New Tracking Location

We will be tracking is a new location. We will use the parking lot of the Pioneer Regional Trail Staging Area. Instead of turning right on Mission Blvd, turn LEFT. Go north on Mission Blvd to the intersection of Whipple Rd. and Mission Blvd, and turn right. The parking lot is at the end of the road.

By using this location, we will avoid the stable smells that caused us trouble today. We can also walk down a horse path to lay tracks on the long side of the field, thereby increasing the usable area for tracking. The horse path does get used by equestrians, so we will have to be considerate of the issues regarding horses reacting to dogs, and vice versa. We will be able to avoid the issue of crossing each other's tracks at the new location, plus you won't have to make any confusing series of turns to get there.

As soon as I find out when I track in my upcoming trial December 1-2, I will advise the class when our next class will be held.

Dave Port

Sunday's Tracking

1. Lisa and Bob, and Janet and Pepper, both passed their Orange Star test! Congratulations! Lisa and Bob passed with flying colors, even though Bob had to climb out of a couple of furrows that were as deep as he is tall. Which is the same as Britta or Hunther climbing a 3 foot hill to follow the scent. Lisa was also getting over a case of food poisoning. Great job!

Janet and Pepper had problems with her track, as did a few other dogs today (more on this later). She had gusting winds, the smell of the horse stables, and dry cold soil to track on. The first attempt didn't go well, so Janet put Pepper back in the crate (in Janet's cool new car!). After a couple more teams tracked, Janet laid another track that Pepper followed calmly and competently to its end. After the second track, I asked Janet for the pace count. When she told me 50/50/50 (with a left and a right turn) I realized that she had just done the Orange Star track! Outstanding!

2. Patti O'Neill and her Tervuren, "Anika" joined us this morning. Patti is going for her Schutzhund 1 title with Anika next week, and hopefully will be joining us again in the future. Welcome aboard!

3. Dawn and Penny, Janet and Pepper, and me and Hunther all had problems with tracks laid near the 8:00 am class start. (Interestingly, Elissa and her two dogs, Bodhi and Leroy, didn't seem to be bothered by the conditions.) All three of us laid second tracks, and all three of our dogs handled the second track much better than the first. I couldn't figure out what was going on, as all three dogs are usually good trackers. But I noticed that Penny's second track was run with a deep nose almost the entire way, whereas her first track had a lot of trailing and air-scenting. For some reason, I checked the thermometer in my truck. I saw that the air temperature had risen form the low 40's to 59 degrees during Penny's second track. The wind had also slowed to almost nothing. Afterward, I laid another track for Hunther, aged it for 45 minutes, and he ran the first two legs almost perfectly. (He had some attention issues caused by some medication I had given him, another variable to be controlled for.) I would have scored him in the 82-85 point range for the second track; he would have gotten a failure for the first one.

Here's what I think was going on: The soil and the air was cold and dry; even for those who hydrated their tracks, the low soil temperature inhibited the growth of the bacteria in the scent to the point that the tracks couldn't age properly. That, combined with the wind further drying the soil and removing more heat, along with the competing distraction of the stable smells to confuse and distract a dog that had already lost the track scent, made the tracks much more difficult for our dogs to figure out. I tried to locate a website that would explain how much faster soil loses heat than air, but got an information overload (none of which answered my question). Also, on reflection it seems that the farther away from the hills and stables a dog was, the better the dog did on the track.

It sure wasn't pleasant watching Hunther perform so badly at first (with a week to go before his Schutzhund 2 trial!), but I learned a lot about environmental factors affecting Hunther's and the other dogs' performance this morning. I also learned to control my panic!

Dave Port

We will be tracking at the Mission and Decoto field on Sunday, November 25. I will be at the field at 7:00 am to accommodate Elissa's schedule, but you can wait until 8:00 am if you like.

And now for the good news...they plowed the field! I went to the north end and laid tracks for Hunther and Britta. I sunk in up to my shoe tops! It should be excellent conditions, if anyone wants to try for an Orange Star.
See you Sunday, Dave Port

Lorril and Dottie Pass The Orange Star!

Lorril and Dottie passed their Orange Star test today! Dottie moved out calmly and confidently on the track. She got to the first turn, and made a hard left onto the second leg. I thought she had smelled a rabbit hole, but she then proceeded down the second leg with no change in speed. It was an extremely accurate turn! She took the second turn the same way, then got to the big pile of treats at the end.

One thing that I noticed was that Dottie's tail did not wag as much as usual, at the beginning of the track. It appears that once she gets going, she concentrates to the point that she forgets to wag her tail. Of course, that all changed at the end of the track.

Elissa and Bodhi tracked well today. Elissa's track wasn't exactly laser straight, but Bodhi didn't seem to notice or care. Elissa later told me that she had trouble laying a straight track. I explained that the inner ear and sense of balance caused this, but I think she thought I was pulling her leg. So, here's the link to a good article about the graveyard spiral. Really, I wasn't making it up! :-)

I had an interesting conversation with an experienced AKC tracker at the Schutzhund club afterward. She told m that Schutzhund-style footstep tracking (like we're doing) made her dog more accurate on the longer, older AKC tracks. She said that if she had to do it over again, she'd train Schutzhund style first, then switch to AKC style.

See you next Sunday at 8:00 am,

Dave Port

Sunday's Tracking

Tracking will be held at the Mission Blvd. and Decoto Rd. field at 8:00 am on Sunday, 18 November 2007. See you there!

Dave Port

Sunday's VST Test

I went to the PAFTA VST Test held at Evergreen Valley college, and had a GREAT time! The people were friendly, explained the rules and trial etiquette, then we were off to watch the first team give it a try. Unfortunately, this team (a lady and her Yorkshire terrier) caught a bad break. Their starting area was on a grass strip about 75 yards long; as we arrived to watch, we saw that there were about 30 Canada geese and ducks on the start. You could see the Yorkie pick up the scent, then lose it, pick it up, lose it, etc. Finally, the judges had to call them off. Hopefully they will have better luck next time. One thing that was interesting was this: I don't normally think of a Yorkshire Terrier as a hard puller, but this dog stretched the line when it was on the scent.

The second team was a lady and her Beagle. They started on a downhill sloped grass area, went through a landscaped area covered in English ivy, around a concrete courtyard in the center of a group of classrooms, down a series of terraced concrete steps, along another grass area, down a concrete sidewalk and around a corner to the end. This was all in the center of a typical community college campus, with buildings and trees and a hundred other things to stir the scent. this was another hard pulling dog; the handler had to RUN after him when he was on track! As we hung back about 50 yards and the dog rounded the last turn, we couldn't actually see the end of the track. But we knew the team had passed when a scream went up and the judges began to clap and call us in! It was a very exciting moment! the Beagle's handler (whose name I unfortunately but typically didn't get) said that they had tried the VST six previous times without success. The ladies whose names I did get, Bea and Linda, told me that passes are rare and that I was fortunate to have seen one. They asked me if this was something I might like to try. Oh HELL yeah! I am going to their club meeting next Friday, and will pass on the info as I get it.

This look like it would be a LOT of fun!

Training on SATURDAY, November 10th

Training will be held on Saturday, November 10th at 8:00 am this week. We'll be at the Mission and Decoto field. On Sunday, I am going to Evergreen College in San Jose to watch a Variable Surface Tracking event hosted by the Palo Alto Foothills Tracking Association. Here's the map. I will have to find out the time, but I am planning on being there at 7:30 am.