What is it and why is it so important?
The "setup" is simply a routine that you go through before tracking that sets your dog up (puts him in drive) for the behavior you want - i.e., tracking
Here is my setup, but feel free to develop your own.
From the time Pax started doing short tracks he finished with a small plastic container of sardines (or other goody). This container was hidden at the end of the track and announced to Pax that the track was finished, that he had successfully completed his job and that he could now enjoy his big reward, and that he no longer had to track.
The way I use this for the "setup" is as follows. I grab my tracking flag from the back of the truck and show him the container with the sardines in it, taping the top with the flag, then cracking the lid a bit so he could get the smell. Then I walk away and lay the track, placing the container at the end. I then go back to the truck when I'm ready to run the track and pull out another flag and another container of sardines. This can be five minutes later or an hour later. It doesn't matter -- and that's exactly the point. I show him the flag again, and the new container, tap the top of it and crack the lid, close it and walk away, not letting him see me put these in the cab of my truck. Now he is pumped up to go, no matter when the track was laid because he is freshly reminded about his sardines. The motivation is fresh in his mind. After putting the stuff in the cab I grab his tracking line and unfurl it at the rear of the truck. I take him out, he relieves himself and is all set to track.
The beauty of this method and its real value is that you can use it at trial - and I have many times!!! A couple of minutes before you track (on yourself or others) you go through the "setup" and your dog comes out ready to go. He thinks it's just another training day and that you just put his treat out there somewhere.
But, you might ask, there won't be any food on the track, or at the end, what do you do then? This issue will be addressed later on.
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