Preparing for TDX tests

This post is for Anney in Florida and Judy here in Indianapolis and several others who have asked me how I train for the TDX test. As I said when Page passed her TDX, I think training for the TDX is the most enjoyable tracking training. The dog has a full understanding of the game, and in my case with both my girls, they were up for challenges. They enjoy working out new scenting problems, and I love watching them work and learning how they problem solve.

However, the TDX test itself grueling. It’s long (800-1,000 yards). It’s mentally exhausting to have your mind focused for that long a period of time (both of my girls took between 25-30 minutes to complete their tests). And on both Devon and Page’s passing tracks, we had a challenging problem to work out that took about 10 minutes alone.

You also can’t rule out the mental “downer” watching dog after dog fail TDX tests. Devon failed her first test, when four of six passed that day (an usually high pass rate). Luckily she drew the first of four tracks the day she passed; she was the only pass that day. Page was the third track, and we watched one dog fail on the first turn and the second dog suck into the cross tracks on the second leg. Not an encouraging start.

And finally the test is physically exhausting, with long walks up and down hills, through trees and occasionally over obstacles. I nearly fell on my face going down hill in the woods on Page’s track, and I’ve been a tracklayer at a TDX test where a judge hit the ground following a dog.

Since I enjoy the training so much, but don’t cherish the test, I want to make sure my dogs are very well prepared when I send in that $100-110 entry fee – especially for a test that has less than a 20% pass rate! The best advice I’ve received for being prepared (credit goes to Steve Ripley for this) is to successfully “pass” a full, blind track three times before you enter a test.

Passing a full, blind track doesn’t necessarily mean finding a judge to lay it. Find someone else to lay you a test track and put in cross tracks. Most seasoned trackers will be wiling to help you get ready for a test. As I’ve said before, this sport is full of people willing to give back to new trackers, even if you have to drive a couple of hours to find them.

When I train for TDX, I train my concepts in parts (or puzzle pieces and the credit here goes to Cathy Hawkins of Camp Jigsaw). I don't run full length tracks all the time; I work 400-550 yard tracks most of the time. The first thing I do is teach age on TD-type tracks. Once I get the dog up past 3 hours, I rarely drop them below that mark. After the dog passes a TD, he/she will never run a track less than 3 hours in a test, and cross tracks are newer than 3 hours. I don’t want to fear age, so I’ll run tracks up to 6 hours just so I know my dog can do it. When I’m training, I’ll routinely run tracks between 3-4.5 hours old.

Next I start working obstacles and tracking concepts. One track will be about woods, so we'll work woods obstacles three times on a 400-550 yard track. The next track might be about changes in cover so we'll do that several times. If you re-read my August 16 post about TDX training in woods, you will see a list of things to prepare for when training woods. This is my philosophy for all types of TDX training (changes of cover, other obstacles, etc.).

The track here is a good example of a woods training track. Page ran this track 5 days before her TDX test. It was 470 yards long and aged 3 hours and 15 minutes. It was in an area where she tracked well. The blue line is Page’s track. The yellow lines are well worn “roads” where hay wagons pulled kids on hay rides through the fields up to the end of October. While the wagon path wasn’t a true obstacle, it was a good challenge with lots of extra scent.

The white markers show how I was presenting training on woods that day. If you look at the track, you will see that I hit four of the seven things on the list for training woods in that one track:

• Tracking toward the woods and going straight in
• Tracking toward the woods and making a turn (not entering woods)
• Tracking toward the woods on a diagonal and entering on an angle (and I gave Page a turn right before the diagonal woods entrance)
• Making no turn at all and going straight through a woods

You will notice I also gave Page two other challenges. First, I took her straight through a woods line just to the left of a vegetative break in the tree line. Devon had this on one of her TDX test tracks, and then she angled out of the woods onto the path. It really made me question as a handler if she was correct, but I trusted her and she was right on the track.

Second, I gave Page a vegetative path between two sets of woods. Again, sometimes you are in the woods and sometimes you are on the grass next to the woods. The dog needs to learn how to follow the track and not go where it might be more comfortable to track (on a path and not in the woods beside the path).

While I’m concentrating on training obstacles, I work in areas that are full of other types of scent, like deer and dogs and humans. This teaches the dog to start to ignore cross tracks or contaminated tracks on their own. Again, when you run marked tracks (and all my training tracks are marked) you know where the track is, so you let them work the cross tracks but not go down them. This teaches the dog to rule out tracks that aren't what they are supposed to be working.

When I’m ready to actually work purposeful cross tracks, I lay my own. At first I lay them immediately before I run the track. Then I work backwards in 15-30 minute increments so they are of "legal" age related to the track (cross tracks go in 1.5 hours after the track is laid). My dogs have never been confused by me laying my own cross tracks. The dog is told by the start article who they are tracking and how old the track is. Quite frankly after learning to ignore all the other cross tracks (deer, squirrels, raccoon, etc.), I usually only train human cross tracks 3-4 times and the dog gets the concept.

Finally I work on length. By laying shorter tracks, I can usually track about 3 times a week. When I start working on length of track, I drop back to 2 tracks a week. I don't work length often, and I never work it the week or two before a test. Remember the beginning of this post: a TDX test is a grueling test for dog and handler, so you want the dog to be very fresh the week of a test. In tracking, you aren’t going to teach the dog anything new the week of a test.

When you run full length tracks, you are looking for your dog to a) have the stamina to go the distance and continue to work, and b) what changes in their tracking behavior as they tire. Also, most dogs hit a wall around 600 yards, and they must push through that wall. Keep this in mind as you are working length and put articles/rewards after this distance. You can also make the track "easier" after 600 yards the first time or two you run a long track to reward the dog for working past that distance.

In working length, I learned that Page is less precise the longer she tracks. She's a precision footstep tracker, but with length and fatigue she starts overshooting turns. I needed to learn this and watch for her to indicate the turn was behind us and trust her. Knowing that Page overshoots turns with fatigue allowed us to recover from an overshot turn on our TDX test that likely would have sunk other teams.

