And they know which way the scent goes, right? So if Abby had walked to school that morning and then halfway home that afternoon, the dogs (if starting at the school) would get to that halfway point and then encounter the older scent left from the morning and stop (or turn around?).
But if Abby didn't walk to school that morning, would the dogs stop tracking where the freshest scent ends, or would they continue on using the leftover scent from the prior day? :scared:
Ive had a bird hunting dog once with a very good nose and he helped me track birds, so I am familiar a little bit with this "TYPE" of thing. I know a very well trained search dog can do amazing things, however, IMO, they are just a "tool" and its not a perfect science. I am afraid you are making it sound like they are perfect and would be so great to automatically stop if a fresher scent becomes an older scent, but I just have to respectively disagree here. If the fresher scent stopped and an older scent continued on, I am pretty sure they would probably continue on too. They may show signs of their difficulty though as the scent got older, so the owner/trainer may be able to spot its behavior change.
Now, if the fresher scent took an immediate right or left turn, I would guess they would most likely follow the fresher scent because dogs love the work they do. They actually get real excited and they know whats going on, and they actually love it and enjoy it. So, I am thinking they would follow the most freshest scent they could find.
But if it stops and an older scent keeps going, they most likely would keep following that older scent. Again, they enjoy what they are doing, and they know they are pleasing their owners and trainers. They want to keep going and keep tracking.
The owner/trainer watching his behavior may be able to make "calls" on what he thinks as far as which trail or trails were fresher or older. The behavior of the dog is what would determine this and its up to the owner/trainer to decipher it.
Above all else, they are just a tool.
JMO of course.