Late December 2022 to late January 2023

December 27

Millie. Six-turn stairstep, 350 yards (each leg 50 yards.). 25 minutes old. Sunny, 30 degrees, calm. Medium meadow grass, frost. Clear, 30 degrees, calm.

 Strong start; very good attention on all legs, although occasionally had to check right and left to make sure of the track. Good turns; loss of scent evident about 4-5 feet beyond corner; always found new leg by checking each direction. Good attention to the very end, where she found and indicated the article clearly.

December 28

Ilsa. Woods and obstacles. 395 yards (about 295 in woods); 7 turns (4 in woods); 4 articles (3 in woods). Aged 2:30. Clear, 38 degrees, light breeze. 

Start and first turn in woods; turn along dirt road for about 50 yards, then reentering woods, which were thick and full of fallen trees and shrubby undergrowth. 3 more turns in woods, then a turn upon emerging and going 50 yards across a meadow to final article.

Nothing seemed to bother Ilsa today--negotiated both wooded and non-wooded legs very well; plowed through the undergrowth and fallen trees (I had to lift her once over a very thick log). All in all a very good track

December 29

Millie -- 4 starts (1/2 hour; 1 hour; 1 1/2 hour; 2 hour), each 50x50 "L" track. No scuffing on 1/2 hour track, S14W12FW12 for 1 hour track, S14W9FW9 for longer tracks.

Strong starts on all four tracks, even though I tried to misdirect her by turning away from line of track on each start. Good confident track on all but the 2-hour-track; there she missed the corner and had a very difficult time reacquiring the second leg. Her first time with tracks older than 45 minutes.

December 30

Ilsa. Easy motivational track--5 turns, 445 yards. 4 articles. One easy obstacle (she has to stop at wall and let me lift her over, then wait until I clamber over). Medium meadow cover; damp. 

Start, all corners and legs clean. Wall obstacle tackled with little difficulty. Nice easy way to build confidence.

January 2, 2023

Millie. Basic formal six-turn stairstep. 350 yards. 0:45 old. Scuffing and food drops as shown in "tracking exercises". Cloudy, 52°, light air.

Nice clean start. Turns all done well, although with some considerable overrun at each of the corners before getting down to the track. Nice track accuracy. Good clear indication on final article.

January 3, 2023

Ilsa. Article exercise (6 on track) on six-turn, 350 yard track. 1:50 old. Cloudy, 59°, gentle breeze. 

Looking for clear indication at each article, which I got. Ilsa will more-or-less consistently sit about 5 seconds after finding an article, although sometimes she will simple stand and stare at it. Very seldom missing and article or not indicating. She will, however, occasionally stop 10 feet short of an article she can see and stare at it.

Good track in all technical respects.

January 5

Millie. "Lightning bolt" pattern, short legs, six turns. 350 yards. Foggy, 46°, calm. Medium-length hayfield, very damp.

Nice work on turns, which was the purpose of this track. Wasn't fooled, as she had been before, by scents at wood line or road side, between which this track bounced back and forth. Good indication at article.

Ilsa. Practice on aged (4:30) track. 4 turns, 420 yards. Medium hayfield. Damp. Sunny, 63°, light air. 

Had no problem with following a rather simple but old track; clean work on corners. and all legs.

January 6

Millie. Four-turn track with long initial leg. 370 yards, 0:40 old. Sunny, 41°, calm.

Good committed start; good work on first two turns. Found track after some searching on third and fourth turns on pine straw. Good track accuracy. Clear and sustained indication at final article.

January 10

Ilsa. Four turn track to practice behavior at wood line and road crossing. 470 yards, short grass and medium wiregrass, damp. Clear, 37°, calm. Three articles.

Good confident start; good persistence on long first leg. Right turn onto leg that crosses road and goes another 50 yards to wood line caused no problem. Search at, and right turn parallel to wood line exactly following track. Subsequent work very good.

January 11

Millie. Four-turn "dog head". 450 yards, 38 minutes old. Sunny, 37 degrees, calm. Medium-length meadow (mostly wire grass), damp. S14W12FW12.

A very strong start. I had actually turned 180 degrees away from the direction of the track, and Millie searched front, went behind me and started down the track with determination. Very good attention to track, including long section with pine straw, pine cones and fallen branches and other debris. Clear loss of scent indication and good, successful searching at corners. Clear article indication at end. A very good track on the whole.

January 12

Millie. Four-turn "top hat" (LRRL), 345 yards, 35 minutes. Misty, 34 degrees, calm. Medium-length hayfield, damp. S14W12FW12.

Another good track today. Strong start, if a bit tentative further down the first leg. (there was some odd odor pervading the entire area.) After first turn (which she made cleanly), all subsequent legs strong and determined. Good work on corners, including final corner near smelly roadside. She is really showing signs of systematic searching when scent is lost on corners. Nice clear article indication.

