Starting our Swedish testing

So I have been preparing a piece on doing so many different activities with our dogs, but the past two days halted it a bit.

Today we performed our first test in Sweden, an Anlagstest for blood tracking. This test is a beginner test to basically to see if a dog has the drive and ability to do blood tracking.  The test calls for a 2-5 hr old track that is at least 600 m through various terrain that the dog must complete in a maximum of 30 min.

We signed Baxter up to participate in a open class blood tracking course so that we could learn about blood tracking in Sweden, which is certainly different from what we are used to in Germany/Switzerland/Italy. Plus, the young dog could use some more experience. On Wednesday we went to the theory course.... All in Swedish (luckily we had a translator), but surprisingly, I understood more than I thought I would. The organizers/ judges for the course are very nice women that, thankfully for us, speak excellent English. They wanted to be sure that we took the Anlagstest before starting the course and were confident that the Bax would do fine even though we haven't tracked since October. So yesterday we got a email that they would have time today if and asked if we could make it and we were on the road to Hässleholm around 10:30 this morning.

Our track was 4 hr old through a forest with moderate cover, though lots of fallen trees, hills, and relatively steep downhill. There was a large stream and some boggy areas, and quite a bit of wildlife (we saw fresh moose prints on our track and 3 deer as we were leaving). Baxter did great and the judge thought so as well, stating that he was a really good blood tracking dog that stayed exactly in the middle of the scent line. With that he got the pass and will now be able to participate in open class blood tracking trials!

Next week we'll take part in some Easter activities with the club as well as laying our 1st open class blood track for practice. Here's to hoping for more good things to come!!