All went well, although it was a very tiring day. Ann was the navigator for me & a splendid one. Without her, I would've wound up hopelessly lost in the backroads of Laingsburgh. We got to all our tracks & did our part with no problems whatsoever. Tiring weekend, but well worth it.
Still no pictures of today's event. I was just too busy. But I'll share the successful TDX pass from several years ago, in the fall test that the dog club hosts every year.
Here is a copy of the report I posted to the club's email list & to the tracking dog listserves.
Sunday, April 13, 2008
Those who know me well, know what I mean when I say it was a great
weekend for tracking. Dogs seem to love this coolish, rainy weather.
The humans did their best to stay dry & I think were mostly
successful, except maybe for a few wet feet. Rubber boots came in
handy this weekend!
Judges were: Deb Huff and Sharon Smith for the TD, and Sharon Smith &
Terry Smith for the TDX. Jilliane Job was the Test Secretary. Judy
Andreas did hospitality and Dick Hemer was the judges' driver this
weekend. Headquarters were Victor Township Hall, on Alward Road in
Laingsburg, Michigan.
Three passes & one fail for the TD, no passes for the TDX.
Passing dogs for the T were:
Standard Poodle: Colando's Compay Segundo owned by James P. Colando
and Shirley Robertson, MD
German Shepherd Dog: Alta-Tolhaus Par Four owned by Laura Green (Battle Creek)
English Springer Spaniel: Mystic's Curtain Call, CGC owned by Paul and
Beth Lange
Failing was a Wirehaired Pointing Griffon, and the judge said that
this dog got within ten yards of the last corner & hence 70 yards or
so to the glove, so this was a very near miss & a fine performance up
to that point. The judge cited increasing winds & swirling currents.
For the TDX: failing dogs were a GSD, Maltese, and a Labrador
Retriever. We had one pull from the test, a Beagle.
I did not have a chance to observe any tracks except the final two,
because Ann & I laid the cross tracks for all four of the TDX tracks.
What I can tell you is that the weather was blustery, we had snow
overnight and a little this morning (very transient, and the wind did
pick up & get quite icy. On the previous day, the day of plotting, it
drizzled most of the day, and the fields were quite squelchy in parts.
However, they were very nice fields, nice cover, and it was a good
day. It is always a good day when you go tracking, even when it snows
in April!
The following are the trackers for the TD portion:
Mark Johnson
Jean Fierke
Tom Ford
and Melissa Bloomfield . Irene Brett served as the TD chief tracklayer.
The TDX people: Doug Heym, Marty Siegrist, and Mary Wolowiec. Marty
Siegrist served as the chief tracklayer for the TDX. Anne Kuschel and
Kim Laird were the cross trackers for all four tracks.
The next opportunity for joining in the fun is May 11-12, for our VST,
Variable Surface Tracking. After this past weekend, I think the chief
advantage of this urban style tracking is that you do not have to wear
big rubber boots or worry about walking through ponds, and two, you
don't have to worry about horse, deer, rabbit, or goose manure quite
as much! ;) The VST will be on MSU's grounds, if I recall rightly, so
do come out & watch, as the VST is always interesting & the company is
good.
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