This Sunday's Tracking

Lorril and Dottie arrived with Dawn and Penny at 8:00 am. Both dogs are now doing 'S' turns and missing food due to attention to the track. Missing the food in this case is not a bad thing. The dogs were passing over the food and not stopping to eat it, because they were more interested in the track.

I noticed one other positive sign from both dogs. When their handlers took them out of their cars, both dogs immediately put their noses down to the pavement! They were obviously enjoying their tracking.

Dawn told me that she doesn't like the idea of highlighting her copy of Scent and the Scenting Dog. To clarify the requirement, if you don't like the idea of marking up your book, just take notes on separate sheets of paper. The important thing is that you can show me that you have read the book. Anything you're comfortable with is fine.

Dawn let us know about REI Sporting Goods as a supply source for materials to use for making tracking lines. They have flat and round line used in mountain climbing that is excellent for our purposes. Clips can be purchased at Ace Hardware and other hardware stores. This will wind up costing a handler less money than a commercial line, and will be tailored to the individual's preference.

We retired to a local Starbucks after training. Lorril shared some neat organization ideas for the business management side of my little endeavor. I especially liked her card file attendance system, and her ideas about marketing and insuring that people stayed motivated to complete the course. Thank you Dawn and Lorril for your help!

We will be moving back to the dirt field at the beginning of September. Everyone has made enough progress that we can begin the next phase of training.

See you Sunday at James Logan H.S. at 8:00 am on Sunday, August 12th,

Dave Port