Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Snow Tracking

Well, I am really not a winter person, but it seemed so nice tonight, I took the 1/2 hour between the time I get home and nightfall to lay a short track in an empty lot on my block. Magic and I haven't tracked for over a year, and we havent done any snow tracking. So I gave him 3 short legs with 2 turns and 2 articles. I also dropped one treat shortly after the start.

Well, Magic had no problem remembering this game. He found the firt treat and took off after the first article, made the first turn and stopped for the glove. Went on made the second turn and pulled hard to the last article a metal canning ring. Whew! Quick but very clean. He didnt drop at his articles, but he is shorter than the snow so maybe he didnt want to. Or maybe he forgot, but he stopped and indicated. Granted it was short, but darn that felt really good.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Isn't tracking the BEST endeavor? The dogs never forget how to do it once they learn the game. I think if we lay off a while, I'm the one that needs to be retrained to trust the dog's nose. Snow tracking is fun.

Anonymous said...

Good for you! I did some tracking in El Paso and belonged to the tracking club here until I quit in protest for their cheating at the draws. My big issue with tracking in El Paso you have to start at 1st light and I'm not really a morning person. My Stoney was really good at it and maybe I'll try it again sometime. The enviorment here is very hard. Lots of the judges that come here are amazed that the dogs pass at all, dogs and handlers from outside the area are often overwhelmed by the "sand". I've laid many at TD track and hoped my tracks were passable. If you are ever going to come track in the desert practice in the SAND!