We picked the coldest day of the long weekend to meet, lulled into the weather report that it would be zero or higher! But since we were all there, we went ahead with tracking. WE froze, but the dogs did so well that it was as though it was a nice day. In that kind of cold weather there is no need to age a track tremendously. Cold can kill the bacteria that creates a scent signature, so since it was cold we pretty much laid a track, then ran it. We did scent pads for 13 week old Sting, three straight lines for Ash.
While Michelle laid her tracks, I laid a track for Caden with 3 turns. The last leg went for the parking lot because in between every track we seriously had to sit and warm up in our vehicles. We are crazy!
Sting did two sets of 3 scent pads. The second time out, we added one or two footsteps connected to the scent pad - because Sting is SO food crazy that while I held him he screamed to get to the scent pads! I know you are thinking - he is a German Shepherd, of course he screamed because Mom was a few feet away from him~! But I was holding him and I know he was focusing on those scent pads for the treats. Bless his heart, he loves food and he buckled down every time with great enthusiasm. Sting comes from von
den Hoehenluft kennels in Washington State.
Pam intends to do SchH so she is imprinting him right now using SchH tracking methods, with the idea being to build drive and that footstep tracking technique. If you do it now, he will never forget it. So we had to do it in the winter, because we don't want to miss this great age for imprinting.
Ash went next. This was her fourth time out and I am very proud to say Michelle walked in a straight line! Way to go Michelle! She did one leg ending with a jackpot. Went ahead to start a second leg that was a bit longer, then after leaving that jackpot, laid one more leg in the opposite direction. So Ash had one leg in the shelter of a building, one going into the wind and another with her back to the wind. The results were interesting. She did a classic first leg, nice pace and great focus, getting every piece of bait. You can even see her nose down as she approaches the jackpots in these photos! Her second leg was great as well - her head was down even though sometimes going into the wind will bring it up. This was nice to see as it shows that she is 'getting the game.'
Before she did the third leg was when she lifted her head. The wind was bringing a strong scent of cows and horses from the Olds College farm (it is an Agricultural College). I know Ash, being a herding dog was intrigued and distracted by this - she probably thought those cows might need her to show them where to go! This exact thing happened to my Jet once, when we tried to give a demo during the Border Collie Nationals. It was unfair to Jet, she could not focus on tracking because her first love and her main job is herding (so Caden stepped up and did a nice job as a demo dog).
We waited Ash out, rather than put stress on her. Once she was through sniffing those great livestock smells, we could see she was ready to track again. Michelle cued her to get going, and that third leg was so awesome!
I used the opportunity to give Michelle some handling tips, since Ash was out ahead and totally working on her own, which is what we want. She was taking charge! So Michelle worked back on her leash until Ash was working at the end of her line and an arm's length from Michelle. I also had Michelle straighten up. She had been hunched, in case she needed to jump in and help point out a footprint. How nice they looked working together! Michelle felt relaxed and Ash - on only her fourth time out - demonstrated that she knows what the job is and I know it will all start falling together now to reinforce this confidnce in Ash and begin to add in some new things (age and length, falling a bit more behind her).
I always recommend that you alternate easy and hard, to keep a dog's interest and motivation up. The dog has to believe it is infallible to be a good tracking dog. Our job is to design a training plan for that dog - all dogs proceed at different paces. For Ash I would recommend going to two legs or three shorter legs next time, on a day with no wind, and where distractions will be minimal. What we want is a nice flow from one track to the next and then, we put her away to let her think about it and save the play for later!
I ran Caden and Michelle took some great shots. Caden did a beautiful first turn. I (stupidly) tried to pick up bait he skipped and let out too much line. Caden sped up and overshot his next turn, casting with the strong south wind. I made him responsible for finding his turn by saying "NO" and when he found it I praised him! He has so much drive and loves tracking. I always feel exhilarated after tracking with my boy.
Michelle laid a simple L-Track for River. I showed Michelle where to start and where to turn, but said to go left or rignt and not tell me. I need to start doing more of this, to get that "blind track" experience. I don't like introducing blind tracks where there is a possibility of error because you can really mess up your dog if the tracklayer is not quite sure of where they walked.
But if you want to do blind tracks, try it this way - agree on where the track will go and walk the tracklayer through the options. Sometimes I will have a tracklayer do a track I plot, with one wildcard turn as the last turn - as by then my dog will be doing well enough they should be in the zone (and me too). It is good for your dog to follow someone else's scent sometimes, before a test - to ensure they will do it with no issues.
In this case, Michelle chose to go left. River started well but was casting to the right on the first leg because of a strong wind from the south. So as we were trying to stay "on the line" of that first leg, she went more and more to the right. Her head was UP the whole time, except once when she checked the front of a car. Because of that wind, I gave in and looked back for Michelle to give me a yay or nay. If it WAS going to the right, I wanted to give a little to River, but I was hesitating because of her posture and that wind. However, I am not the first tracker to fail because I THOUGHT TOO MUCH AND DIDN'T FOLLOW MY DOG! I remember Ted's TD attempt, when his turn was on a slight hill. He indicated it, and I thought (in my foolishness) that he was probably just quartering a little on the hill. WE FAILED. I over-thought it, duh.
Part of tracking is remembering to trust your dog. As much as tracking is a science, there is also the art of reading your dog and the conditions, following your gut, letting go - and a bit of luck involved too. So back to River. Once I knew it went left, I stayed facing the right, and let River cast around, giving her a few steps to the right to see what she did. She made a big circle and came back. When she went left, she zeroed in on a garbage can which she sniffed very delicately. Then worked her way along a snowbank, and SUDDENLY she dipped her nose and touched the ground. That is what I am looking for! That little dip. You can see it in the photos above.
It was exhilarating for me and I definitely want more of this. I am telling you, even if you know where the track goes, if you did not lay it you will have those butterflies and hesitations you need to learn to cope with, that are part of the trial experience.
We went to Boston Pizza later and unthawed. It was cold, but so much fun! Every time we track is fun. Michelle has linked Ash's tracking lesson on her website, and updated with some new info! You can check out her blog
here.
