Tracking for Tristan's birthday

Tomorrow (28th) is Tristan's fourth birthday - I don't know where the time has gone! Today he and I had a day away from all the others and joined an APDT activity day to do some tracking. He loved it, and we had a lovely time. There were six of us in the class, another shepherd, a goldie, a collie, a Stafford and a terrier cross. The lady with the shep kindly took some photos whilst we were having our turn; please excuse the fact that Tristan needs a good brushing!

That looks fun, Lorraine - thanks for the lovely photos.

It was, thank you Lydda

I've always fancied trying some tracking, but never got round to it. Looks a lot of fun - did he pick it up easily?

P.S. Happy birthday Tristan!!!!!!!

Thanks Caryll. Yes, he was on it almost straight away. You start by lying treats in the track over a short distance to reach an object at the end. We used a tennis ball, as he loves those; he ignored the treats and went straight to the ball right from the off. The hardest part is learning how to handle the long line correctly, and trusting your dog. If you get the opportunity, I would recommend it

I'd love to try this with Kuchar, because compared with my previous Dobies he seems to have a great tracking instinct. He often tracks "something" and as he was never a "sexy" dog, even when entire, I don't think it's a bitch! He's very very Attention Deficit though (over-excitable) so maybe it's not for him.

Actually, Tristan is very much an over-excitable, ditzy kind of dog who barely resembles the stereotypical smart GSD! He can be quite lead reactive at even a fair distance, but when his nose went down to follow the track he blocked everything else out, and was very focussed and did very well. If you get the chance, I'd thoroughly recommend it

I would like to give it a try, just to see if Kuchar is capable of tracking a missing person!

I'm sue he is! Tristan was more interested in finding his tennis ball!

LyndaW wrote:I would like to give it a try, just to see if Kuchar is capable of tracking a missing person!

Getting up to tracking a person is going to take dedication and work from you but it's fun.
I did Search and Rescue with Xan so Kuchar will be able to do it. There's lots of reading material on the internet so you can start teaching him the basics now.
It's self rewarding in the beginning so most dogs take to it instantly.

Happy belated birthday, Tristan!

Looks like it was a lot of fun!

Lorraine wrote:  If you get the opportunity, I would recommend it

I'm not so sure that Dempsey is tracking material!

Eleanor wrote:Happy belated birthday, Tristan!

Looks like it was a lot of fun!

Thank you, it was!!!

And he looks handsome as always, by the way! The ruffled look suits him!

Scruffy, you mean!

Aww, bless him! I'd go with 'fluffy' instead!