Janet and Steve Ripley have a saying that every time we go out to track, the dogs are putting experiences in their mental Rolodex. At a test the dog will come upon a scenting challenge and flip through that mental Rolodex and compare it to what they’ve done in the past and then react. I really like this analogy, and it’s our job as “coach of the team” to give our dogs as many experiences as we can to prepare them for the test.

Videos of the big day

One of the White River Golden Retriever Club members created this fantastic video of our fun day at Prophetstown for the TDX test. Hope you enjoy the clips! You can tell we had a great day!

wrgrc tracking test nov 2009 @ Yahoo! Video

Page, Tracking Dog Excellent!

Yep, you read that correctly. At the ripe old age of 8 months and 3 weeks after passing her TD, Page earned her TDX on her first attempt. The TDX test has a passing rate between 15-19%. While it's my favorite tracking to train, the test is grueling. The test track is 800-1,000 yards long, aged 3-5 hours, between 5-7 turns with obstacles (woods, roads, creeks, fences, etc.) and intentional human cross tracks put in two places 1.5 hours after the initial track is laid.

I think TDX work is my favorite to train, much like Open and Utility are more fun for dog and handler than Novice obedience. Once you've trained a dog in tracking, TD work is "boring" much like Novice obedience is all heeling. TDX work acknowledges the dog knows how to track, but then applies it to all sorts of circumstances. The dog learns to problem solve more, and the handler learns how her dog thinks and solves those problems. I also enjoy being outside in beautiful parks seeing nature and animals, especially in the fall as the leaves are turning and the weather is cool.

Now onto Page's track. If you've been following the blog, you know I taught Page all aspects of tracking from the beginning. She got her first TDX track on May 30, and we have it on video that she handled it very well. After Page certified for her TD at 19 weeks, I concentrated on VST and TDX work, with occasional TD tracks. In September I stopped working VST and stuck with TD and TDX tracks since I knew she had tests coming up. So while many people are shocked an 8-month-old Golden Retriever passed her TDX, Page had been working TDX for months and I knew she could handle the work.

We also made sure she could handle long, test-level tracks because Steve laid us two blind TDX tracks that Page passed. Those tracks were important, especially the last one which was 990 yards long. It told me a lot about how Page would handle the length and stress of an actual test. One important thing I learned is that she is less precise and overshoots turns when she's tired. That knowledge would come in handy!

We entered the White River Golden Retriever Club's annual TDX test. This is my local club, and the site was only 1 hour north of me, so I had tracked there four times. In those four tracks, Page has done her weakest tracking. Only once did I think she tracked well, twice I had to walk her through sections of the track and once we had to end the track at the first article.

This week of training was about two things: confidence building tracks for Page and my mental game. I think confident tracks for Page was more for me than her. I ran a track in a location I knew she tracked well on Tuesday. It was aged 3 hours and 10 minutes but it was only 470 yards. On Thursday my friend laid a TD track, but aged it 3 hours and gave me extra articles to work indications. Page aced these tracks, so I had confidence in her tracking abilities and knew I could read her.

Now for my mental game! I did a LOT of positive visualization this week. I stayed up beat all week and replayed the good tracks Page had run to this point, putting the bad ones out of my mind. I recalled that Page tracks other people very well, and that I'm probably boring for her to track. I even visualized the telephone calls I'd make to Gayle and Lise and the email I'd send to Donna upon our successful track. On the drive to the test, I thanked God for the beautiful weather and my very smart puppy. I laughed and joked with my friends before the test and made sure I had a smile on my face 100% of the time. I found little things to make me laugh. It's hard to be stressed when you are smiling.

Our draw items were adorable little flip flop boxes that had been painted by Janet Ripley with tracking flags, paw prints and a glove. I chose the Raspberry flip flop (for Ms. Raspberry of course) and we drew track 3. This was the same as her TD track, and our tracklayer was Kris Kothe, the same person Devon tracked 2 years ago. I know Kris is a very capable tracklayer, so I was pleased. I hate running the last tracks, so I was thrilled with a fairly early draw.

I didn't really watch the first two dogs, because I lose my focus if I do. The first dog didn't really commit off the start flag and didn't get past the first turn. The second dog made it past the first turn but got sucked into the cross tracks on the second leg. Then it was our turn.

We had to wait 10 minutes before we could run our track since the first two dogs failed so quickly. Seriously, how much small talk can you make with the two judges before you start? Page was ready to go and was barking and wagging her tail whenever anyone looked her way. Finally they told me I could "suit up" and get my dog out and we headed to our flag.

It was a lovely start in a small mowed path with prairie grass on one side and heavy cover on the other. Page saw the flag and made a beeline for it. She paused at the start article and as I got next to her and started to lean down and pick it up, she was off on her track.

So much for giving her some kind of a command! Apparently she was ready and only needed me to drive her to the test and walk her to the startline. It reminded me of a what Donna says about Page's mother, Bizzy. She'll lock on a mark and say, "I got it, Mom! Send me!" Apparently Page didn't wait to be started, she had it!

The first leg was 110 yards. Page showed me loss of scent, and we had heavy cover now on both sides. I turned to my right and saw a really clear path up the hill. But Page checked left, then forward, then left. I figured we'd be there a while.

Page is a footstep tracker, which means she is very meticulous. She worked for a few seconds, then came right to where the track turned and sniffed the ground and you could see her say, "OH! It went THIS way!" And up the hill we went at full speed! Over the hill and we were in a set of woods and now going down hill at full speed.

I've said there's a reason I wanted to do Page's vegetative tracking while she was still less than 50 pounds and I can stay on my feet while she's tracking. Sure enough I got one foot hung up in a limb and about went down face first about the time I saw something black in the leaves in front of us. I kept my feet and felt sure I was looking at Page's first article.

Article indications have been tough for Page. She loves the game of tracking, but feels no reason to stop and show me articles that are right there on the track where I can trip over them. In the last two months I've really insisted on an indication and won't let her track on without one. While I prefer a retrieve of the article, we have finally compromised on Page stopping and standing over the article until I get it (and usually give her a treat). Of course, I was fully prepared for Page to give me no indication and for me to have to fake one for the judges. Bless her heart when she stopped dead (even with all that momentum coming downhill) and gave me an indication for a black hat!

