Finally a field!

The heatwave broke today, and it rained overnight, so I could hardly wait to get out tracking! Back home I had so many fields to practice tracking in, but here in Alberta I have not really found one, so do all my training in urban settings. I have a SCH tracking friend who has a field though, and he is at the Nationals this week in BC...so, I asked if I could train in "his" field, and it is OK! The field is only 20 minutes from my house. I am so happy to use it! Video is coming next, tonight, photos and description!
What a great night tonight. I took some video and Caden is really coming along. We are going to a SCH tracking seminar in two weeks, so I plan to get some work in ahead of time to be prepared. He had a load of fun playing with his ball later - and I practiced his sit and platz with the ball. I ran Ted on Caden's track afterwards, just to keep Ted interested. Ted's mission is just to find that toy so he can play. Mine is to keep him focused on the track. He seemed to beedle along quite nicely, but his little beedling legs took him right past the first corner. Funny that his weak area in herding (legs go too fast for brain) is the same in tracking!
I laid River a U track as we are mainly working on our starts and tweaking up her veg nose right now. Her start was good - I held the harness and did it like a restrained recall. Her turns were loosey-goosey. She likes non-veg so much more. So for now, she won't get it as much - it is really funny how they lose their veg nose and in River's case, all interest in veg. Tonight she really thought it was more for "marking" and I admit I got a bit frustrated - and she did buckle down near the end. I understood her wish to mark the field, since she had to sit in the car and watch every other dog track first. It should make her keen, but just makes her pissy! Well, literally I guess!
The little star tonight was Jet. I have decided it is time to get her working seriously towards her TDX and her UTD. Other than playing around with some HITT this spring, Jet has not seriously tracked this year. I laid her a TD length track with 3 turns and long legs. I also used my SCH articles for her, and put four down. She was not sure about the first one (rug) but with encouragement indicated. After that she indicated the rest. Her track was aged 1.5 hours - because I wanted to see just where we are at tonight, then develop a plan. Her first turn was a bit wobbly, but the next two were great - her 3rd being dead on. I also loved her pace - steady and sure. I am just super-excited about getting Jet out on the track again.
Jet was a great TD dog - the only one to pass at a test in Fall 2007, on a blustery rainy and windy fall morning. She aced her track, towing me along. I know I will love moving forward with her but was just waiting for the right timing!

River just needs fun, motivational maintenance now. And as you can see, she had a great time runnng around tonight just playing.

So it is Jet's turn to get some real work in on the tracking field. On the way home I let her ride on the front seat and she kept giving me little kisses. If you read the post below, you will know that it is quite an honour to be riding alongside a sweet and happy version of Jet! This could be the start of a beautiful relationship!