Yippee! We found out a couple of days ago that Millie has gotten into the TD trial in Rochester next weekend. We had a good full-length, full-age blind session two days ago, so I think she's ready to go. The cover is listed in the Premium as "Hayfield", which is exactly all we could have hoped for. A couple of more practice sessions in the next few days, and then rest for the balance of the week.
Posts
I'm picking up the thread here after several months without posting. We have worked steadily all summer, Ilsa on alternating non-vegetated surfaces and contaminated public lawns, and Millie on rotating components of TD work -- stairsteps, long-aged tracks, long distance (500+) tracks, with TD-like tracks thrown in. Millie had to take a few weeks off for minor surgery, but on the whole each has worked 2-3 time a week since May. New Feature . What has taken me so long to get September up is that I have been struggling with the twenty-first century. I have decided to try to post both maps and, more challenging, a few videos of their tracks. I have by no means posted every video I've taken; this month I have posted links to 2 each for Millie and Ilsa. It has been a real learning experience trying to get their videos off of my computer and downloaded. Apparently the only real way to do this is through youtube . Not that any of you might be tempted to do so, but I'd prefe...
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 Il...
November 7 Millie -- Pattern of scuffing, walking and food drops more or less the same as in previous week, this time back on short grass. Some 90 degree turns, some slightly open turns. Age 0:20. Overcast, warm and humid (for November), light air. Started well and with little searching on each of the three tracks. Stuck to each closely, and made each turn, albeit going 4'-5' through each corner before starting search. I am still trying to nail down a clearly defined action when she loses the track at a corner--slows down and gradually lifts her head, and then veers off to one side or another. Shows no preference for searching right or left. November 8 Ilsa -- Short track of about 250 yards to work exclusively on very short grass. Sunny, 51 degrees, moderate breeze. Four turns, four articles. Age 2:00. Used scuffing pattern to give her drive (S10W15, with food or article @ 8 and/or 9). In this case stuck very closely to track and made each turn within 2 feet of the cor...
October 31 Millie--Back to basics. Partly Cloudy, 55 degrees, calm. Very short grass, recently heavily contaminated. 3 (20 minute old) Tracks each 3x(S10W5(F@3))/OpenTurn/3x(S10W5(F@3). Generally stuck to track and made 2 out of 3 turns; one turn in heavily contaminated area was missed, but she got the track back when I brought her back. Probably shouldn't have tried a confidence-building track in such conditions, but she did well anyway. November 1 Ilsa--Multi-turn track with articles on each leg, 350 yards, 1:30 old. Overcast, 58 degrees, calm. Dense bushhogged field, damp. Strong determined start, good first turn; some hesitation when heavy cover turned to very short grass, but got the track back. Found and indicated all six articles. November 3 Millie -- same pattern as Monday, this time on a different field. Very short grass again. Good starts on each track; made all turns, although some after going 4 feet through corner. Loss of scent indication still a bit vague. Foun...
October 28 Ilsa. Easy, fun track to build confidence. Mostly cloudy, 54 degrees, Gentle Breeze. Cover medium length meadow grass, dry. Track 400 yards, 4 turns, 5 articles; 3:00 old. Took the start right away, drove down first leg with determination. All subsequent legs just as strong. Turns were very good and clear; only had to search carefully at the first turn, which was at a smelly, littered roadside. Even then took only a short time to find the second leg. Followed track precisely to, parallel to, and then away from woodline. Found and clearly indicated all articles. A very encouraging job on a regulation-aged track in breezy conditions. Millie. Same conditions as Ilsa, only cooler (43 degrees). Two three-turn tracks, all walked off normally, with random but frequent food drops. Two articles on each track, to give her motivation (articles mean big rewards!). Good work on all legs and all but one turn, which she missed completely and had to be brought back to. We n...
I have created this blog to follow the progress of Ilsa, Millie and the rest of my PBGVs through their tracking careers, and to share with my fellow students in Judi Edwards tracking class. Most of the posts here will be our training journal: brief descriptions of our practice sessions; some, however, will be longer discussions of specific observations or problems. Dogs: Ilsa (Ch. Goose Creek Brownstone We'll Always Have Paris TD): 10 years old. Has been tracking for about 3 1/2 years. Earned her TD in February 2020, and has been working on her TDX ever since. Millie (Ch. Brownstone Mille Tonnerres De Goose Creek): 6 almost 7 years old. Started working on tracking this past May, and is just now starting formal classes. At least at present she can (usually) do a 3-turn track about 30 minutes old. I'll just get started with my first entry, and along the way I'll explain some of the shorthand I use in my journal entries. October 26. Ilsa: Eight-turn stairstep track, with ma...