I attended the Double Lift Finals in Okotoks AB yesterday. As a member of the Alberta Stockdog Association, I was volunteered to put on a tracking demo for the public. About 8 or 10 people came for it, and it went very well! Ted did a demo of a scent pad and serpentine. He is such an honest dog, he just went to work, despite the fact that there were sheep nearby!Next, I was going to do a 'chimney - shaped track' with Jet. I had laid it, and had stakes before each corner so people could watch at the turns. But Jet's mind was on sheep. She would track a few steps, then lift her head and stare towards the Open field. I am sure she could hear the whistles. The crowd understood that she was conflicted, so I put her away and brought out Caden.
Below is a picture of Peter Gonnet, about to send Jill on her big outrun. Penny Numbers, ASDA Secretary and intrepid reporter is taking shots with her nice big lens. I am positive Jet heard the whistles and could not concentrate on tracking. I can forgive her for that! She is a stockdog FIRST.
Caden did an awesome job of the demo, and people commented how his tail does not stop. I was very proud of him. I have no photos from the demo, but tonight Cassandra Beach came out to tracking. She is a dog trainer with a Certified Master Trainer designation, earned at Salmon Arm BC. I aso met her lovely dog Maverick who did a great job on his track. She took pictures of Caden. It is so nice to have one of him from the side, since I always get the top view. Cassandra and Maverick are pictured below (I took it with her camera!) 
Caden did a nice job tonight, but I need to restrain him more - as he is not finding a lot of his food and is not advanced enough to be skipping it this way. It takes a lot of work to hold him at a steady pace, but I am just thrilled with his progress and thankful for the watchful eye of Dan the Man, Dan Waters, our official tracking guru.
Above is a photo of Dan with Bronte. She is such a nice dog. 
PS Don't forget to check the Kleinen Wiese puppy blog - the pups (Caden's nieces and nephews) are ready to go!! Great working dogs for active people, but also, lovely companions in the home. Read about the pups that are left (4 left, from 9, but I think two more might be spoken for...) - http://www.kleinenwiese.com/Blog/
This post of mine is for those dog lovers who celebrate the birthday of their pooches in a big way, which most dog lovers don't do! Even I do not celebrate my dog's birthday party in the way that most dog lover peeps around me do. I don't decorate the kennel with balloons and color strips, nor do I invite my dog lover club members in their birthdays. But yes, I usually don't miss out cooking them their favorite treats and buy them something on their special day.
The featured 
You will notice in the pictures that I am really emphasizing searching at the scent pads, and laying serpentines with lots of food to control the progress and pace, and reward them for being nose down. Even River is doing this, but she gets BETTER treats than everyone else, being older and making the biggest adjustment in her behaviour.
I remember starting to teach tracking the next year (1995) and having students look at me in disbelief when I said there would be no double-laying. But our dogs actually did better and learned faster. Now I know it is because once you stop double - laying (going one way, then returning backwards on the same track) the dogs had to RE-LEARN how to track scent going one way only. Double laying didn't make it easier, it simply presented a different and odd scent picture to the dogs. Dogs naturally track in the direction of the track because of how scent a
Tracking may NOT be a big component in our social culture, but amongst those of us to track, we share the same passion and goals. I detect a shift going on these days back to more nose-down tracking. I think the reason is the popularity of urban tracking, and the realization that dogs can track more precisely on non-veg than we previously thought.
From my own experience and observation, we are all on a big learning curve when it comes to understanding how dogs track on non-veg surfaces. I sense more and more people are finding that what you train for, is what you get. In the field, we keep our dogs on the primary track. If we allow them to fringe the track, we get fringe trackers. Guess what - Glen Johnston wrote that! He was talking about the field, but I believe the same applies to non-veg.
I was first attracted to SCH because of the emphasis on precise, nose-down tracking at a nice pace, not too fast. So many people I know are either looking into SCH, or HITT, or finding other ways to keep their urban dogs on the primary track on hard surfaces. At the seminar I organized last year with Steve Ripley, he said that we should never follow our dogs when they are fringing paralleling the track - that we need to know exactly where we walked on non-veg surfaces, and must point it out to the dog and not move ahead until they are dead on. He uses chalk in the beginning to mark his track, to be sure he can point right to it.
