Today was an interesting day. Really good dogs tracked well, and then…didn’t. All of them, except Lilah. I have an apology to make: I have absolutely no idea why, and I’m not going to offer you some BS and call it “in my experience.” That’s not who I am-I am comfortable with “I don’t know.”
What could it have been? Change in temperature, ghosts, front moving in, mountain lions, dryer than usual cover, wind, farm owners vacuumed scent off fields, wild animal tracks, witches in the woods, humidity, Rosie the Labrador, barometric pressure…..or, easier, this is tracking. Ask any K9 handler, or any fox hunter (which is how I became obsessed with scent). There are days they just simply struggle. I’ve seen a pack of good hounds not scent the fox 100 yards ahead of them. And I’ve seen them give voice to a scent that requires quite a gallop to find the fox. They see the world through their noses….and we DO. NOT. UNDERSTAND.
So what are the take aways? Here’s the big one…and it’s only “conventional knowledge” not science. I’ve been told (and have come to agree) that one can look at temperature and time as inversely related. So today, the TDX folks did 2 hours at 64 degrees. That is approximately equal to 4 hours at 32 degrees. Was your T track an hour old? That’s 2 hours at half the temperature. So as we wind down classes next month, please remember that. Want to go track on a day that it’s 100 degree? DO IT. Keep it short (I’m good with 10 yards), and realize your dog essentially just learned to do twice that age at half the temp. And, he (& you) learned he can do it….That is priceless.
Vince Ramirez taught me the value of maintaining the age of the track, but making it short. Vince will happily put in a 5 yard track for his dogs….at the age he’s been working. I handle age differently, but respect his super short track idea. Who doesn’t like to find a jackpot almost immediately?
My ending thoughts…days like today happen. Move on. They probably don’t require any changes to your training, yet they also should show you where there might be holes in your training. Look for the holes, don’t obsess, and don’t despair! This is all information, note it, think about it, and move on. If it looks like this the next 2 times out….we need to reassess. If the dog “get’s over it” and returns to who he usually is, forget about it. It was a weird day.
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