very late - and need a good sensitive trainer (training them can be a pain in the arse), but once they got some rutine and age (5 years on) they shine, especially when working on very old trails (up to 72 hours old).
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