We had 125 yards of that woods, then we broke out of it for a road crossing. Now most people might fear a road as an obstacle, but I was thrilled. Page has been working VST since she was only a few weeks old, so she's very comfortable on non-veg.

In fact during the awards ceremony, judge Ule James said it was very clear Page had worked VST since she actually tracked across the road. Our track angled across the road, and most dogs will square up and jump the road and find the track on the other side. Page actually put her nose on the blacktop and tracked at an angle across the road. It was so cool for the judge to tell everyone how smart she was!

The photos here are two perspectives of our road crossing. One if from the gallery's perspective taken by Susie and Ginger Rezy. The other is a judge's perspective taken by Ule James.

After the road we had 35 yards of veg then a 5 yard walking/biking path then back into vegetation with trees (this second leg was a total of 240 yards).

Toward the end of this leg, Page flicked her head to the left and showed loss of scent. She worked forward and to the right, but also indicated left. As she worked the loss of scent/turn, I could tell she knew the track went left, but as a footstep tracker she couldn't find the new leg and was only catching the scent in the wind.

As she worked, I wanted to back up, because I realized we were past the turn. However with the wind at our back, it was pushing the scent in front of us and to the right so as Page worked the scent cone, she was working away from the actual turn. I couldn't walk backwards because she wasn't going behind me searching for the scent.

It was incredibly frustrating to watch her work and struggle but not be able to help her except by rescenting her. Had I walked backwards I would have been whistled off (failed) for guiding my dog; I had to wait until she worked backwards. I knew she could solve this problem, because she has many times in the past; but the with an 8-12 mph wind working against her, it was a much harder problem to solve.

Finally after more than 10 minutes on this turn she started to solve her problems, working out the scent cone and finally moving backwards. I immediately adjusted to help her and she finally found the track 5 ft. behind me. She had worked 18-20 yards past the turn before she recovered. I don't know what the gallery or judges were thinking, but I had was never so grateful to see her lock into a leg in my life!

Page didn't flinch on her first set of cross tracks, which were on a 120 yard leg in medium cover. She over shot her third turn, but not as badly as the second one (only about 20 ft.) and worked it out quickly. As soon as she committed to the fourth leg, I figured we had the test made.

The judges said she scalloped to the right at the second set of cross tracks. I do remember her going right and readjusting, but I wouldn't have realized it was due to cross tracks. Thirty yards past the cross tracks, she got her next article, a grey wool sock, again with a perfect indication.

The article gave her a second wind. She was off like a shot and I had to leap over a hole and jog to catch up. Page railed her last two turns, and once on the final leg, I was scouring the ground in front of her for the glove.

Page winded the article and was searching for it, finding it before I saw it. She stopped over it and turned back to look at me. I told her she was brilliant over and over until I reached the glove. I put my hand in the air to tell the judges she found it, and then I wrapped my arms around her neck and hugged her, kissed her and cried! We sat on the ground playing tug until the judges and tracklayer got to us. The gallery was pulling their cars up and honking. Once they parked, they came running into the field for more hugs and tears!

Page's track was 850 yards long. It was aged exactly 3 hours. It had 5 turns. Our obstacles were an open woods, road and path. She ran the track in 26 minutes. It was sunny and 65 degrees with a slight (8-12 mph) wind. Page was the only dog out of six total to pass our test. Our judges were Ule James and Steve Ripley.

If you ever get to track for Ule, he carries a camera (you've seen his photos here), and he makes the most incredible maps -- they are to scale! He also writes little notes on them like "got it" for the articles and "good recover" (that was for that second turn) and "good job!" for the cross tracks.

What a wonderful way to earn Page's TDX! We were at our home club with all our tracking buddies. Good friend and mentor Steve Ripley was one of our judges. Good friend, ace tracklayer and artist Janet Ripley made adorable draw items for me to treasure. So many friends who have supported us and laid tracks for us were on hand to race out into the field and give us hugs of congratulations. Susie and Ginger took great photos and made a fun slideshow with perfect captions.

White River held up their expectations for a great post-test pitch in lunch, and I was ravenous! Page enjoyed the cake and Bernie shared the rest of his meatballs and chicken chili with Page. Someone asked me if I was going to stop and give her a hamburger - not after she enjoyed the pitch in and cake!

And did I mention I think I have the greatest puppy in the world!! Boy I love this dog!

Tracking: 2 out of 3 ain't bad

In the last three days, Devon and Page have had one bad track and two good tracks. Even though we had one bad track, I'm glad things are moving in the right direction - the good tracks have been the more recent ones!

Friday

I combined TDX tracking training at a state park an hour north with transferring our Belgian Sheepdog rescue to her foster home. It seemed like a good idea at the time, since I'd been planning all week to track there. What I didn't consider was the stress the girls had been under with the rescue dog. Page hadn't been feeling well and had gotten me up the previous two nights to go outside.

The day was perfect for tracking with rain the day before and drizzle that day. The temps were in the mid-60s. The cover was perfect. Due to our travel schedule, the track was 4.5 hours old when we came back to run it. That is older than Page has experienced, but not by much.

However, the wind had picked up and was blowing 15-20 mph. Page worked hard on this track, but chased the scent in circles with the wind. It took her 30 minutes to work about 120 yard down the track. When she found the first article, I ended the track.

I expected her to have worked out the issue with the wind blowing scent from our last track there. It was windier than our previous time tracking there, and I know the wind was a big factor. Page just couldn't lock into the track.

But I think stress was a huge factor, too. Page and Devon both had a big disruption in their routine with a new dog in the house. The rescue wasn't socialized with dogs, so she couldn't be integrated into the pack. Now that she is gone from the house, things are settling back to normal and I think the stress has dissipated.

Saturday

A group of us got together to do VST. With Page not feeling well, I gave her a break and just tracked Devon. Actually, I also got to track Archie, too! Steve was out of town judging a tracking test, so we put a track in for Archie and drew straws for who would run him. I got the privilege!

Archie was easy to run (especially since I laid his track so I knew where it was), but the squirrels and his strength did make it interesting. When Archie locks on and decides to go, he decides to go and you better be hanging on! And he loves to chase squirrels, so when he spied two squirrels playing at the bottom of a tree on the other side of a parking lot, I braced myself. Luckily, he was a good boy and finished his track.

