This morning I laid a 580 yard TDX track with 3 turns aged 45 minutes. The first leg was 125 yards long. It started in short grass and within 10 yards went into cover. At 70 yards we had a mowed path to cross. I put a plastic egg with kibble 20 yards after the mowed path.
I laid the start as a TD start with a 30 yard directional marker. I want Page to get used to tracking past this second flag. However, I brought her up to the start flag at an angle. This was the first time I've done this, and Page worked it out pretty well. She hesitated only a second and check both ways before diving into the cover. Once in the cover she came to tire tracks/ruts in the cover. She treated these as cross tracks and investigated them both ways before moving on.
As soon as she committed, she came to a deer trail that angled near the track within 3 ft. She got in the deer trail instead of the track, but I could tell by her body language she knew this wasn't the track. She continue to work and even circled behind me until she worked out her problem to push past the deer trail to the track. All this work and tracking problem solving happened in the first 30 yards of the track, and I was really impressed with her work ethic. Most dogs would have given up and not started.
Once she was on the track, I don't think she ever slowed down! The mowed path didn't hardly make her blink today after she worked out that problem last week. She nose down tracked straight across it and leaped into the cover not 6 inches from where I stepped back into it.
However, we do need work on articles. She didn't even pause for the plastic egg even though it had kibble in it. She tracked just to the right of it by inches and didn't walk over it. I picked it up and didn't make her find it. I knew last week we needed work on article indications.
When Page got to the turn, she tracked past it, but with in 10 ft. turned to her left and got right back on the new leg. The second leg was 130 yards long. It was in the same medium cover with bushes, then went through a wet area that with rain will become a small ditch with running water. Immediately after this wet area the track went up an incline into woods. I put an article 20 yards into the woods. After the article was another 30 yards to a right turn in the woods.
Page never slowed down on the second leg; in fact a couple of times she looked back at me as if to say, "Hurry up!" She had no problem crossing the wet area and pushing up to the woods. In fact, she pushed up a little early toward the woods, realized it and got herself onto the track and tracked me step for step into the woods. She didn't have any problems with this transition at all.
Page did indicate the article in the woods, probably because she was tracking me footstep by footstep. She only indicated it by sniffing and stopping to stand over it and look at me. I rewarded her with the kibble inside the article (again noting we need work on articles!).
When I told her to "track" she only hesitated a second and got right back to work. However, this is when I got a little disoriented and started to doubt her. I mark my track with trail markers, because I know how disorienting the woods can be especially after the track is aged up. Page continued forward and I thought we angled to the right. I'm seasoned enough to know to trust my dog, so I followed her anxiously looking for trail markers so I wouldn't be following her in a wrong direction. Sure enough, Page was right and I was wrong. Page indicated the right turn in the woods just as I saw the marker on the tree. What an awesome little girl!
Leg 3 was 150 yards through the woods, back across the low wet area, through the cover with thorn bushes to a left turn. Page didn't have any problems through this area. She tracked confidently through the woods and I know she was going around the trees just as I did. She found the exact spot where I exited the woods (avoiding the thorn bush that ripped my knee and jeans when I laid the track). I had to slow her down so I could maneuver the wet ditch because she almost pulled me down it. I got a dirty look from her for that. Gayle was exactly right that this girl isn't going to tolerate my bad handling!
Before I knew it, Page was turning onto the new leg without even casting, just as she had on the previous turn. Leg 4 was 175 yards long. It continued through the cover, then into a large mowed area and back into medium height grass to her glove. There were several deer beds in this area and I kicked up a baby fawn (spots and all) when I laid the track. I also found a large, deep hole 6 inches from the track. I was glad I didn't step in it, and made sure I knew where it was so I didn't lose Page in it.
Page again tracked me footstep by footstep through here. She never indicated the deer beds, but right before the large hole, she caught a strong cross track and followed it left before returning to the track (maybe momma deer came back through looking for her fawn). I was able to keep her out of the hole. She worked the mowed area just like she did the earlier mowed path and didn't let it throw her. She was inches to the right of the glove on a tire mark and tracked right past it. I held her, which she hated, and she did find the glove.
Page ran this 580 yard track in 11 minutes. If she would have been bigger and stronger, she would have run it in half the time. I had visions of chasing Laurie and Dusty as track layer for their successful TDX at last fall's White River Golden Retriever Club test. I think I need tips from Laurie on handling and wild beast!
After finding the glove Page wanted to continue tracking. The length of cover and obstacles didn't faze Page at all; and the age of the track also didn't both her. What I need to work on now is article indications and tracking other people. I have a feeling I also need to work more VST with Page. I think TD and TDX work will be "easy" for Page, and shorter cover and non veg will be more challenging. This is where Page and Devon are very similar in their tracking. In most other ways, Page and Devon are very distinct trackers.
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