I would like to thank all the Club members who worked so hard on the Tracking Experience Day last April. The instructions were very clear and interesting. Holly and I were very interested in working to get the “T”. We were lucky to have Gail Benson and Frisker for tracking buddies. We spent a lot of time looking for fields large enough for our always lengthening tracks.
Holly had to work through some pretty tough problems, such as a large flock of geese eating all of the bait and messing the track. One day after Gail had set a beautiful track and she had just finished, a woman drove up, opened her van door, and six large Collies bounded out and went straight for the hot dogs. We soon had the woman round up her dogs. I put Holly on the track. With a lot of work, she got past the dog scent, and like a little trooper found the glove.
The first test Holly ran at Lenape, she found the joys of fresh deer droppings. At the second test in Lumberton, Holly for the first time in her life met an animal larger than a big dog called a COW! Right next to where the cars were parked was a paddock full of very strong smelling cows. Holly was really scared and very upset, so we stayed away from them. When we got to the track that we had drawn, I looked across the field. Guess what was there? Sure enough, another herd of cows. Holly started nice and strong, but we were headed straight for the cows. As we got closer, the cows started to move around and moo a lot. Holly said, “Oh no, I’m not going over there.” So she did what any little girl would do and hid behind her Mom’s legs. The judges called us back, so I thought we were finished, but they said the cows were unfair and gave her the alternate track. Holly ran the track (not without giving me an anxious moment or two), and we passed.
Holly has a good nose, and by attending TED plus follow-up days, along with a dedicated tracking buddy, we did it all in seven months. Thank you - all of you - for your great support .
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