Devon had a lovely track that was about 265 yards and aged 3 hours and 20 minutes. She hasn't tracked in quite a while, and she's been sitting around watching her sister get to track. I think the time off and jealousy were good motivators. She looked fantastic!

Devon started beautifully, which was nice since I really didn't know which way the track went off the start flag. She locked in quickly and pulled me along the first leg and worked the first turn very nicely.

The second leg was also along an office building, and Devon was still dead on the track. This was nice to see because the wind which was around 15 mph was swirling around the building and parking lot. You couldn't tell it by the way Devon was locked onto the track.

Devon worked the non-veg turn very well and finally committed very confidently to the third leg which was a sidewalk along a parking lot. She found her metal article without any problems.

My tracklayer told me the track went on to the grass ahead, and I looked straight in front of me to a patch of grass across a driveway. When we reached the drive, Devon started her transition searching; however I thought her transition searching looked an awfully lot like a turn indication. When Devon committed left onto the grass, I turned to question my tracklayer only to find she'd moved from behind me to my right ... then I heard her say, "She's dead on the track."

Well it's a good thing my dog knew where the track was, because obviously I was clueless! I thought it went straight in front of us! Two more articles, and Devon was done and very proud of herself. She should have been. It was a beautiful track, and she even proved halfway through it she wasn't feeling well either!

Sunday

Both girls had to be fasted for 24 hours and put on chicken and rice this weekend. Either it's stress or mushrooms in the backyard or a combination of everything. They don't seem to mind the chicken and rice (good thing I have a great rice cooker and split chicken breasts were on sale this week).

Page is feeling much better, so I decided to give her a confidence building track this afternoon. It's been a beautiful fall day with clear sunny skies, high wispy clouds and the trees are in my favorite period with lots of oranges and reds.

I laid a short 435-yard TDX track in my favorite place at a nearby metropark. After I put it in, I ran an errand to a nearby library, so the track only aged 40 minutes before Page ran it. It's a good thing I didn't run it any fresher, or Page would have killed me in that cover and in those woods! I've never had her pull so hard on a TDX track before!

Page flew through this track in about 10 minutes, including getting her line wrapped around a thorn bush that took me a couple of minutes to disentangle. She stopped at her articles, but I had to make her sit or lay down. I've never seen her track woods so fast or so confidently. I'm glad I ran this track, because it gave both of us our confidence back!

So, two out of three good tracks isn't bad for a weekend's training. We're supposed to have some good weather this week, so I think we'll get back out and do more in the coming days now that both girls are feeling better.

A tough TDX track for Page

On Tuesday, Steve put in a tough TDX track for Ms. Page. He did it at my request, because I wanted to see how Page would run another blind TDX track (this was her second). The track was a total of 990 yards. It was aged 3 hours and had cross-tracks (thanks to Janet). The track had four obstacles, three road crossings and about 230 yards and a turn in a woods.

Page did a really nice job with this track. She did have her problems, but she was able to work them out. She blew past the second turn, which was an open turn into the woods. However, she did check up on her own and work back on her own to find the track into the woods.

In the woods, she worked very hard, investigating lots of scents. She either got spooked by something or stepped on something and was shaking a front paw. After stopping to examine it and finding nothing wrong, she continued tracking.

Page tracked true enough for me to see the article in the woods, but she didn't indicate it until I made her. She tracked on and again got spooked by a branch "getting her" in the rear. The problem was, she had to work past that branch to make her turn and get out of the woods. She handled that well and worked out of the woods and through some heavy cover back into medium cover.

Once out of the woods, she indicated her second article with a nose touch and then moved on. Well, at least it was an indication! The first road crossing was done easily, but just after that road crossing and turn, I noticed Page start to fade with fatigue. She had burned a lot of energy out in the woods, and she had gone 595 yards. This was where the test really began for Page. Did she have the stamina to finish the track?

Page worked the next road crossing just fine and didn't hesitate at the first set of cross tracks. She did flick her head right on the second set of cross tracks and she went past the next turn. I did see her curve toward the new leg, but she then tracked on. When she wasn't confident and worked backwards, I told Steve where I thought the turn was by her initial indication and he said I was right.

This is where Page's fatigue showed: she was less precise on her turns. The thing I was thrilled about was even though she was tired and it was hard, she never gave up. She continued to work that track hard. I bet the only way she would have stopped was if I had walked her off the track.

Going into the last road crossing, I told Steve I thought she was left of the track by what her body posture told me. Steve said I was correct. Page blew well past the last turn, but worked her way back to it and found the final glove. When she did, she put her front feet on it, nose touched it and then sat. A very nice indication for an exhausted tracking dog.

It was a tough track for an 8-month-old pup; but it was exactly what we need and asked for and it really showed me what she had in her. I was very proud of her work ethic, and my ability to read her. What a good, honest tracking dog I have!

Page, Tracking Dog!

Page earned her TD Sunday morning, the day after turning 8 months old. Page earned her TD at the Youngstown All Breed Tracking Club's Tracking Test under judges Debra Huff and Marilyn Johnson. It was a beautiful morning. According to weather.com, it was 33 degrees, mostly sunny, 82% humidity with a calm wind.

Page's track (pictured here to scale) was 465 yards long and aged 44 minutes. The legs were 140 yards, 50 yards, 115 yards, 50 yards, and 110 yards. The track was in a soybean field (dead, ready-to-harvest soybeans in dirt/mud with the dew). I was concerned with the lack of living vegetation on this track; but if any dog could do it, it was Page. She's been working TDX in woods and various cover, plus the non-veg VST tracks.

There were four tracks at this test, with two being in soybeans and two in alfalfa. A Cocker Spaniel drew the first track and did a lovely job. After initially tracking over the glove, dog and handler worked back to it and found it for a pass. A Field Spaniel drew track 2. This was the dog and handler's first tracking test. They did a lovely job until the dog went right instead of left on the last turn. A truly heartbreaking failure being so close to the glove. However, when the Field Spaniel did so well on this track, I was confident Page and I would handle the soybeans well, too. The fourth track went to a lovely little Border Collie who passed easily and quickly. Unfortunately I didn't get to see any of the track due to finishing my track and the rolling terrain.

