Page's first track

The wind here in central Indiana has been very bad (30-40 mph) for the last two days and forecast to continue into tomorrow. I really didn't want to delay Page's first track too much, but tracking in this wind was too much. However, winds die down around sunrise and sunset. So I took advantage early this morning of only a slight wind.

Just after the sun came up, I laid a 35 yard track in my side yard for Page. I laid it into the wind. I had a start article, then food in every footstep for the first 10 yards, in every other footstep for the second 10 yards and every three footsteps for the third 10 yards. For the last 5 yards, I had nothing dropped but I put a jackpot in the glove. I used a dark grey end glove so it was harder to see, and I used Bil Jac dog food as my food on the track. It's very fragrant.

I tried Page's bright pink puppy tracking harness on her yesterday, and it fit. I put it back on her this morning and used a 6 ft. leash. Page had not yet had breakfast, and I knew she was hungry (she's ALWAYS hungry). She trotted all the way out to the start flag like a pro. 

Page start sniffing the ground before we got to the flag. She wasn't tracking me, but she was very interested in the scents and I can't help but think she smelled me out there. It didn't take her long to scent the first piece of food. She skipped a couple of pieces and progressed down the track about 3 yards. 

After this brilliant start, she stalled a little. I pointed to the ground twice, but the she tried to sit at my feet so I'd show her more. Nope little girl! You've got to find it yourself. And she did. The next 10 yards were painfully slow, but she got the idea. I only had to redirect her twice more, and that's when she started digging in the grass. 

She did a great job of working out the third 10-yard section when the food was every third step. She started off to my right once but then quickly turned and corrected herself. And I knew just when she air scented the article. She could smell that jackpot, but it took her at least 20 seconds to work out where it was.

Boy did she love this game! She got yummy food and she really used her nose! After she got the jackpot from the glove, I started playing with her with the glove. She tugged and retrieved it, and eventually she carried it all the way to the van. I'd say it was an outstanding first start at tracking!