#tracking dog

[caninestooth]

i am a working dog !! give me a task right neow !!

tell me to do the yard work , tell me what to do , give me the tasks that need to get done , when they need to be done, how do to them.

im also a tracking dog !!

put me on the scent of a deer, give me a fox, a raccoon , a squirrel. ill chase , and track , and tree. recall me and ill come back but give me something to do !!

[a-disaster-piece]

guess who successfully tracked a genet, with no prior training or instruction? my darling doofus did!! (i myself have been professionally trained in wildlife tracking, though.)

cannot express how proud i am of this dog & how far she's come in showing her intelligence & abilities over the last year.

(not a photo of where she tracked, but just look how chuffed she is with herself on this hike!)

last night, she absolutely lost her mind over something in the garden, but i had to call her in, since i didn't want her bolting into the forest or down the gorge in the dark to chase whatever it was (she's very good at dropping her prey drive/interest when asked), & heaven forbid it was a nefarious character that was armed (we've been having such issues in the area lately, unfortunately).

she did it again when i let her out this morning, i checked the area she was particularly & repeatedly interested in...& ta-da, there was genet spoor! (did i accidentally step on the only identifiable tracks before i could take a photo? yes, i did.)

she's also done really well when my friend with actual trained, actively working conservation detection dogs comes to visit.

but all of this really hammers home just how held back she was by my former partner's menace of a jack russell (look, i loved that little shit like my own baby, but he was still a terror, that i spent years training & managing/improving/maintaining his behaviour/personality).

she really seemed so dof (dumb) & empty-headed before; she would completely biff catching treats/toys, wouldn't hardly play, was generally desperate, etc., all because that little dog with napoleon syndrome would bulldoze his way to get at anything first, even if he initially wasn't interested, & not stop until he "won" & she gave up.

to think, that i could have trained her years ago, had another avenue of conservation involvement, & further enriched this dog's life...

[securityunit-ese]

I’m so tired and my neck hurts and I want a shower but:

Thorn, tracking test 4 rating: good. Thorn struggled with starting in the face of hundreds and hundreds of sheep coming over to see if were are feeding them. He had a really nice stretch then struggled in the face of some roos. Another nice stretch then struggled at the sight of distant cars. Then honed in. It would have been a lower mark but he did go above and beyond in finding every single article. I think Thorn is feeling confused and demotivated from the lack of live tracks lately. So will have to organise with other people to set up some short sweet love tracks to motivate him again. I also haven’t done a lot of tracking training with Thorn, letting his innate instincts do a lot of work. But now it is time to set up some structured simulations to let him learn how to puzzled out those scenarios.

Thyme, tracking test 9 rating: good

Very impressed with Thyme. T9s are fucking hard and he pretty much breezed through it. Our track had been rained on and was on a plateau getting lots of wind. He cut a corner and overshot a couple of others. Quartering widely because of the wind. But he kept a brisk pace and worked hard the whole time. Very efficient. He found all 4 article and did some beautiful back to back acutes. Blind start. Once he gets his T10 that’s it, he won’t be able to track in trials anymore. That will be a shame he does like the challenge compared to the track and search.

Both tracks were in drought-ridden bare paddocks that are basically hard compressed dirt that leaves little disturbance and nothing for the odour to catch on. It is not easy to work on those.

I’ve been helping out for 3 of the 4 days this event is over, camping in the tent with the boys keeping me warm. I’m so tired and I want a shower.

[irreverent-dobermans]

SINATRA. Hanging out at work really.

[petportraitsbyheatherlovelace]

A commissioned memorial portrait of Bloodhounds Dio(top) and Jewel(bottom). Polychromos and Luminance colored pencils used on 18"X24" Strathmore paper.

[mudwerks]

Death Haunts the Dark Lane

Robert Stanley cover art. Dell mapback edition from 1948.

[irreverent-dobermans]

[irreverent-dobermans]