With a TRACKING K9, jumping track is not acceptable, because they are trained to follow the ground scent picture created by the persons scent and the crushed vegetation that their footsteps are creating: hence, the hot dogs. These are only used in the early (puppy) stages to teach a K9 to keep its nose down. Obviously the goal is not to teach the dog to find mystery meats in the woods. The goal is to teach the dog that by keeping its nose down in the vegetation that it can indeed follow the human scent track, and find the subject at the end of the track. The hot dogs should be used in moderation even with a puppy, and should be phased out as soon as the pup has learned to commit to the human scent on the ground.

The critical difference here is that a Police handler working a tracking K9 may need to recover evidence along the track of their missing subject, so it is critical that they follow the exact tact of their subject. For instance, a criminal ditches a car, and runs from the scene of an accident....along the way he drops a gun in the woods and two small bags of methamphetamines. If the tracking dog is doing his job, the officer will be able to follow the criminal's EXACT track, and can also recover the contraband in addition to locating the subject. This makes a very valuable law enforcement tool.