Variable Surface Tracking

We've been very busy here so I am sorry that it has taken so long to post about the Variable Surface Tracking Workshop. I worked very hard and learned a lot.

This is Ed Presnall, the tracking expert who taught the workshop. VST tracking is the hardest type of tracking and he set up lots of great exercises to help us dogs (and our scent handicapped people) succeed.



I met lots of nice dogs at the workshop. It was interesting to see the different ways each dog approaches tracking. As you know, I am pretty intense about my tracking but some dogs are more deliberate or relaxed about it. I actually have to learn to slow down!



We began with easy starter tracks and article games. I know them but Ed said it is very important to practice them often. I am not very good at article indication so we are going to be doing a lot more of that.

In VST we don't just track on grass but on pavement, sidewalks, near buildings, near cars, across roads, up and down stairs and such. Each track that Ed laid had a problem for us to solve and each track got progressively harder.



Here you can see that I've made the turn. Barbara has to read my body language to see when I've gotten to the turn. She also has to learn to trust me, that I know more about scent than she does!



I've found the plastic article on this leg of the track. I also had to find leather, cloth and metal articles.



Even though this is the fourth track on Sunday, you can see that I am still going strong. It was a lot of work but so exciting. The only time I stopped tracking and got a bit silly was when one of the tracks went near goose poop! I just couldn't resist and grabbed some before Barbara saw it and told me to leave it!



We were all very tired after two days of intense learning and tracking. My brain and my nose needed a rest from all the work.



If you are interested in seeing more pictures of us tracking go here. Grady's person took lots of great photos of us working. Maybe you and your person would like to do some tracking. You can go to Ed's website to find out more about next year's seminars. You will learn a lot.

I had a great time and of course we are trying to put into practice all that we learned at the workshop. It is too hot here in NC to do much tracking right now. Ambrose has stopped itching so much thank goodness and no longer has to wear his satellite dish. I am glad because I was getting sick of getting bashed with it. Tomorrow I will be practicing my freestyle routine because that competition is in 3 weeks! Yikes! I better get down to work.

Sniffing with a Purpose

As you know I love to track. I get to use my nose to find interesting things, solve problems and get big rewards! What is not to like. Some of you have expressed interest in tracking and I am sure that you would love it if you tried it. If my goofy little brother Ambrose can do it, you will be brilliant at it. I thought I would show you how to get started.

Here are some of my tracking articles that I get to find. They can be cloth, leather, plastic and metal. All you really need is some of your person's socks. Barbara puts my articles in a plastic bag with a t-shirt that she has worn to get the articles nice and smelly.



You can start with just your flat collar and a leash. After you get into tracking you will want a non-restrictive tracking harness, and a long line. Mine is from climbing rope because I am so strong and Barbara has to wear rappelling gloves because I pull so hard and the rope would burn her hands. Tracking is the one time I am allowed to pull so it makes it a lot of fun.



I am modeling my harness. They come in many colors but you can never go wrong with basic black as a fashion statement. I only get my harness put on right before we start to track.



Then your person or a friend has to lay the track. It is vital that your person knows where the track is so they can use survey flags to mark it (gardening stakes with surveyor's tape works well). Here is a flag with the start article, a black sock.



All your person has to do is take a couple of steps and put a treat down in their footstep. See the piece of string cheese by her foot? They do this a couple of more times and then put an article down with treats. Then a few more steps and another article.



Your first tracks should be very short and your person should help you a lot and of course praise you. They should make an extra big fuss when you find the articles. I don't need the pieces of treats at the beginning of the track anymore because the scent is enough.



Barbara and I have little routines that we do at the start of the track to help me get ready to work. I have to lie down near the start flag and sniff the article. This is boring because I really want to just run the track but Barbara wants me to think.



Then off we go with me with my nose down, following the track. What is it that I am smelling? Some of it is the crushed vegetation from where it was stepped on. Some of it is smell from the person. People think that with all their baths and showers they are so clean but they are shedding skin cells and smells all the time. They have no idea because their noses are almost useless compared to ours.



The scent behaves differently depending on the weather conditions and the terrain. It is fun to figure out where the track goes and of course get the big reward at the final article! Look what I found this morning!