A long-time tracking friend of mine (who is a CKC tracking judge) said to me that when she first started to track in the 70s, she followed a SCH method of training. Over the years, she allowed more casting off track and let her dog do more wandering off track, as we all were struggling with how much we should allow a dog to investigate scent drift. Now she too is deciding to go back to her roots, and teach nose-down tracking...of course, she is aiming for UTDX!
The past year or so has been quite a ride, with a lot of upheaval in my tracking life! But I know that I will grow as a handler, and I guess the proof will be in the pudding as my dogs adjust to the new methods.
Left to Right - Caden, River, Ted and Jet. Ted looks a bit worried and Jet has moved over, because this was what kept happening until I got this good shot...somebody likes to choose his own pose! Actually, every time the focus beeped he thought he was good to go, and would leap up, stupid camera noise!
Below: River - she is 9.5 years old and really looking beautiful. I brushed and trimmed her today (she was 'furminated') so she feels pretty. River is really more like my friend than a dog. We are both Pisces, which means we are sensitive dreamers, a bit out of touch with reality, but loving, perceptive, loyal and very creative. Yup, that describes River, who is a little quirky. Me, quirky? Maybe...
And here is Caden. He just turned 18 months. He went through that light phase some sables go through, a few months ago, but how he is beer-bottle red like his grandfather 
And here are Jet and Ted. These two are such a wonderful pair. I can't say enough about how much I admire them and enjoy having them around. I feel guilty that I no longer have my own sheep, so I work doubly hard at making their life fulfilling because it is true - Border Collies need a job and love to work. No matter what we do, these two throw their hearts into it. It is a matter of time until we have sheep and in the meantime we enjoy working at friend's places, and they love herding most of all, of course!
Jet is a Scorpio - passionate, perceptive, resourceful, possessive, psychological, prowling, determined, probing, fixed, focused. OK, this started out in fun, but I can't believe how much this describes her! Ted is a Gemini - talkative, mental, adaptable, flexible, changeable, responsive, sociable. Well, if you met Ted, you would find him very sociable. And he is very responsive and eager to please.
It was TED! AGAIN! I wondered when I might use this picture. Ted was on the couch being silly - he lifts his lips and grins with his teeth showing. Since I didn't take pictures tonight, you get treated with these silly shots.
I have often said Ted is not the best tracking dog I have had. He loves to find articles, and takes short cuts to get to them. I have a few theories about Ted's recent brilliance...which do you think sounds right?
Before Ted, I did Caden first, on the same shape track - scent pad and one arch. Caden started out well, but he tried repeatedly to rush ahead. I switched to small pieces of kibble with him tonight. Since he didn't have the focus I would like to see - he had a half-ration of dinner tonight. Maybe if he is a bit hungrier tomorrow, he will eat more kibble on track! He has a ton of drive, but I need to shape it into the right behaviour. I know I left him wanting more, since his track was so short - plus he watched everyone else work after him. He will be raring to go and hopefully try harder tomorrow - or I will pull him off the track after showing him what a good treat he missed!
Jet and Caden show off with toys. This is what it looks like when I try to watch TV. Since I have no tracking photos from tonight, you have to look at these silly pictures! 
Little Jet was the BRAT of the evening. Which figures, as she is giving a tracking demo at the Border Collie Nationals in a week and a half. She started off nicely. At the bend in the arch, she stepped off and tried to stare at me in protest. She did not like this footstep thing. She wanted to GO. I did as I was told at the seminar and WAITED HER OUT. She tried to jump on me, stare at me, and then she stared away for a long 3-4 minutes. When nothing worked, she got bored, put her nose down and found a piece of food. I said "good girl" and took a step forward. She buckled down and did the rest of the track really well. I like this method.
And yes, that yellow Giggle ball is ALWAYS in Caden's mouth