Sinister Labs Freeware - Tracking File Converter

Canine Tracking is a sport where handlers teach their dogs to use their noses. In this sport, a tracklayer takes a walk through a field, through woods, or even across hard surfaces like asphalt. Some time later, the handler brings the dog to the point where the tracklayer started and the dog must follow the tracklayer's track. A flag marks the track's starting location where, in American tests, an article of clothing from the tracklayer sits. At the end of the path is a leather glove or wallet that the dog must find.

The sport is sanctioned by the American Kennel Club, the Australian Shepherd Club of America and the Canadian Kennel Club. In sanctioned tests, the time delay between the tracklayer walking the track and the handler starting the dog is anywhere from 1/2 to 5 hours. Tracks are roughly between a quarter of a mile and a half mile in length. At the higher levels, the tracks may contain obstacles such as water crossings or fences to get through. Higher level tests also use up to 4 articles on the track-one at the start, two somewhere along the track and one at the end of the track. Some tracks may use a cross-tracker who walks across the tracklayer's path in two points, to test that the dog can differentiate between the scent of different people. To make it easier to verify, the tracks in tests contain only straight-line segments (called legs) and turns that get no tighter than 90 degrees.

The AKC offers three different levels of test, the CKC has 4 and ASCA currently has 2 (although is expected to add one or two more levels). Passing each test earns the dog and handler a title. A dog passing all 3 AKC tests earns an AKC Champion Tracker (CT) title, and passing all 4 CKC tests earns a CKC Tracking Champion (TC) title. It's considered high honors for a dog to earn such performance awards.

It's a common practice to keep notes of the dog's practice tracks in a tracking log. Such logs typically contained a hand-drawn track map and notes on the track, the weather conditions and the dog's performance. Often, tracklayers will carry paper and pencil on track to draw their maps and keep their notes. Judges for sanctioned events are required to do this, as their paperwork is used while the dog is being tested to verify that the dog is on the track and is finding the correct articles.

The form on this site is directed at making it easier to keep an electronic tracking log (when using with the right equipment). In this case, the right equipment is a GPS device that can record the paths of the tracklayer, the dog and the cross-tracker. I use one called the Garmin Forerunner 305. The unit is worn just like a wrist-watch and is designed to be used by runners and cyclists. During operation, it has one function-to record where the GPS device is located, once per second. By pressing the Start/Stop and Reset buttons on the device, it starts recording its position into files that later can be transferred to a computer, analyzed and saved. Those files contain the points that comprise each of the paths followed by the participants of a track.

Along with the device, Garmin provides its Training Center software. By plugging the Garmin into a computer with a USB cable, it brings up the Training Center. This software displays the tracks the Garmin captures, but unless one purchases a good set of geographical maps to install on their computer, its rendering leaves a lot to be desired. One way to get track maps superimposed on the terrain is to use GoogeEarth (and it's free).

Garmin's Training Center software also allows one to save tracks into files on one's computer. This web form I've created takes as input one to three of these files (files with an extension of .tcx). The three files represent the paths followed by the tracklayer, dog and cross-tracker. A few parameters on the form can be selected and the output is a GoogleEarth file. Double-click on the file and GoogleEarth will activate and display your track. The detail shown on a GoogleEarth representation of a track is significantly greater than what can be captured by drawing on paper.

The form here and the the fields on this form are geared toward the sport of canine tracking. If you would like to see other dog icons on the drop down list, please email them to me. They must JPEG or PNG files (ICO files might work, too) that are 32 by 32 pixels in size.

GPS Visualizer provides a more general-purpose form that also converts Garmin files into GoogleEarth files.

Keep in mind that the Garmin claims that any given point captured by the Forerunner to be accurate within about 30 feet. For long strings of points (which is what we're really capturing here), I've found that generally the entire line will be shifted around, but the shape of the line accurately captures the handler or dog's motions. It's for this reason that I included a way to Adjust the tracks. I've found that the tracklayer's line and dog's line will be the right shape, but may not be lined up over top of each other correctly. Setting the Adjust option allows you to correct for that condition. The options allow you to move the rendering of the dog's track so that it starts at the same point as the tracklayer's track, to move the tracklayer's track so that it starts at the same point as the dog's track, to move both the dog's and the tracklayer's track so they starts at a point mid-way between the two. Of course, you can also opt to leave the tracks as they are. None of these options affect the cross-tracker's track.

The form asks for your email address, but does not require it. If you provide it, your information will not be sold, given away, bartered for, or anything else that gets it into someone else's hands. I may contact you to ask about any problems you might have had using the form or any features you might want to see on it, but that's about all I would use your email address for. I also capture the IP address of browsers that use the form, for trouble-shooting purposes. If you have any other suggestions on features I might want to add to the form, please do email me.

When laying the track, the tracklayer wears the Garmin unit. If the track has a cross-track, the cross-tracker wears the Garmin while laying the cross-track. When running the dog, the dog should wear the the Garmin. If you don't have a good way to connect the Garmin to the dog, the handler could wear the Garmin, but the resulting track map would be a little less meaningful.

I used to use wire twist ties (the kind from bread bags) to hold the Garmin onto the tracking harness. They held just fine, but they ended up getting all over the back of my car, not to mention the few that landed on the ground at the park. Then, I found snaps in the leatherworking section of a hobby store, just like what you'd find on the front of a jacket. As shown in the picture at the left, I implanted two into the wristband of my Garmin 305 and two complementary ones into my tracking harness. When tracking with the dog, snapping the Garmin onto andoff of the harness is exremely easy and I've found no problem with it falling off while tracking. The snaps do not interfere with one's ability to wear the Garmin around the wrist.

The Garmin unit will display the number of feet traveled, up until 528 feet (1/10 of a mile), then it switches to displaying in hundreths of a mile. In sessions where the dog is practicing and I'm laying the track, I tend not to not worry about the lengths of individual legs, rather I'm more concerned with the overall length of the track and the number of turns. Using the Garmin to measure how far I've gone means I don't have to count steps along the track. I press the Start/Stop button when I'm at the start flag to begin recording the track and walk until I reach the length I want the track to be. I can look at the Garmin unit along the way and see that I've gone 0.36 miles and I want the track to be 0.53 miles (TDX length). That means...keep going. When I reach the end of the track and set down the final article, I press the Start/Stop button again. Before starting to record the next track, I want to be sure I hold the Reset button until it counts down from 3; this makes sure the tracklayer's track is recorded in its own file and the next track recorded will be captured in a new, separate file.

Cross-trackers are less concerned about the exact points where their path starts and ends. The important thing for them is to capture where they cross the tracklayer's path. Just like the tracklayer, the cross-tracker presses the Start/Stop button once at the beginning of their walk, once at the end, and holds down the Reset button before recording the next track.

As mentioned above, the dog should wear the Garmin unit while tracking to get the best representation of its actions. Just like with the tracklayer, the handler should press the Start/Stop button while the Garmin is at the start flag, press it again when the dog has completed the track, and hold the Reset button down to close out the file.