Ilsa. Fully Aged Track with Woods. Six turn (RLRRRL), 544 yards, 5 hours old. Mostly cloudy, 55°, light breeze. Medium length hayfield (damp) and woods. First leg 150+ yards (w/ article) along smelly roadside; 90° turn, second leg towards woods; 90° L turn along wood line; after 50 yard third leg (w/article) 90° R turn into woods; two turns (both R) in woods, two articles and roughly 200 yards altogether in woods. L turn immediately after emerging from woods with final leg along woodline.

Good determined start (again in spite of my turning 180° at start away from actual line of track); stuck to track all along first leg. Circled once completely at first corner, then marched straight down second leg. Was not fooled at all when reaching woods--went left and stayed with track along wood line. Made proper turn into woods, and worked with good track accuracy all through the woods, in spite of lots of fallen trees and general debris: good turns, found both articles in woods. The only hesitation came just as we reached the edge of the woods again, where she hesitated to go through some rough shrubbery, but she pulled it together and went through without help. Clean turn out of woods to final article along wood line.

January 14

Millie. Four-turn stairstep, first leg 125 yards, subsequent legs 75 yards each. 425 yards. 40 minutes old. Mostly medium to long meadow grass, some shorter cut as well. Overcast, 36°, Gentle Breeze. All legs S14W12FW12.

Good confident start after minimal circling. Tracked first (crosswind) leg slightly (2')  wide for about 60 yards, then corrected to do rest of leg dead on track. Went about 10' beyond first corner before indicating loss of scent; found second leg after checking left then right. On this an all subsequent corners once she finds the track she is starting to dig in hard, showing confidence in what she is doing. Remaining legs and corners very good. Poor indication on unusual final article, but otherwise a very good track.

January 20

Millie--formal six-turn instructional stairstep (as shown in "Tracking Exercises"), six turns, seven legs each 50 yards. 0:53 old. Sunny, 45°, gentle W breeze. Mostly medium grown-out wiregrass, with some short sections. 

A good start on a track somewhat older than most of the ones we have worked (I want to start working more often on age). All turns good and clear except for the fifth turn, which was on pine straw and seemed to give her a bit of trouble, but she eventually recovered. Generally went 3'-4' beyond corner before showing loss of scent and starting search, but on all but that one corner the search was systematic and effective. Good indication on final article.

January 23

Millie -- Four-turn track, 1:00 old. 300 yards (100/50/50/50/50). Partly cloudy, 39°, light air SW.  Mostly medium grown-out wiregrass, with some short sections

Tracks are getting gradually older. Good strong start and first leg. Again going 3'-4' before showing loss of scent on corners. First corner required some considerable work, but did settle on the right line after much searching. Subsequent corners progressively cleaner. Very good track accuracy on all legs. Fair-to-good indication on final article.

January 24

Ilsa -- formal six-turn stairstep. 3:02 old. Five on-track articles (3 on turns to work on restart in a new direction). 350 yards (Seven legs of fifty yards each.). Clear, 43°, light breeze SW. Medium to long trampled down wiregrass, dry

 Strong, determined start in spite of intentional misdirection. First and all subsequent legs very good track accuracy, Turns good, including those with articles. Uncommonly good (for her) article indication. Really ran the whole track with energy and enthusiasm.

January 26

Millie. Practice of persistence on long legs. Four-turn track, 460 yards,  0:40 old. Clear, 36°, light breeze SW. Very wet medium length hayfield. 

Good, eager start, made first turn with little difficulty. Got drawn off track by some unknown scent on second leg; regained it only after some considerable time and difficulty. Subsequent turns and legs all well-done. Good article indication at the end.

We have to work on some exercises for reacquiring a lost track.

Ilsa. Start in woods with first 200 yards and 2 turns in woods; straight exit from woods into hayfield, right turn along road, right turn back to wood line, left turn along wood line to article. Four articles (two in woods.) 410 yards. 3:00 old. Woods and very damp hayfield. Overcast, 46°, light breeze SW.

Clear decisive start in woods, followed first leg with little hesitation or searching, First and second turns in woods dead on. When she encountered a daunting obstruction (fallen tree with lots of sharp bits sticking out) she wisely detoured a short way, and then found her way back onto the track immediately. Was not fooled on emerging from woods or on final turn away from the wood line. Very good article indication.

January 27

Millie. Five-turn (RLLLR) track to try to isolate loss-of-scent behavior at turns and practice finding new legs. 355 yards. 1:05 old. Overcast, 32°, calm. Medium length trampled-down wiregrass; dry.

Solid start. Clear and almost immediate loss of scent indication (head-bob and turn) in first and second corners; no problem finding new leg. Next two corners and legs equally clean. Had some trouble on final corner, which was right next to a huge evergreen bush which seemed to intrigue her (critters?), but finally found final leg to the article. Indication so-so.

I'm beginning to isolate her track reacquisition behavior, either at corners or after a mid-leg search. Circles to the point of the track intercept, and then, without much of a head snap, starts to crab sidewise down the leg, slowly straightening out her body as she goes a few yards down the track. Weird but true.