Sunday, 28 October's Class

Today we had Dawn and Penny, Elissa and Bodhi, and Lorril and Dottie on the field. Today, there were several notable performances from all three teams.

Lorril and Dottie laid a track closest to the stables at the east side of the field. We were concerned about Dottie's reaction to a horse and rider who stopped to watch, as Dottie had never seen a horse. Well, I still think she hasn't seen one, because she never even glanced at it! Deep nose, wagging tail; a happy tracker!

Dawn and Penny had an interesting track. Penny would "buttonhook" back to the food on the track, then continue on. She then tracked Dawn's path back to the car in one steady track. It turns out that Penny is ready for tracks with little or no food on them! Dawn laid a 30 pace track with food in every step. She then walked back to the start, went about 15 yards west of the first track, and laid another, longer track with 2-3 pieces of food at the beginning, and a small pile of treats at the end. Bingo! Penny tracked the second track with a deep nose, no buttonhooking, and a steady even pace to the end! Penny also grasped the indication of articles. In about 15 quick repetitions, she was downing at the article that Dawn had dropped on the ground.

Elissa and Bodhi worked a 210 pace track with 2 right turns, a prelude to a regulation Schutzhund I track. Bodhi picked up the scent right away, and moved out at a steady, even pace. His first turn to the right was taken with no change in speed, no change in depth of nose; it was as if a string from his nose to a hand underground was pulling him around the track. At the second turn, he gave one quick toss of his head to check the track, then turned right. Again, no loss of speed or concentration. Only a particularly hard-hearted judge would have taken one point for the head check; otherwise it was a 99.5 point track! 90 more paces, 2 articles, and Elissa and Bodhi are good to go on trial day.

It was particularly satisfying to see Elissa and Bodhi doing so well. For a long time, it was as if Bodhi didn't understand what Elissa was asking him to do. Elissa was getting frustrated and discouraged. For some reason, the last three tracks that I have seen looked as though a switch had been thrown in Bodhi's head, and the light bulb had come on. "Oh, NOW I get it!" was the picture of Bodhi on the track today, and I congratulate Elissa for not giving up.

Dave Port