Tracking Ian: how one robin can change your plan

I had a lovely turn track set for Ian yesterday. It was in a new field for him. It was 70 yards to a right turn with one food drop and a glove at 15 yards past the turn; 40 yards to a left turn with one food drop and a glove at 20 yards past the turn; 125 yards to a right turn with no food drop but a glove at 15 yards then 80 yards to the final glove. It was cool and sunny, and I aged the track 55 minutes before we ran it.

As always, Ian was ready to go track. He started strong but then got distracted by scents other than his track. He peed; he pooped; he kicked up grass with all four feet (at this point I informed him there were NO pretty girls in the area to think he was studly); he peed again - all this within the first 60 yards! I was so proud...

I'd say the turn wasn't spectacular, but he did pull nicely around the corner. He got a little more focused on the second leg (hey, it was only 40 yards). He turned a little early, likely because he scented the food drop. He found this one and tracked to the glove. Then it happened ... he saw the robin.

I don't know why this dog is so obsessed with birds! I know they herd geese, but this boy is just obsessed with birds of any kind. He stood watching this robin finding worms and eating breakfast. Now, I love to be outside with my dogs tracking. I like the peace and the quiet and the nature. But I was not nearly as interested in the dietary habits of robins as Ian was - I wanted to track. I will say, Ian was absolutely beautiful as he posed there ears up and stacked watching this robin. That did make the hour long groom session the night before worth it.

Finally, it was clear I'd been taken down by this robin. I decided to let Ian go check out this bird or we would never get anywhere. Of course, when a big black furry beast came his way, the robin took off. You would think now that Ian couldn't see the blasted bird, it would be over and we'd get back to work. Well, if you thought that, you don't know Belgians.

Now that Ian could no longer see the robin, he wanted to know where it went and what was down that big hill it flew over. Maybe the robin was just on the other side of the hill and he could go watch it some more. Needless to say, there was nothing remarkable about the 125 yards of the third leg of Ian's track other than my blood pressure raising higher than it should and several threats on Ian's life.

I finally got Ian refocused about 15 yards before his last turn. Since this one had no food drop and Ian had been very distracted, I wasn't sure what he'd do. He did search more for this turn, but did come up with the correct direction and get the glove reward at the turn. He tracked on to the final glove, and to his credit wanted to continue the game. The great thing about Ian is he's not bright enough to take my threats on his life seriously. He knows I love him and won't give him away no matter how much I threaten (trust me, he's tested this to the max in his agility career).

This was one of those days I considered hanging up Ian's tracking harness. I figured I'd give it a few days so I could get some perspective, and even 24 hours later I feel better. He's going to take a lot of work to get him to understand the game. The good thing is he likes to do it. I think I'll give him 2 days off between each tracking day to make him enjoy the task more. Besides, I might need that much recovery time between each session!