Dot's First Mile Long Track, Santa Rosa, July 30, 2009

I was called to Santa Rosa to do a search for a missing pug by the same of Maya. While driving to their home, I received a call that Maya had been found. Upon arriving, I asked if I could run the track with Dino and then run Dot, who is in tracking training, later on the track, and they said fine. The daughter wanted to go along with me on Maya's track.

Maya's track actually lasted several hours and she stopped it prior to finding the full route because she had to go to work.

After running Maya's track and getting some lunch, I took Dot out to run the same track. For the next hour and a half she got every single corner and turn. I tested her in various spots and she correctly confirmed or denied "yes's" and "no's."

I was thrilled. I had no idea if she could do a long track like that. I knew she would not have a problem with the age of the track because she has completed older tracks. She really has picked up a lot just being on tracks with Dino. What a great way to train a dog. Have them go along on other searches.

Starting on Tracking alongside Dino

I have started to take Dot along on tracks with me while working Dino. She is just standing back, while Dino is the primary. She gets the scent in the start like Dino, and she appears interested. She appears to be following it along the way. I want her to hear and understand how I talk to Dino and the words I use with him and how he works a trail. I want her to see what a trail is like and all the different things that happen.

I took both Dot and Dino to a lure coursing fun day in Soquel in Santa Cruz County.

I took both Dot and Dino to a lure coursing fun day in Soquel in Santa Cruz County. She did all five runs with full speed to spare. Three of them she ran with Dino, and they both were very equal. One of them I ran with another dog that was there, and they were both very even. It was also a nice little JRT mix.

The last one I ran by herself and she was still running full speed! I will take her again. I sent an email to Luratics, who is running the Wags to Wishes Event in July. I asked if they were running competitions or just fun runs.

I also did a Google search on all breed lure coursing and found a club in WI that has held an official trial last year. I am on their Yahoo group and I put in a post asking if they were going to have another trial soon.

Sometime in May and Last Night - Tracking Training

I worked Dot a couple of times I forgot to note. One one track that Dino did with Rocki's scent, I ran Dot on a section of the same track after running Dino. I gave her the scent in a plastic bag with a few pieces of kibble. Then I set up three more scented targets along the short track. She was very focused on the track the whole time and found each target.

Just last night, after doing a cat search in Alameda, I drove to a nearby business park and walked Dino on a short track. I came back about an hour and a half later and set the targets about 10 feet into the start, and then at a left turn and then at the end. I gave her the scent in a plastic bag with kibble near the start. She got the track all along and even picked up the left turn on her own and followed it to the end. This was the first track I did with just the targets and adding a turn. I will practice more of those turns.

Soquel, May 17, 2009 - Dot ran several times in the Terrier races

Coastal Dog Owners Group and Living With Dogs had their big Spring Dog Festival. This was the first time I had attended. I had just heard about it about three weeks prior. I came back a day early from vacation to attend this.

Dot ran several times in the Terrier races. She did great and was very fast. At the end, sometimes she tends to jump out of the course over the fence. We had some talks and by the last couple of races she was going through the hole in the cushion.

I also ran her through the lure coursing both by herself and with Dino. She ran very fast. By the end of the day, she still wanted to keep racing.

May 1, 2009 - Dublin - Tracking Training

After running Dino on a case in Dublin, I took Dot to a nearby park to put out some tracks for her. I walked around the park to see what it looked like, and it was pretty big. I decided to set two types of tracks for her. I set the first one with Scout and treats over various surfaces up stairs, over a fountain, up a little wall, through a playground and then back out to a large grassy area and up to the end of the grassy area near the fence. I wanted this one to age a bit.

I then went and set another track with Scout where I had a scent article with treats at one end and a scent article and treats at the other with nothing in the middle. I just walked Scout from one article to the next on a grassy area. The distance was about 25 feet up a small hump. I ran Dot on this track. She was following the track really well, and when she went off to the side to check out the scent, she came back and was following it up to the top and over the hump to the scent article. I was impressed that she was so focused on the track.

On the longer track she was very focused. It looked like part of the track in the playground had been eaten by another dog I saw walking in that area, but Dot was still following the scent. I told her to "check" the areas and then she picked up the treats around the corner and followed it all the way out to the grassy area and up the hill to the tree near the fence.

I did something a little extra that I used to do with Dino. I walked Dot back along the track that I walked Scout back to the car so she could pick up the scent was still there. I could tell she was still following the scent on her own. When we got back to the car, I gave her more treats for following the trail.

I am doing this part different with Dot than with Dino. I am doing both types of tracks with Dot simultaneously, compared to Dino I did first the tracking with the treats and then I transferred him to the track without the treats. This should help me to move things along a bit faster with Dot.

Monday, April 27, 2009 - Tracking Training With Dot

I was down in Sunnyvale for another reason and I had Dot and Dino with me. Afterwards, I set up a track across a grassy area, then down a paved path with a couple of turns and then a left turn back onto the grass. I hid the scent article with treats behind a tree. I spaced the treats out anywhere from one to eight feet in various spots, coming closer at turns.

I brought Dot out and put on her harness. I started her in some tan bark just before the grass. The grass was a couple of inches tall, in need of cutting. She followed it along the grass really well, and was definitely tracking along the grass to find the treats and follow the track. She was putting more work in on the grass, which is normal. No problem on the paved path, got the turns. Great again on the grass before the tree and followed the track around to behind the tree.

I was pretty happy. I thought she stayed on the track solidly and appeared to be trying to find the track when she couldn't see the food in the grass.