Today I met Terrie, Steve and Janet and we worked VST tracks. It was another clear, sunny day that was cool. Terrie put in a really nice track for Devon. This track was 520 yards long with 314 yards of non-veg (60%). There were several MOT turns.
I tried very had not to find the chalk but read my dog. I'm always so focused on knowing where I'm going, and this time I tried very hard to let my dog tell me. Devon started strong and worked her first transition for several minutes. I could see the chalk and she knew where we were going, it was just a matter of convincing herself.
On the map with this post, the blue line is the track, with the red being the non-veg. You'll see in the first parking area, the red line is not with the blue line at all; the red line is the line Devon actually took. Because of the wind and the slight slope of the parking area, the scent pooled against the curb and that's what Devon scented.
Although it's hard to tell, there was a steep drop along a concrete wall to water below. Devon also put her feet down there and considered making her way down the slope to the water. I know the scent spilled over and down to the water, but I knew Terrie didn't go down there! I'm glad Devon decided the same thing.
She hesitated only briefly before following the track across the pedestrian bridge over the water and down the steps. I think this was remarkable for Devon given her difficulty in her TDX on the dam along the water. This one person wide bridge was a challenge. She searched at the base of the steps and again back toward the water (with a well timed "leave it" for goose poop) before committing out into the parking lot. She got a nice reward for this commitment by finding her metal article!
We tracked on and Devon handled the MOT turn very well before transitioning back into the grass. What you cannot tell on the map was that there was again a hill down to water. This time Devon stayed on the top of the hill where the track was for quite a while before venturing down to the water. She crittered a little at the base of one tree but then got back to work.
I was especially pleased I didn't have to use the "leave it" command very often on the goose poop. Devon was wanting to work, and she was working confidently. She worked up to the building, across a small seating area with a quick sniff of the flowers in the planters (there was evidence of a squirrel, so I'm thinking she was really sniffing for it) and then along the building in the shade. She came around the building and found the plastic article.
After finding this article, she followed the track through several transitions: 1) away from the building on grass, 2) from shade into sun (which Steve reminded us last week was a transition), and 3) finally onto pavement. She worked this area for a long time before committing to the pavement right at the chalk mark.
She then rushed across the drive and indicated the scent went onto large rocks that led to a ravine with water. I was pretty sure no tracklayer would go there. When I saw the faint chalk mark on the drive, I was sure.
Devon worked this area for a while and became unfocused. We used the excuse of a vehicle leaving to get her back in the grass, watered and rescented. This did the trick, and she tracked back out onto the pavement much stronger. She went across a bridge and fringed right some, especially when she saw a "jogger" on a cell phone. When she first saw him she thought about approaching him. I think if he would have spoken to her she would have. But she did go back to work which I was pleased with.
She tracked strong until she got to the next building and worked the curb. She had a hard time staying in the curb and wanted to work up along the building on the sidewalk and even the grass and mulch up against the building. I worked to hold her, but she was pulling very hard. We wondered if the scent was pulling up against the building through here or if the scent was wrapping around the building from the front.
Devon tracked around the front of this building; and in spite of the reappearance of the jogger, she was strong to the glove. I was extremely pleased with this track. Devon showed a lot more confidence in her job than even a week ago. I appreciated Steve's guidance on when to go with her and when to let her search and when to hold her in. Terrie's questions many times mirrored my own thoughts, so the discussions we had on the track were invaluable to me.
Terrie ran a blind track Steve set for her in a nearby office complex. It was really great to now be behind the tracking team wondering the same things I did when I was on the line! Terrie and Sage did a great job (they are way more brave than I am at this point).
It's also very interesting to contrast the tracking styles of Sage, Archie and Devon. On Archie's track, he comes up with loss of scent just about the time Steve said he would. Devon doesn't work that wide of an area. But Terrie must work a lot harder with Sage when she loses scent. Sage tends to work out versus in, likely because of the way the Weims and Godlens differ in their field work.
It's really rewarding when hard work in training pays off, and I felt like this is what happened today for all three teams. I think I'm getting to be a better tracklayer (Steve and Terrie haven't fired me yet), and I know I'm becoming a better handler! Best of all Devon showed great confidence in her job today.
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