Dont dogs have their noses to the ground all the time when they are tracking?
The position of my dogs noses while they are tracking varies depending on what the track is like that they are following. They actually move their heads up and down in various parts depending if they need to move closer to the scent or if they are OK getting the scent from higher up. The scent of the track will vary depending on the age and the location such as urban, suburban or rural. These areas will affect the amount of vegetation in the area, which is the primary place for scent to adhere to. Generally the fresher and newer the track the closer the dog will keep his head to the ground. When my dogs are on a very fresh scent they are extremely excited and have their noses glued to the ground. They will also raise their heads up to figure out the direction of the scent if there are multiple turns and twists. If the conditions are very windy, then their noses will be higher up because the scent is being blown around and dispersed more.
