Ugh, Hot & Dry Tracking

I met up with everyone at the usual place. We got the young dogs finished and done, then laid the longer tracks. It was in the 50's when I left home this morning, it was very nice for Chauncey's track, and by the time Blueberry went it was almost 80 degrees. We have had no rain for over 30 days and it is dry and dusty everywhere. These conditions have made tracking a bit tougher for the dogs.

Joyce laid Chauncey's, it aged for a little over 30 minutes, and was 285 yds long. Chauncey started well and found her turns. At the second turn she overshot, so we backed up a little and she was right on the 3rd leg. She found the glove with ease and tracked Joyce out of the field. She is much more solid on her turns and in general. Her focus is much better and I think that I am doing better at reading her indications. I am trying to only watch her and not try to look ahead to where the track might be going. I caught my self several times trying to outguess the dog and they were correct. So, I have to trust the dog and not second guess them.

Chauncey's Track

Joyce laid a tough track for Blueberry. It was 480 yds long, about 25 minutes old, and had some definite changes of cover. This was her first time getting a true change of cover. The track started in short, dry grass, then went into taller, greener grass, and the last part was in a brittle grassy area with holes and cactus. This section has a lot of dirt and can be hard to walk through, we also ended up tracking right through the remains of a deer (only the bones are left and they are spread out into a 15 foot area), so I had to give her a leave it command as she wanted to sniff them. Blueberry started well and nailed the first turn. The second leg ran along the edge of some trees and brush, I thought it went right along the edge and kept pulling Blueberry over that way, when she wanted to vear off the straight line. An instance where I should have listened to my dog, about halfway down I look up and see the turn marker off the tree line about 20 yds, where Blueberry wanted to go the whole time. I gave her the lead and let her go. Jean pointed out to me later that Blueberry kept turning back and looking at me, wondering what I was doing. After working the second turn and finding the 3rd leg, she approached the change in cover. She went back and forth a few times to make sure that she had to go in and then punged right in. Blueberry proceeded through all the brush and right through the cactuses (Chauncey always has to walk around them). Again, I try to mess my dog up by thinking, I am holding her on a straight line and she wants to angle more to the right. Joyce finally hollers at me to go with my dog and there is the marker for the next turn, when will I learn. She makes the next turn and continues on the fourth leg with no problems, we hit the deer remains on this leg. She approaches the last turn, which is right in front of a large Palmetto bush, so thankfully, she works it out without trying to circle the bush and we don't get tangled. She finished the last leg to the glove and is given lots of hugs and treats. Blueberry just wants back in the truck by this time and is worn out. It was a tough track and she did a beautiful job.

Blueberry's Track