The second track had just finished, and the judges called for me to move up to my track. We all had to move our cars to see the 3rd and 4th tracks. I pulled up first to get my dog out; the rest of the gallery followed.

We had to battle up an 8 ft. slope to get to our field and start flag. It was a quiet start since just the judges and the tracklayer were there. Our start article was a sock. Page ran quickly to the article and stopped over it until I picked it up and told her to "Track."

When I released her she was off like a shot in a straight line towards the 30 yard flag. I stood and waited for the 20 ft. knot in my line to pass through my hands before I followed her and it came way too quick. I realized my line had gotten a knot in it as I had dropped it at the start (I made sure it was straight twice before we got to the flag). Darn, I hate knots in my lines! They're distracting!

Page was tracking fast and straight as we approached the 30 yard flag, and she didn't miss a beat when she suddenly raised up and jumped 6 ft. in the air trying to rip the flag off the flagpole! Before I could react, she gave it a second attempt. What a devil! As I was chuckling, I said, "leave it and track!" Page stopped, turned and gave me a whithering look over her shoulder as if to say, "Geez, mom, you are no fun at all!" then dropped her head and tracked on.

As we reached approximately 90 yards, I was preparing for a turn any time. I absolutely didn't want to take this track or my dog for granted. We'd been tracking in a row of soybeans and I couldn't see a track at all. Suddenly, Page's head came up and back down. Then she lifted it up and flicked it to the left then back down. Was that a turn indication? I glanced to my left and saw a path through the beans next to me. Was that our turn?

Page's head came up again, and I slowed. She slowed. We both stopped. Ok, this must be the turn. Page turned and came back to me. Oh no, she had to have been past the turn! Page never comes back at me unless we're really past the turn. I backed up 2-3 steps. Page came back to me and stood next to me on my left and looked up at me. She's only done that one other time after she pottied on the track. Hummmm, what was going on?

I very calmly said, "Are we tracking?" Page's reaction was quick and told me firmly, "Yes, we are!" She trotted confidently out in front of me again, dropped her head and plowed forward (just like she'd done the one other time this happened). I followed; always trust your dog. I figured we'd either just blown past the turn badly or she was 100% right and that wasn't the turn.

When I heard no whistle, I knew my dog was correct. Another 40 yards and she gave me her traditional loss of scent/turn indication and easily found the next leg. In thinking through what happened, I remember Page occasionally lifts her head when tracking when she's very confident of where the track is. Steve suggested she had a nose full of scent and was just trying to clear her head a little. It appears to me she's very confident and just wants to take in the scenery a little!

I was so worried about missing that first turn, I took what she did as a turn indication and slowed, causing her to think we were stopping. This was just "test nerves" and me being too vigilant. It was a good lesson that I don't have to over handle my dog. She knows what she's doing and I just have to trust her.

The rest of the track was uneventful with Page tracking very strongly until the last turn. I expected when we crossed the rows I'd see the track more clearly, but I really couldn't. It's a good thing I trust my dog and she's a great tracker.

As we were on the fourth leg, I saw we were coming to the edge of a field. I wasn't sure how far we'd come, but I was looking for a glove any time. When Page indicated a turn, I wasn't surprised. She indicated left, but not as strong as her other turns. I looked left and saw a wider path up a row. This was back toward the road, so it made the most sense the track would turn left. However, I needed to trust my dog so I waited her out.

Page checked right and then went left again, but she still wasn't on that path I spied and she wasn't pulling me around the corner. I waited, but she stayed where she was and really wasn't pulling. I gave her a step figuring if this was correct she'd move forward and then hop on that path. She did move forward, but continued to the right of what I thought was the track.

Page got more confident as we went, but she was still right of what I thought was the track. Then she hopped another couple of rows to the right. I had a split second of doubt where I thought she was off the track. There was no way the track angled right, because it was angling out of the field and that didn't make sense.

But Page was so confident, I let go of my doubt. Trust your dog, not your eyes. How many times has a handler's eyes and mind failed a dog at a tracking test? I didn't want to do that to Page. I followed, and I was searching the ground around her for a glove. We had to be close to the end! With her weak article indications and the first dog who tracked over the glove, I didn't want to come this far and miss that glove!

As I was looking out at Page, we came over a small rise, and something light colored caught my attention right above Page's head. It was a light colored fence post and it was directly in front of Page in the distance. That gave me every confidence Page was correct in her path. I've laid enough tracks that I can pick out the obvious landmarks tracklayers and judges use.

A few more yards and Page pulled up. I could see she had her two front feet on a brown cloth glove. She pushed at it with her nose, and her tail started to wag. I just stood there for a couple of seconds and took in the sight of my beautiful puppy indicating her glove on her titling TD track. I want to keep that moment in my mind forever! That slight pause was enough for Page to drop onto the glove and look over her shoulder at me. Her face said, "Look, Mom! I found it and I even dropped!" She was proud of herself!

I let out a big good girl and yelled back to the judges she found the glove! I told Page how brilliant she was and waved the glove in the air. Page and even celebrated that glove with a game of tug. The gallery was still beyond a small ridge and couldn't see us, but we got great congratulations from the tracklayer and judges. I never did get the name of our tracklayer, but he was very, very nice and I appreciated his time that morning. Tracklayers work hard at tests, and I know they want their dogs to pass very badly.

All three remarked that Page was a solid tracker and did an outstanding job. Debra Huff told me I did a good job of handling. She said she knew I didn't believe Page on the last turn, but I was a good handler and trusted my dog and went with her. I accepted the compliment. I'm disappointed I didn't trust Page right away, but I appreciated that I came through for her and the judge recognized it.

In thinking through that last turn, I think I was in "training mode" and wanting Page to pull me around each corner like I expect in training. In a test, I know indications are going to weaken, especially as the adrenaline bleeds off and the track goes on. Page gave me two very solid indications on that turn, and I should have stepped in behind her faster than I did to give her the confidence she's correct and I trust her. That's a good lesson learned for our TDX work.

