Class Tracking, 3.17.2026

RDOC Tracking Class for 2025-2026 was an adventure! After lots of cancellations due to weather, we had our last class meeting on Tuesday, 3/17. 

True to form for this class, the weather was wild! Very strong wind always seems to distract Quinn so I was really proud of him for working as well as he did. 

When I looked at the map that our fabulous track layer (Susan) gave me, I realized this track was about 40 minutes old. That was a first for Quinn so perhaps contributed to some of his distraction/uncertainty in this effort. Considered in a vacuum, it was not our strongest effort in class, but taking the conditions into account, I don't think it was as dire as I initially felt. We got there in the end, and learned some useful things along the way.

Quinn was further hampered, as always, by his handler's bumbling with the line. I will keep working on it!


 



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Quinn and I are very excited to be joining the RDOC Tracking class for 2025-2026. We love learning new things and having adventures together so we can't wait to get started.
Read more

Practice Session, 11.16.2025

Image
 On weekends we often take the dogs to a SniffSpot for some off leash time, and I thought I'd try to add a bit of tracking practice to our visit today. Quinn and I were at an all-day scentwork clinic on Saturday (11/15) so he was a little tired and I didn't want to completely overwhelm him. I was hoping a somewhat familiar location would be helpful for him. This SniffSpot is 10 acres and fully fenced. It is mostly open meadow with some trees, and the homeowner has mowed paths for walking with your dog.  On the map, you may notice three structures: the largest is a house. The one inside the fenceline is a run-in shed. The small one to the right of the house is a chicken coop. During Track 1 (when we were facing the coop), the homeowner came out to feed their chickens and a few managed to escape. You may notice Quinn watching this with QUITE a bit of interest! (You can hear the homeowner yelling at the chickens in the background if your sound is up.) After track 1, I let the dog...
Read more

Practice Session, 11.22.2025

Image
 We were back at the SniffSpot this weekend so I wanted to fit some more practice into our week. Quinn was very willing to participate! We just did one track this visit.  Since our last two tracks went smoothly, I went ahead and added 5 steps, and also took slightly more normal length steps (versus the very tiny shuffle steps we started with!) Still dropping a single piece of hot dog at every step.  I had Quinn off leash with just his collar on for the first part of our visit, before I laid the track. I was excited that HE was excited when his tracking harness came out of my bag. I think he's getting the idea of this new game!   The footing (dirt path --> somewhat grassy trail) posed no problem for him. I thought he was very focused and methodical overall. In fact I was so impressed that I was still admiring him at the article and was later to get going with the treats than I meant to be. I'll try not to get distracted by my amazing dog next time! Weathe...
Read more