Thanksgiving Tracking and Training

What a nice weekend! TWO Thanksgiving Dinners, one at my friend Shannon's and another at Dan and Susan's. I will be doing the Lemonaid Detox from now until I leave for Hawaii (not counting the salad I had today after hours of training and tracking...I was just hungry, OK?)

Above is a photo of Caden I took today after we tracked. He is looking very mature! Last night at Dan's, his friend had a look at Caden. This guy is a 30-year RCMP dog trainer and handler. He liked Caden a lot. Mainly he said Caden has a clear head, was a quick learner, and is really primed to work. He wants to work, and he likes to learn. He also liked his colour and pigment, and commented on his drive and that he could have a lot of fun with a dog like Caden and would train him in a heartbeat. It was so neat to have this trained eye on my boy. I keep hearing that I need to get with the program with this dog, it is a lot of pressure (mostly what I put on myself, but really, don't want him to fall behind as I learn the SchH ropes).

So today, I spent HOURS working Caden. It was fun, as always. I went to one place and worked on obedience. Then, went to the College to track. Before tracking I simply walked Caden and let him burn some steam and be a dog. What was interesting was that after he ran and ran (while I walked and walked) he decided he WANTED to go to his trailer for a drink. The RCMP guy told me that I should tire Caden out so that he wanted to go to his trailer...so that was my plan and it worked. I guess these RCMP guys know something eh? Magic.

Then, Caden and I sat on the grass and waited for his track to age. It was super windy so I laid a track that went into the wind, with two turns and short legs with crosswinds. He did well. It was only 30 minutes old but I wanted more to see him problem solve.

Caden's track today

Jet's berm start

Jet's track started on this high berm in a crosswind. I am trying to give her tricky starts, because that will always be the toughtest part of a UTDX. I was really proud of her. In the photo above you can see the wind blowing her ear up and my flag straight. That's my car and trailer in the background.



While Jet was tracking, I noticed an audience. These people wanted to see my dog trailer. We chatted afterwards. The black and tan GSD is also named River! The other is Rico. And the Chihuahuas are Pancho and Jimmy.

I made a turn uphill into the wind for a challenge, thinking she would want to go downhill and she did it. Then it went down the stairs but she got tangled trying to find that turn. She did it fine, to the glove, after I untangled the line. Stupid lightpost.



River's tricky start

As with Jet, I laid a short first leg for River with a crosswind. She did very well and made her turn onto the non-veg parking lot. Once there, she seemed to cast back and forth to find the leg, but does dip her nose on it. She made her way up to the turn, but was consistently casting to the boulevard, and just pulled me to her article. It was as though she could smell it, and her track was only 30 minutes old so I think that is now way too FRESH for River, who is so used to old tracks. Oh well, River knows her stuff. I was most concerned with the start and first turn which were fine.

PS I have no idea why River's video is sideways. I know I used my iPhone the normal way. I don't know how to fix it. So you have to turn your head!

Ted did a short track in a crosswind, and pulled me to the glove. I think he spotted it on the way to the flag (cheater). But he sure loves his glove! 

And the Mountain Ash berries on these trees say winter is going to be long and hard...look at all the berries! Good to get some tracking in now.