On Friday when we visited Agile Gold in southern Indiana, we laid a VST track for Devon at a local community college. This was a fun track and it provided lots of distractions for Devon. The track was aged 3.5 hours, it was 558 yards long (42 yards shy of a regulation track) with 244 yards of non-veg or 44%. It was cold and very windy with gusts reported near 40 mph. This was difficult tracking weather for the challenges I gave Devon, so it was going to be very interesting how she ran this track.
The start went along a grassy area between a parking lot and a barbed-wire fence. When we started, there were black Angus and Angus cross steers laying near the fence. Devon started nicely, but when she saw one of these steers get up, she turned and barked at them. Instead of going away, the steers got more curious about this dog and all got up and walked towards her! Devon barked more and came back to me. She wasn't really sure what to do and these were big black beasts!
Kathy and I chuckled at her, but then I told Devon to get back to work and track. Probably in an attempt to avoid confrontation with the steers, Devon did what she was told and put her nose down and got to work. I was pretty proud of her to work through that, only to discover it wasn't over yet! The steers were following Devon along the fence line! Since they were behind her, Devon didn't know she had a bovine gallery. She likes to track for an audience, but I wasn't sure this is what she had in mind. Kathy and I began to wonder if she'd realize she was being followed.
Sure enough these steers caught Devon's attention and she gave them another stern barking. Kathy and I laughed and told her to get back to work, and she did. This time, she had offended her audience enough that they stayed put. It was a good thing this leg was just over 100 yards so she could get a good scent and work the track avoiding the steers.
The next part of the track was what I expected to be the hardest for Devon. On the map, you see it goes onto some brown colored area; these were brick pavers. I had been told pavers scent differently than concrete, and Devon struggles on gravel, so I wondered how this would go. I didn't put chalk through this area because it was a main courtyard to the building. I did add some extra scent with hand prints in three places. This was a heavily traveled area, so I was sure there would be a lot of extra distracting scent.
In the second diagram, you can kind of see that this area was actually a raised concourse. The building was set against a hillside, so in the back you walked into the third floor. Because of the railings and the wind, I was sure the scent was doing a lot of funny things. Just into the paver area, you can see a grassy area to our left. Devon spent a lot of time search this area. Beyond the landscaping was a fence and then a two story drop to the patio areas below. I was sure the wind, coming from our right was pushing the scent into this grassy area where it stuck and then over the edge to the area below.
Devon eventually worked this out and tracked to her turn where she lost scent. She circled the area several times. I offered her a rescent, and after a quick sniff she committed instantly to the right turn. This was another tricky area. It was a concrete amphitheater down to the lawn below. I put extra scent at the top step and again halfway down. Because there was no handrail for me (the steps were on the sides) and Devon committed 100% and hopped all the way down the concrete steps, I let her get to the bottom (and all 40 ft. of my line) and told her to wait (which she did) and slowly made my way down. When I reached the bottom I told her to track, and she easily made her way into the grass for her first article.
After the turn on the sidewalk, Devon allowed the stiff wind to push her into the grass where she caught the turn to the left. I was sure the wind had blown the scent into the grass so I allowed this. She struggled a little with the plastic article in the curb. She winded it but it took her a while to find. She handled her two MOT turns very well, and tracked very quickly to her glove.
I was very proud of how Devon handled this track. She had distractions from steers and lots of scent from people. She also had difficult scenting conditions from the wind. I gave her minimal chalk and some extra scent. I really am pleased with how well she's doing!
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