Saturday, January 23, 2010

Tracking- SAR style



I took the girls tracking today for the first time and they did pretty great! I went with my friend Michelle who does Search and Rescue. They train tracking through drive, not with footsteps like CKC based tracking. Using the toy and a found person as the motivator. Anyway it was pretty fun- even though it was cold and snowy.

Wicca was much more interested in crittering than tracking, but did better on the short grass. She'd find Michelle easily enough, but then just wander away uninterested. She's such a little snot. :o) She got the idea but in Wicca style wanted to do it as fast as possible.







I was very impressed with Pixel though- she thought that it was pretty cool to find a person with a great toy laying on the ground. By her third little track she was actually scenting with her nose on the ground. She did three run away tracks with Michelle half hidden. And then did three hidden tracks- where Michelle was not visible at all. It was a perfect day for it because of the snow. It made for great photos, and it was nice to see that the dogs were actually staying on the track.











I hope to get out with them on a fairly regular basis. :o) Thanks to Michelle for her advice, and for laying the snow for my dogs!

8 comments:

Kim said...

It sounds like you had a fun day! That is the same way I learned to track with Bosley - he caught on very quickly. I now wish that I had kept up tracking with him.

Katrin said...

Very cool! Tracking can be such a fun game to play with the dogs!

Jules said...

That's awesome. I am very jealous - I really want to get into tracking. Go Pixel!!

Sarah said...

Glad you and the girlies enjoyed it, looks like they are keen to me!! I bet Michelle loved the kisses from them :) Kaleb said pixel can hae his old SAR vest if she would like to wear it :)

Marcy said...

That's awesome! I miss tracking and it was one of the most enjoyable activities I've ever done with a dog. The communication one can have with their dog through the line is pretty cool.
Looks like the girls did great!

Anonymous said...

It was a lot of fun. Your dogs did great! Oh and it is sunny with no snow here...

Natasha said...

That looks cool! I've always wanted to try tracking. Are you planning on trialing in it?

Nicki said...

looks like fun