If you and your person want to start tracking there are good books that can help you such as Try Tracking by Carolyn Krause and many others that you can find at Dogwise.

Use your nose!!

Tracking and Topiary

My favorite dog sport is tracking. I really enjoy Rally and Canine Freestyle but when I track I get to use my nose to find interesting things. It is great fun to go out on a beautiful morning to the fields with Barbara and meet our friends and do some tracking.



We are really beginning to work as a team. She is reading my body language and trusting me to stay on track.



Of course besides the lovely smells I get delicious treats. This morning it was sausage biscuit and cheese!



My BFF Ayla tracked too. She is very good at it and I know her person was really pleased with her work. Here she is getting into her special tracking harness.



Considering that we both have a big silly streak, our people are impressed with how hard we work when we track.

Ambrose got to do a little puppy track. Of course Barbara and Sandi carried on about him like he had found buried treasure instead of a few gloves and things that were only 10 feet apart!! It really is sickening to listen to them praise him constantly.

He is getting big now. I think his ears are getting very long. Or maybe I have stretched them from chewing on them so much!




Barbara took Ambrose on a walk at Fearrington and saw these cool topiary dogs.

Ambrose had to take a good sniff to figure out that this terrier was made of moss and not fur.



This big one looks a lot like our Airedale friends.



Look at this green version of Stanislaw and Big Pupi.



And who does this look like?

Good Time at the Dog Park and Tracking Fun

I knew it was going to be a fun morning when I saw Barbara packing up my tracking bag. And it got even better when she drove the dog crate on wheels through the drive-thru at Burger King. I could smell those sausage biscuits and was anticipating the fun of tracking and the great rewards.

But first we stopped at the dog park to run off some energy and meet my boyfriend Riley. I haven't seen him in awhile so I was glad to get the chance to play with him.

There was a nice group there this morning and we are had a good sniff at one another.



I did a lot of running around at first. No pictures of that because I was going so fast that I was a blur. Then I invited Riley to play with me.



The two of us get along very well and you can see my good play postures and curvy body language.







We really enjoyed the opportunity to play together and I know that Barbara was glad to see that the play helped me settle down a bit.

Riley found a nice chocolate lab mix dog to play with as well. The did a lot of bitey face and finally they both got down on the ground to chew on each other. Very silly but fun and they got very dirty too.




Then it was on to the tracking fields. Here is my BFF Ayla with her person. Ayla is all ready to track.




My boyfriend Trotter is a good tracker but he is not as intense about it as Ayla and me. He is working that track very well. I think he likes agility better because he recently got his Novice Agility title.



I ran a track where I had to find 8 articles including gloves, socks and slippers. I found them all and got sausage biscuit and muenster cheese as my reward. Very well worth it! No photos though because Barbara can't manage to hold the tracking line and take pictures at the same time! Then we headed home as I really need a nap now.

Tracking for Roast Beast

I got up early this morning to go tracking near the lake. It was cool and breezy which always makes me feel skippy. My boyfriend Trotter was there too with his person Chris. Barbara had a very special reward for me - delicious roast beast - which I had never had before. Each article on the track had pieces of roast beast under it. What a wonderful smell.

I was very excited at the beginning of my track and took some time to settle down. It was windy which blows all the scent around. Once I focused I did very well (and found 2 articles with roast beast) until I got to the first turn. I knew where it was and indicated the turn but Barbara had mistaken where she had laid the turn and didn't let me go there. I tried to tell her again but she didn't pay attention so then I got a bit confused. She really MUST learn to trust me since I am the one with the good nose!! Even Chris knew that I had indicated the turn. Barbara must not be able to smell much at all, poor thing.

Finally we got going the right way, I crossed a dirt road, found more articles and made a very good right turn. Then it was straight on to the final article which was a special toy filled with roast beast and cheese. Yeah!

Here is a picture of me with the toy. It is made out of fire hose material and is very strong.


You can see that the bottom opens up to a secret compartment for the roast beast.


I gobbled up the roast beast and cheese so fast that Barbara couldn't get a picture of it. HA!!