Practice Session, 3.30.2026 - "Come Monday"

Class has ended but exploring the wonderful world of tracking continues! 

The Plan, such as it is: Quinn has qualified for a few things at the NASDA 'championship events' this fall so we will be working hard to prepare for those. I am planning to establish Mondays as regular tracking practice days (after our swim time at Paws to Swim, since they've kindly allowed us the use of their big field) and work in extra practice days as much as time and weather allow. After September, with nationals behind us, we'll focus specifically on tracking again for the winter. We both LOVED tracking class this year so participating again is definitely at the top of our list! 

I hope that some of the things we're working on for NASDA (blind searches, Quinn's confidence, handler-letting-dog-figure-things-out, etc) will support us in tracking, even though the sports are not the same. 

Anyway, as for today:

• Temperature: 57° F 
• Wind: SW 3 MPH, gusts to 14 MPH
• Humidity: 72%
• Overall: Breezy, sunny, warm and pleasant

Track 1: Laid 9:52 AM, Run 10:00 AM 

Mindful of the warning that green spring grass can be challenging,  we stuck to a simple first effort: scuff 10, walk 20 with food at 10, for about 60 yards. The start article was a fabric ID card holder; the end article was a sock (full of chicken - delightful!)

As usual, I worried a lot and Quinn was completely unbothered. Clearly we've been slacking on 'lay down practice' but the mighty terrier nose seemed to be working perfectly. 

 

Track 2: Laid 10:03 AM, Run 10:21 AM

At our final class session, Quinn's track was about 40 minutes old and he seemed a little less certain of himself. I thought we'd try a tiny bit of age on an otherwise straightforward track, and let him learn that he's capable of that, too. Mary Ann recommended double laying the track for him in this situation so I did that as well. 

My brain can only keep track of so many variables at once, so I kept our S10W20FD10 pattern for this one. The first leg was about 60 yards, then a turn to the left and about 50 more yards. The start article was the ID holder and the end article was a glove (once again blessed with an abundance of chicken.) 

Quinn didn't seem to have any questions about this one! He was very excited to get to the start article and towed his bumbling handler right to the glove like the genius he is. 

Three things Quinn did well:

1. Despite a short break from tracking, he was clear on the job and excited to get started.
2. It was very breezy, the grass was all sorts of lengths, it was getting warmer the whole time, etc etc... and none of it seemed to bother him. (From our other sports, I know that one of his biggest challenges is believing he can do what I'm asking him to do. If he isn't confident, he kind of 'taps out' and looks at me for help.) He kept working the whole time and just got on with the job, which was pretty fun to watch!
3. It was just over 15 minutes, but he handled the 'age' on track 2 with no apparent difficulty. Good job, buddy!

Three things to work on:

1. In the moment I thought I did better with the line handling but upon watching the videos, still not sure I am getting that right. 
2. Plan bigger expeditions to larger areas where he can really go for 100+ yards and let him work!
3. Stay on top of article-indicating-practice/games at home and between practice sessions.

Goal for next track: just keep swimming! He's not usually a huge fan of the heat so while I want to keep getting him out and tracking, we will probably stay conservative and add time/distance/etc very incrementally as the weather heats up.  He had a great 2 month checkup for his Addison's so we are all systems go, but I am very focused on keeping things trending in the right direction!!!