Our oldest and youngest dackel rocked it today! We were going to Sjöbo for a tracking practice, but last minute our trainer/judge asked if we would want to just take the test as she thought both dogs were excellent on their previous practice. So, we took the last minute decision to test both of the dog and boy am I glad that we did!
Both Freddie and Liina were stellar and managed their tracks in 13 min and we doing SUCH great work! Simon handled Freddie and I took Liina. Freddie was a total star and did exactly what he loves to do-TRACK! He worked brilliantly and years of practice made this Anlagstest look like a breeze. If Simon had let Freddie go the speed he really wanted to, then we would have all had a nice jog through the woods. He is a wonderful dog to watch and I would love to use him on real game tracking.
I think what was great about this last minute decision to do a test is that it didn't give me any time to be nervous that I would be handling the dog in a test for the 1st time. I am usually the organizer and track lay-er, but not the handler. The past few months have been totally nerve-wracking for me as now I have been dropped into the role of both show handler and now tracking handler. Liina didn't let me down though... that little girl has a great nose on her! Her mom and dad would have been so proud. :)
The woods were quite wet today since there was snow last week and rain on and off since then, so quite a few ponds and mud pits had formed. Honestly, they didn't seem to phase Liina (I on the other hand, was very, very happy I had decided to wear my tall rubber boots) and she happily moved forward through the whole track. At one point a large Hare jumped out in front of us, but I didn't see it. Liina followed after the fresh track for a few meters, but when I stopped, she looked at me, and went back to the last point she had the track and restarted herself without my help. She is really great about back tracking and checking if she is unsure. She doesn't need much encouragement-only the occasional "Suche" or "Hyvää."
The judge was so incredibly happy with the work that Freddie and Liina did and the critique was not only kind, but extremely flattering for us and the dogs.
2x Anlagstest (Beginners class tracks), 2x PASSED with FLYING COLORS!
I can't wait to start these two in open class tracks!
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