Snow, Ice, Melting Snow

OK, I’m from Buffalo. I LOVE the snow. Sorry MaryAnn and Kelly. Anyway, SNOW HAPPENS. And tracking tests are still held. So three things to try and practice this week.

1. Go tracking in the snow. OPEN YOUR MIND—if you do you’ll see your dog using his nose, while you use your eyes. You’ll get to see how your dog responds to animal cross tracks, what he does at a turn, how different environmental things (buildings, indentations in the ground, trees, roads etc etc etc) impact his tracking. OBSERVE—not just for what he does, but WHAT CHANGE IN BEHAVIOR DO YOU SEE??? Memorize the change in behavior….it’s critical knowledge for you.

2. Starting to snow? Put a track in, let it get snowed on, and go run the track. Be patient, this might take your dog some time to work out. Let him figure it out at the start, and he might need to really work the first turn (that does not mean give him more line…..). This is a hard skill to practice (we can’t control the weather), and this week (and today) look like they are going to give us the opportunity.

3. Melting snow. Melting snow is hard. Gretchen and I share the same belief—it seems as though the scent travels with the water (and snow melts down—the water runs under the snow, not on top of it). So practice! Every day it warms a bit and there is some melting….go track! I’d keep them very young—your goal is to allow the dog to figure out how to solve this problem. So fresh tracks are good, even if you are training X. And if you are training V…..pay attention to the path of the running water and see if your dog follows the water to an obstruction (curb, crack etc) and then follows that.

ICE. Please be careful and don’t train in the woods if the trees are iced. It’s dangerous to both you and your dog.

Go have fun in the snow!