So Page's first AKC title was an enjoyable event. Three of the four dogs passed, which is a good pass rate for a TD test. The people were very, very nice and the judges laid good tracks. Friend and AKC Tracking Judge Rosemary Janoch even came by to support us and another team. It was good to see her and her new puppy, destined to become another great performance dog (he's very cute, too!). And best of all I learned a lot about me and my dog in our first test - most importantly I learned she's a great dog and I have to trust our training! It's solid!

Another TDX track this week for Page

I created a map of a fun TDX track Page and I ran on Tuesday. This track was at a local metropark. They have (finally) done some mowing in this part of the park so these pastures are at a reasonable length (like not waist-high cover).

The track was 780 yards long and aged 3.5 hours when we ran it. The first leg was 150 yards long, and it posed a lot of challenges. When I laid the track I was literally walking next to and over piles of deer poop. The leg ran parallel to a woods, and it crossed at least 8 deer trails into the woods.

Page handled this leg like a pro! She was pulling strong, which was a difference from the 3+ hour track a few days earlier. At the first big pile of deer poop, Page stopped to snack. I told her NO! Leave it! Track! She turned to me (with stuff hanging off her lips) and gave me a look that said, "OK! Thanks for informing me of the rules," then put her nose down and continued to track. That was the last time she stopped for poop, not even a sniff! And if she turned to the deer paths, she quickly leaped off of them for her own track.

Page handled the first turn easily and it was about all I could do to keep her slowed down so I could keep my feet. This 60-yard leg was in a open wooded area, and when I laid the track I saw mice jumping through the grass in front of me. Page never even stopped to investigate critters.

The second turn came quickly, and Page dragged me through a woods line where I nearly lost my hat and had to keep my eyes closed for fear of tree limbs. She handled this short 50-yard leg and immediate turn well. Unfortunately she didn't give me a very strong indication on the article. I knew where it was and made her indicate it. I was curious what she'd do on the next article that was somewhere in the woods!

We went 75 yards through another woods line and into a field for her fourth turn. This time, Page worked the transition out of the woods and to this fourth turn for quite a while. I'm not sure what the differences were here, but the grass did not seem to be as lush as what we had been in.

Once she was committed to the 90-yard fifth leg, she pulled well into the woods. I wondered how she would handle a woods entrance after the last track where she took a cross track up to a woods but didn't go in. Page tracked very confidently into the woods, so I have something for my mental Rolodex: If Page doesn't enter a woods the track likely doesn't go there; if the track does go into the woods, Page isn't worried about diving right in.

Once in the woods, Page did a good job tracking up to the woods turn. Woods with limited vegetation is one area where Page doesn't track strongly. She worked the turn, but she wanted to go right and straight ahead. I followed her forward, but she wasn't confident in her tracking; this was again something for my Rolodex. We moved back to the spot where she'd had the track just before the turn, and this time she worked the turn and took it left.

This 230-yard leg had lots of woods which made it not only long but difficult. There was also an article on this leg in the woods, and I didn't know exactly where it was. I was thrilled when Page indicated it immediately with a down. She got extra cookies for that.

Page continued to work the woods track meticulously until she was halfway through the woods portion, then she seemed to lose the track. I knew she was on the track because I could see one of my trail markers dead ahead. However, Page circled me fully about three times, which is very rare for her. I tried to offer her water several times, but she refused it.

Since she refused the water and was continuing to work the ground, I never offered her a rescent. This was my mistake. Once I finally gave Page a rescent, you could see the light bulb go on. It was like she said, "OH YEAH! THAT'S what I was looking for! It's right here!" Her nose went down, she immediately located the track and we were off like gangbusters! Again, something for my tracking with Page Rolodex!

That rescent gave Page new life on this track. She tracked strong out of the woods, across the hay wagon track and to her final turn. The turn gave her no problems, and neither did two more hay wagon tracks. Just as when we started, I had to work hard to keep my feet as she tracked the final 125-yards to the glove!

Page's article indications were very different on this track. The first and last article, she struggled to indicate and even started eating grass around them. However the woods article she indicated immediately before I even realized what she was doing. The difference in the articles was that the woods article has some residual kibble in it and the others did not.

I think I'm going to continue to use a couple of pieces of kibble in my articles with Page to help me get the indications I want. I never reward from the article, but I reward from my hand with a different treat. Page is still very young, and I don't want her to stress on articles. However, I do want to insist on a big article indication on training tracks so I get at least a minimal indication on test tracks.

Page's TDX track on Saturday

On Saturday I put in a TDX track for Page at a nearby office park. This track was 865 yards long, and it was aged 3.5 hours when we ran it. The red line is a cross track I put in 50 minutes after I laid the original track. The obstacles were the road and sidewalk, a woods which we turned in front of (there's an old farm fence running through that woods), then a black-topped walking path around the ponds that I tracked on the edge of once then I went onto a second time. There were changes of cover from a variety of medium cover to short grass.

Page started very strong, but I noticed she didn't pull as hard as she does on fresher TD tracks. She also went farther past her turns before indicating loss of scent. Page rarely goes 2-3 ft. past a turn before losing scent. But on this track she did what is more typical and went 10-15 ft. past a turn.

Page check the first set of cross tracks to the left and then practically leaped off of them to the original track like she was on fire! She was horrified she'd gone onto something she wasn't supposed to. She searched a little wider for the track near the second set of cross tracks, so I'm wondering if the cross track confused her a little after she got past it on the second leg.

Once she refocused and found the third leg, the road obstacle was not any problem at all. She barely worked the transition before heading straight across the road almost dead on the track.

Page didn't indicate the first article as well as I had hoped. She actually tracked past it to the left about 5 ft., but I held her until she found it and indicated it. It was a different article than I had used the last two tracks and the article had no food in it. This likely resulted in a weaker indication. However she got a treat from me when she did indicate it.

The turn before the woods line wasn't a problem and neither was the turn through the opening. However, on this fifth leg, Page suddenly indicated a cross track and took it to the left very far to the woods. I went with her even though I knew it was wrong. I wanted to see how far she'd take me, and if she'd take me into the woods.

I will say had I not known this was a cross track (because I laid the track), I would have thought Page railed a turn and we were going into the woods. However, Page stopped at the woods line and didn't go in. She worked the leg back and then came back to the woods again, which on a test track would have made me think we went into the woods. I took a couple of steps toward her and the woods, wondering if she was going to go in. She thought more about it and then angled back to the track and continued strong.

