This past Saturday we met our tracking comrades, Lynn,
Lorrie and Kristine at Red Deer College for another group training session. The
field and weather conditions were the best we have had in all the months of
training. We have tracked in snow and ice, difficult terrain, chilly temps and
fields full of sloughs with an assortment of critters and their
droppings. Tracking in harsher conditions seems to be paying off when working
our dogs on an ideal day which is seldom and few in between - especially in Alberta when the weather can
change every five minutes!
After a brief rainfall in the morning, the sun awoke and
burst through the ocean-wide skies. She presented us with a field moist and
lush with veg and embraced us with perfect temperatures for the day.
Once the blind tracks were plotted ( we did 2 tracks per
team with 3 to five corners), each track- layer followed behind the dog/handler team to watch and record mental thoughts as they ran their tracks. Since these
are “training” sessions, the track-layer has to be prepared to assist the team
with any difficulties – like all venues of training, one needs to concentrate
on setting up you and your dog for success, and give guidance on working out any obstacles.
The tracking comrades continue to offer each other support as we track along
with our wonderful working dogs. Even on a perfect day with ideal weather
conditions the dog has to work with distractions - traffic in the distance,
scenting along sheds and fencing, sirens, transitioning up and over hills, and
one gopher for Ash who did one pounce then got immediately back to work.
It certainly was a great sight to see each dog team dedicated
to their tracks, working smoothly with their corners, and scenting for the ultimate
“pot of gold” at the end – “the stranger’s missing article.
Since it was a beautiful day, we decided to “top it off” at
Starbucks in Red Deer for a cold coffee beverage. It was nice to have Lorrie
join us since she could not make it to our last group session on my ranch.
Below is a collective effort from all the
comrades of some favourite pics from our session. We even had time to assist Lynn in
some SAR (Search & Rescue) training with her golden girl “Quila” after a successful day of tracking.
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| Ash finds the "pot of gold" (Kristine's missing mitten ) at the end of her track laid by Kristine |
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| Ash moves smoothly and thoughtfully along her second track of the day |
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| Kristine and her rottie gal "Teah" track up and over hills |
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| Lorrie & her GSD "Zevah" keep dedicated to the track with lots of traffic distractions |
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| Lorrie and her afghan boy "Shamar" concentrating on his blind track laid by Lynn |
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| Lynn and "Quila" dedicated to their blind track laid by Lorrie |
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| Lynn praises her girl after a successful search and rescue session |
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| The Tracking Comrades enjoying their cold beverages at Starbucks |
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Lynn introduces me to the Vanilla Bean Frappacino and apparently seems to be quite proud of that:-)
My "easy, breezy cover girl" Ash at home on the range after a great day of tracking with her comrades
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