Gunner’s tracking career actually began while still a puppy. He certified at about one year of age, but sadly we were never able to get into a trial that year. He was ready to compete in agility, obedience and rally at that point, so we moved on to those sports.
A little more than two years ago, Gunner needed knee surgery. A great deal of the rehabilitation for the surgery involved a LOT of walking: he was bored to death because of the restrictions, so we took up tracking and some nose work to stimulate his Aussie mind. It was amazing how he did not forget his tracking foundation. I just put on his harness, his nose went down, and off he went!
Although Gunner is a natural at tracking, sadly his handler was not!!! It took a lot of practice on my part and training and patience from our friend and coach Lisa Pattison to get ME trained to read my dog. I finally felt ready to test and entered Lenape’s member certification test and passed!! We were then lucky enough to make the draw for the Lenape TD test a few weeks later and WOW!! We passed again!! It was one of the most hard-earned titles I have ever gotten, and a day I won’t forget.
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