I do wonder what I would have done had this been a test track. Would I have encouraged her into the woods? I don't think so because she never fully indicated that's where it went. And when she went back to the original track, she was very convincing and showed me good tracking form once she was back to it. I hope I would have been convinced once we were back on the track it was correct.

Although Page investigated down the side of the hill towards the pond, she handled both sections of the walking path pretty well. These obstacles happened well into the track, so she worked a little harder because she was tired but worked them out. Her article indication on the second article was stronger, as was her article indication for the final glove.

In all this was a very nice track. Page ran it in 25 minutes, and she did a lovely job. She's a solid tracking dog!

A nice day for tracking

Sunday was a beautiful day for tracking, so I gave Devon a VST track and Page a TDX track. Both tracks were aged about 3 hours and 15 minutes. It was sunny and 61 degrees with an occasional wind around 8-9 mph.

Devon's track was short, approximately 350 yards. She started on grass, then crossed over a drive to a turn on a sidewalk then across a parking lot. Devon started well and went across the driveway nicely. She worked the turn for a while, but finally committed to the new leg and went confidently across the parking lot. The track was between two curbs, so it held scent for her.

Onto grass and a metal article for a reward. Devon handled this next leg along the front of the building very well. I took her from grass into the mulch flowerbed then onto the sidewalk in front of the building entrance then back into the mulched flowerbeds and back into grass.

Her next turn was again on a sidewalk, which she worked for a while. After going across a driveway to the island beyond, she turned and saw her plastic article which drew her to the correct leg. It was a bit of a cheat, but that's ok! She worked very strongly from there to the final leather article.

Page had a 710 yard track that she handled much better than the windy track on Friday. She started in short cut grass then went into medium cover. From there, she turned and went across a road, which she handled quickly and confidently.

Back onto the veg, she found her track into heavier cover easily. I then angled across some cut grass with a steep slope to a blacktop walkway. She had to fight not only the hill, but the scent on the walkway and a pond with ducks just below it. After investigating the pathway, she rejected it and moved back to her track and headed back up the slope into the heavy cover.

For her last turn, I was able to put her into a woods line with a turn just into the woods line. She worked this area but quickly found her turn and tracked out of it to the final glove.

Her article indications are getting much better. I'm not allowing her to move on until she gives me an indication. After asking for a "fetch" or retrieve, Page went back to her initial indication of a down on the article. While it's not what I prefer for a Golden, I'll take it.

Page is starting to understand that if she wants to continue to play the game, she has to play by my rules on articles. I'm sure she's thinking my requirements are absolutely the dumbest thing in the world, but she loves the game and she'll do it! It helps that she gets a reward when she does give me an indications.

Back to tracking for Page

In addition to working all four dogs at the kennel club, I also laid a TDX track in a new park for Page. Now that the hunt tests are behind us, it's time to focus on tracking with Page. The temperature was 57 degrees, but it was very windy on Friday, with gusts from 12-17 mph. Page has never tracked in the wind, and I was interested to see what she'd do.

In total, the track was 635 yards long and aged 3 hours. I started the track in cover. It was taller, but some of it had died off and fallen over and there were clumps of tall prairie grass. The first leg was 90 yards and it went along the base of a hill.

Page worked very hard on this leg, chasing the scent as the wind swirled in the cover. I've always said I can never push this dog through any track; she works at her own pace problem solving as she goes. The wind was a big problem for her. She finally made it to the open left turn up the hill, but again struggled to chase the scent as the wind swirled through the high cover and down the hill.

The second leg was a long 260 yards, starting in cover, breaking into short grass at the edge of a picnic area, back through a corner of high grass (and an article), then into medium cover and finally through a section of very tall prairie grass before ending in very short grass for a left turn. Page worked this leg meticulously until she got to the turn on the very short grass.

I didn't mark the specific corner since the grass was very short. This wide short grassed area was used as a driveway for lawn care equipment, and it was bordered with very tall prairie grass on both sides. With the wind whipping down this corridor, Page lost the track and could not find it.

In a test, I believe Page would have failed the track on this turn. I rescented her several times and she took water, but she had very clearly lost the track due to the conditions that stumped her (very short grass and very high wind). I finally worked her through the turn and she caught the track again in some medium cover 15 yards down the third leg.

You could tell Page was a happier camper to get back on the track. She worked the second leg well (finding another article) until she came to another roadway of very short grass and some gravel. She again lost the track, but this time was able to pick it up on her own in the medium cover on the other side of the roadway.

Page worked the medium cover well, pulling strong through the third turn and on the fourth leg. She also worked the fourth turn well and onto the fifth leg until she had to cross that roadway again. As she did the first time, she worked her way across the roadway and picked up the track in the medium cover beyond it.

This last leg went into a woods line where the track ended. With the wind blowing through the trees and high grass, she was a little spooked by the noise of wind in dry grass and leaves. Large boulders looming at her from tall grass also gave her pause. But she worked through this area to her glove.

I want to say a little about articles, too. I've been thinking a lot about Page's lack of article indication. I've decided that I need to make her indicate articles on the track. She would prefer to ignore them because she loves the game of tracking so much. I've allowed her to do this since she was so young and I didn't want to sour her on the game. But at this point, I doubt I will sour her on the game; she loves it too much. And I need to make her play the whole game by my rules.

On this track, I laid two additional articles plus the end article. Each were cloth gloves, and each had a plastic Easter egg with kibble in the glove. The goal of the kibble was to get her to stop and indicate the glove, but not allow her to self reward on the kibble. When she indicated the glove, I asked her to 'fetch it up' which is a retrieve command she knows. When she did pick up the article, I gave her a different reward (cheese) from my hand. I put the kibble in my bag with the article, and she got that at the end of the track once she was back in the van.

This way of rewarding article indications worked just as I hoped it would. Page was confused by the "change of rules" with articles, but not enough to frustrate her from the game even with the high winds. I'm going to play the article game with these rules again before I give her another track, but I do plan to continue this routine with articles until I get the indications I want.

