6:15 a.m. Spent night at in-laws in Wilmington, Delaware. Wake up. Wake up dogs.
6:15 a.m. Spent night at in-laws in Wilmington, Delaware. Wake up. Wake up dogs.
7:00 a.m. After wonderful breakfast, head out to Oriole Tracking Trial in Maryland.
7:39 a.m. Avoid toll due to “local” shortcut from in-laws; up $2 already, and day is looking good.
7:40 a.m. Damn is it cold!
7:45 a.m. Meet tracking club members and judges. Everyone is friendly, and there is lots of coffee and food. Did I mention coffee?
8:00 a.m. We drew first and get the second track. Since there are two teams of judges, we get the “white team.” The “red team” is the other team - who seem to all have red hair. And our draw was to pick from the miniature, plastic Irish Leprechaun hats and look at the number inside the hat we drew.
8:15 a.m. The judges and exhibitors head out to the TD tracks. The actual tracks are in fields that are part of an immense preserve or refuge. The entire area is very pretty and idyllic.
8:20 a.m. The first TD in our group is a German Shepherd, who unfortunately skips a few turns on the way to its glove. Very efficient in time, though.
8:48 a.m. Scully and I start our track. Scully has little hesitation at the start, so I know she is focused on the run. As we go through the course, she had a couple of times where she had to circle before deciding on where to go next. Scully finds the blue glove - and picks it up - after seven minutes. Hooray.
8:55 a.m. Scully enjoys the adoration of her fans.
9:05 a.m. The last TD exhibitor in our group is a Westie who is very workmanlike. From where we were watching, it looked like the dog stopped where the grass height changed. It looks like TD means “terrier defiant.” After a long wait, the judges have to call off the track.
9:20 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. Time for our second breakfast, play, and lunch. In between we watched a TDX track. The German Shepherd unfortunately followed a crosstrack. It turns out that at least two more of the seven TDX entrants did the same thing! Makes one appreciate a TDX.
1:01 p.m. Ribbon time. Two of six TD entrants and two of seven TDX entrants passed. Scully received her big rosette and posed for pictures. Of course, her hamburger for lunch was the reward she valued most.
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