Tracklaying at a test

I had my first experience as a tracklayer at a TDX test. It was a great experience, and one I’d recommend to anyone who is tracking. I had track 4 at the White River Golden Retriever Club’s test at Summit Lake State Park. The cover is very thick, and includes multifloral rose and other stickers, plus trees and roads as obstacles. This is a 6 track test with first priority going to Golden Retrievers. Usually four or five of the six dogs pass this test.

I was familiar with tracking in this park because last year Devon was entered and ran track 5. We were 180 yards from the glove when we missed our next to the last turn and were whistled off. I had also tracked their last year in preparation for the test. However, being with the judges and plotting the track and being responsible for laying it was totally different!

I now know how badly tracklayers want their dogs to pass, and how hard judges work to make a good, fair test. It took us an hour to plot this track, and there were long discussions on how the cross track layers would get in and out of the field. Article placement was also discussed, and how articles were used to pull the dog onto the track away from a difficult area.

For my part, after we plotted the track, I went back and walked it twice more until I could barely lift my feet. The terrain was so rough my hips were sore from lifting my legs, and I was catching my feet on rose limbs. At one point, I tripped and reached my hand out to grab a tree to steady myself, only to deeply bruise my knuckle from a thorn on the tree. I was dragging and exhausted after the 1.5 hour drive home, only to know I would be driving back at 6 a.m. the next morning to lay the test track.

We had a beautiful day for a test. The chief tracklayer had us on a clock and we were all perfectly timed. I checked my articles at least 5 times, went through my list out loud, “leave the start flag, lay the article, pick up the rest of the flags, leave articles at the flags with Xs, don’t take the white cross track flags…” I carefully laid out my articles, giving them an extra pat for good luck. I did everything I could to help this unknown dog and handler pass.

Draw time, who got my track? Club member and friend Laurie and her Golden Dusty. Goodness, this was going to be a track! Dusty is a high drive, handful of a dog, who does everything fast and with energy! I couldn’t imagine what following him on a track would be like, and I soon found out it was as exciting and fast as I expected!

Dusty was off like a shot from the start flag, rounding the first turn at 50 yards as Judge #1 Rosemary was just past the start flag, and Judge #2 Steve and I were well behind. As I made the first turn, I could see Dusty enter the woods 100 yards ahead of us. We were still in the woods, when we heard Laurie shout she had the first article – we still had 100 yards and a turn to get to her! Luckily Dusty had a search at the third turn and managed to take his line around a couple of trees, because that slowed him down enough for us to catch up! But before we reached the turn, he was off like a shot!

At this point I got to see from behind the only thing on the whole track that worried me. Dusty was square on the track; I know I laid it. I saw him sniffing between two sapling trees I walked between. However, Laurie was 25 ft. to the left of the track. I wanted to tell her, “Get behind your dog! He’s right and you’re wrong!” Luckily she didn’t pull him off the track, and she did step in behind him.

The second article on track was found, and Dusty did manage to get a drink of water and give us a moment’s rest before he was off again! At the fifth turn, he bolted so fast off the turn, he pulled the tracking line out of Laurie’s hands. My last image of Laurie until right before she found the glove was her running after Dusty to try and grab the line! She did before he made the next turn. However, Judge Rosemary fell right before that turn (doing what most of us had been trying not to do the entire track). She was fine, but that was the last time we saw Laurie and Dusty until 20 yards right before the glove. I’m so glad we got to see them find the glove, because that was a great party!

As Judge Rosemary said, “That pass made the whole weekend worth it!” That sums it up best. Laurie was all smiles, Dusty was very proud of himself, and the whole gallery was screaming from the road for us to come out because they had no idea where we were behind the trees! Laurie’s first words to me were, “You stink great!” Wow, what a compliment!

I was fortunate enough to be the tracklayer for the only passing track that day. I guess I was the “stinkyest” person there! What a great feeling to be part of that pass! Tracking takes a village, but it is so worth it!