Distance Seminar, and Tracking

On June 1, the Mox and I, and Elsa, drove to (you guessed it!) Elk Grove so Mox and I could take part in a Distance Handling seminar taught by Susan Rapillus.  Susan runs Shelties, and she's one of only 2 or 3 people I've seen successfully complete the elite distance challenge in NADAC classes.  It's so cool to watch the handlers basically standing at the start line and directing their dogs around the course with voice commands and body & hand cues.  They remind me of kids with those radio-remote-control cars.

Because Moxie has so much drive he seems like a dog that could do pretty well at this, if I could ever learn to handle the distance correctly.  Even if we never take it to that level, I figured I could use some help in communicating when he gets way out in front of me ... as he often does.

It was a beautiful day, and the seminar was very helpful.  Mox been having trouble with tunnel/contact discrimination, and sometimes going into the wrong end of a curved tunnel.  Susan showed me a couple of different body cues to give, and Moxie's improvement was dramatic.  I went home feeling I'd gotten my money's worth, and more.

Meanwhile, looking around for something other than agility to do with Miko while the weather is hot, I signed up for tracking lessons with Debi Best.  She's been teaching for years, and her Golden Retrievers have multiple AKC Obedience and Tracking titles.  Miko seems to have a pretty good nose, and he loves to use it, so I figured he'd enjoy this activity.

We met yesterday for the first time;  learned how to lay tracks, and then let our dogs follow the tracks (bits of food dropped every 3 paces, for us beginners) to find an object such as a glove or old wallet.  Miko was thrilled by all the smells in the grass and it took him awhile to get the idea that he was supposed to track footsteps from one bit of hotdog to the next.  He also did some "air scenting," where he lifted his nose and sniffed for the hotdog instead of keeping his nose low.  He'll learn.  I took him over to the Head-Royce School athletic field this morning and laid 4 tracks for him.  Despite the distractions of dropped potato chips and candy in the grass (last Saturday was Commencement), he did better today than yesterday.  I'll take him out tomorrow and Friday as well, and then we're off to WAG again for a NADAC specialty trial -- specialty in this case meaning no jumping classes at all.  A weekend of tunnels, weave poles and contacts ... and hoopers, for them as indulge in such as that!.