I do know Page will indicate someone else's articles when she won't indicate articles I have laid. I'm hoping by insisting she indicate my articles, I'll get a stronger indication on a track not laid by me. I would not want to fail a test because the stinker won't indicate an article!

In all, it took Page 45 minutes to work through this track. She worked very hard, and I hope she added more experiences to her tracking 'Rolodex.' One thing is for sure: she was exhausted after this track and slept soundly on the way home!

Some tracking for Page

Page has done the tracking circuit in the last week. She ran a really nice VST track earlier in the week. It had an interesting angle up onto the sidewalk by the building that made her work hard. She does love to check out entrances to buildings. It's funny how some dogs always do things and others don't. Devon absolutely has to check out every drain. Page will ignore drains, but cover every inch of a building entry!

Page also ran a blind TDX track with changes of cover and three obstacles aged about 4 hours. Steve laid it for me and asked if I wanted my turns marked. While I was tempted to say yes, I realized we'll be testing within a month and I should be running some blind tracks.

I'm glad I told him a blind track, because it was good for me to trust her. She did an amazing job on this track, crossing two roads and a creek. I'm glad she's a precision tracker, and this time she indicated all but one of her articles. That's still her only weakness!

Finally mid-week I gave Page a TD track. It was aged 1 hour and 40 minutes, so it was still legal TD range. I'm glad Page is still small enough for me to be able to slow her down as she tracks. If she gets much heavier, she's going to be able to drag me down on a track! Page easily handled this track and indicated the two articles I had on the track. Maybe there's hope for articles yet!

TDX training in woods

When I was brand new to tracking, especially TDX work, I read a great article titled "Training Woods" by Rosemary Janoch in the July-August 2007 issue of the Golden Retriever News. In this article, she lists all the scenarios you should practice with a woods. They include:

• track towards the woods and go directly in
• track towards the woods and make a right or left turn in front of it (don't enter)
• track toward the woods on a diagonal and enter on a diagonal
• track parallel to the woods then make a right or left turn into it
• make a turn shortly after entering a woods
• make a turn after going a long way into the woods
• make no turn at all and go through the woods

This article has been invaluable to me in my training, and I apply the list above to any obstacle I can (like ravines and changes of cover).

Well, I said a couple of weeks ago Page needed to get back to TDX work, and that's what we've been working on. In the last 10 days, Page has done three TDX tracks, and she's done really well on them.

Track #1

I laid an evening track in high grass and woods that was approximately 600 yards long and aged 3 hours. There were lots of deer trails through this area, so I knew it would be challenging. Page worked well through the high grass and into the woods. The first set of woods I went straight through on a slight diagonal. Page entered the woods easily and tracked well. However, just before the exit of the woods, Page got very confused.

She worked a deer cross track and took it to the right. She wasn't totally committed to it but came back to it several times. I finally allowed her to track out of the woods on the cross track to see what she'd do and how she'd look knowing the track wasn't there. She did just what I've seen Devon do in this situation. She hunted for the track and never found it. So back into the woods we went.

I finally worked her through the section with several rescents and moving her toward the correct track without pushing her. How did I do that? Well, each time I rescented her I did it farther beyond the cross track until she got her correct track. I didn't push her through the track but helped her work it out. Once she was on the correct track, she practically pulled me over exiting the woods.

The key thing for my training is that all this happened on damp ground with no veg. It's the second time she's really struggled under these conditions. Looks like I have something to work on!

Page handled the rest of the track very well. I gave her another small woods line to cross through an open gap, and I gave her a left turn in front of a woods. This last turn and leg of the track paralleled a deer path just 3 ft. to the right. Page did very, very well on this leg.

Track #2

This track was laid at 8 a.m. and run at 11:15 a.m. on a hot, humid day. It was also about 600 yards long with very heavy, brushy cover and woods.

Page didn't start very strong, but within 40 yards she was pulling so hard I nearly lost my feet in the heavy, dense cover. She made her woods entries very well and tracked quite strong in the woods. I gave her two woods turns, and the difference in this woods was there was much more vegetation to help her scenting.

The other difference with this woods was the vines! The trouble with tracking Page in viney cover is that she goes under the vines while I go over them ... leading to interesting line handling. At one point before her woods exit, Page froze in the vines. I waited for her to move forward and then realized that maybe she was stuck. As I walked forward she never moved but simply looked over her shoulder and up at me with a glare that clearly communicated: "Thanks for FINALLY realizing I CAN'T MOVE HERE! A little help is APPRECIATED!" Once I lifted the vines off her she was gone like a shot. Seriously, where does this girl get her attitude??

On this very humid day, the heat got to her on the last leg. She did take water and a rescent; but again her attitude seemed to say, "Leave me alone. I got it, just let me work it out." So I did, and she found her glove in less time than it took me to lay the track. That's always a good sign!

Track #3

This track was again laid in the evening. It was about 275 yards long, aged a little more than 2 hours and had some VST as well as TDX in it. It started in weedy high cover and including some cover that was a bit viney. This track was laid by Steve, and there were several articles on it. I was VERY pleased that Page indicated her two articles on the track by wagging her tail and picking them up! This is a big improvement for her.

Page did a lovely job on her turns, including triple checking herself when she hit a deer bed after she had already committed 10 yards down a new leg. With the heavy cover, you could see the exact 90 degree turn, and she came right back to it and worked it to triple check herself! Page also gave an extra tail-wagging indication where the tracklayer took a tumble in the heavy cover. Personally, I think she was checking for any cookies that might have fallen out of his pockets!

Page again was meticulous on her transition to the non-veg. This was an interesting twist for her since she hasn't done non-veg in probably 10 days and it was at the end of a TDX track with completely different scenting. After indicating the track went out into the parking lot, she triple checked herself then committed. She tracked well to the final article.

Page did indicate her final glove in the curb, but it was a weaker indication than the others with no tail wag. However, once I asked if she found something, she picked it up and I was able to play with her by tugging and tossing the glove. This is a real first! And she carried it all the way back to the vehicles. When Janet saw her she called to her and Page ran to Janet with her glove for a big party! I think Page could get used to the party part! And my leftover hamburger from dinner got an enthusiastic welcome as a jackpot!