VST Tracking
My tracking club held their VST test today and I was one of the tracklayers. I have never watched a VST, so I learned a lot. The judges, tracklayers, and test secretary met up yesterday to plot the tests and see where they would all go. It was a nice day, but quite warm. The judges were very nice and set up some nice tests. Due to the area we had to use they were all between 600 & 700 yards, with 4 to 5 turns. I ended up being the tracklayer for 2 of the 6 tests. The tests were very interesting and covered about 1/3 to 2/3 grass/vegetation and 1/3 to 2/3 concrete/asphalt, depending on the location.It poured last night for the first time in almost 40 days, so the area ended up being a little squishy, but not so dusty. It was a beautiful day today, overcast, but no rain and a slight breeze, which made it cooler for the dogs. It was in the high '70's to low '80's. We ended up with 3 out of 6 dogs passing, a very rare occurrence.
I laid track #3 & #6. The #3 dog was an English Springer and she (Cory) nailed the track and all the articles. It took me about 10 minutes to lay the track and Cory ran it in 14 minutes, the fastest time today. She turned right on the turns and never had to second guess herself. Her handler did very well reading her and listening to what she said. They were all crying and it gave me goosebumps to watch her work.
The dog that ran #6 was a Flatcoat and did very well on his track, except he missed one of the articles (#2) and therefore did not pass. He was on all the turns except the second one (a left) he circled large to the right, but came back to find the correct path and stepped on all the other articles. It was disappointing and he was only a couple feet off the article, but his handler never even looked closely at the area to check for one.
After we get our TD's on Chauncey and Blueberry, we will train for both TDX and VST. It looks like a lot of fun and different situations to try. The other 2 dogs that passed were a pair of Goldens (mother & son) owned/handled by a husband & wife, that came down from Illinois for the test. All 3 of the dogs that passed earned their CT also today. I had a great time and enjoyed all the wonderful people there.
I laid track #3 & #6. The #3 dog was an English Springer and she (Cory) nailed the track and all the articles. It took me about 10 minutes to lay the track and Cory ran it in 14 minutes, the fastest time today. She turned right on the turns and never had to second guess herself. Her handler did very well reading her and listening to what she said. They were all crying and it gave me goosebumps to watch her work.
The dog that ran #6 was a Flatcoat and did very well on his track, except he missed one of the articles (#2) and therefore did not pass. He was on all the turns except the second one (a left) he circled large to the right, but came back to find the correct path and stepped on all the other articles. It was disappointing and he was only a couple feet off the article, but his handler never even looked closely at the area to check for one.
After we get our TD's on Chauncey and Blueberry, we will train for both TDX and VST. It looks like a lot of fun and different situations to try. The other 2 dogs that passed were a pair of Goldens (mother & son) owned/handled by a husband & wife, that came down from Illinois for the test. All 3 of the dogs that passed earned their CT also today. I had a great time and enjoyed all the wonderful people there.
posted by Kim at 2:37 PM
2 Comments:
Tracking sounds like fun, but we're still working on basic obedience. I'd like to do agility with Bobby, and we're hoping to get one of Belinda's Hope/Taylor litter and show in conformation.
Just thought I'd stop by and say hi, and how are you, since you haven't posted in a while. :) Hope your spring is going well.
Thanks for stopping by. I have been busy and haven't done much with the girls in a little while. I did one class of agility with Chauncey and it was fun, but we only have so much time to do stuff in.
You will have fun with conformation, a lot of work, but fun.
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