Escape to the great outdoors and let’s go TRACKING!

Variable Surface Tracking Test: A Summary

Held June 15th, 2008

Our second Variable Surface Tracking Test has come and gone.  We couldn’t have asked for nicer judges, tracklayers, drivers, hospitality, food, motor home, exhibitors, dogs, locations, or weather.

Our judges, Stephanie Gonyeau (Goldendale, WA) and Barbara Adcock (San Jose, CA), plotted 4 very nice tracks on the campuses of Western Washington University and Whatcom Community College.  They had nothing but praise for their tracklayers: Nancy Gates, Pat Hess, Jackie Lovette, and Marian Snapp.  They were happy with their drivers: Colleen Pinner and Nancy Reynolds.  They genuinely liked staying at Nancy R.’s home and waking up to hot coffee and fresh baked scones no matter what wee hour of the morning that happened to be.  They thoroughly enjoyed the snacks and yummy lunch provided by Pam Marmo.  They were suitably impressed with Marian’s 5-star motor home which served as our base camp.  And they showed much patience and good humor as we basically switched horses in midstream (transferring test secretary/chairmanship duties from Charity Marlin to Pattie Moon) on the Monday prior to the test.  They also expressed admiration for the four dogs and handlers who worked the test tracks.  They felt that all 4 teams were well prepared and deserving of being included in the test.  Unfortunately there were no passes as each team either missed an article or took a wrong turn and heard the dreaded whistle. 

AKC Tracking Field Representative, Betty Winthers, was on hand to test Tannis Witherspoon, a VST Tracking Judge candidate from Spokane.  Betty wrote a glowing report of our test and our club to send to the AKC.  Whew – I could feel the beads of sweat recede as Betty read her report to the group.  It’s not always this nice when Betty says she is “going to write you up”!

The test filled with a total of 8 entries.

Handlers and dogs who participated in the test were:

The 4 alternates included 2 more CDTA members:

Good show!  Well done!  We’ll do it again next year!

Pattie Moon
Substitute VST Test Secretary/Chairman

November 9, 2008 -  Tracking Test

Our annual Tracking Test for TD and TDX will be held on November 9th, in Bow, WA. 
There are spaces for five TD tracks and three TDX tracks. 

Premium          Entry Form

Both will be available in the fall.

CLASSES

The next set of tracking classes will start in January 2009! 

Watch for the next Flyer in November 2008.
Check the events page for the Variable Surface Tracking Test to be held in June
and for the Tracking Test to be held in early November.

For information contact Pattie Moon 360-734-6192.

WHAT THEY DID THIS YEAR!

Winter Tracking Classes 2008

On any given Saturday morning, January through March, you could find the students and their dogs in CDTA’s Winter 2008 Tracking Classes out in the fields surrounding Chuckanut Farm in Bow.   Sporting water and wind proof layers from head to toe, they tackled each lesson, adding to their handling skills and building their dog’s proficiency at following a track.  Practice between lessons proved to be an essential ingredient toward achieving mutual understanding between dog and handler as to what the tracking game was all about. 

At the end of the Advanced Class, two of the dogs and handlers were certified as ready to enter tracking tests by AKC Tracking Judge, Sil Sanders.  Congratulations to Sarah Kahn and Portuguese Water Dog, Ace, and Susen Dasch and Australian Shepherd, Denzi.

There were others in both the beginning and advanced classes who were very close to achieving this status as well.  With a few more tracks under their belts, they will soon be ready to enter tracking tests too. 

But no matter what goals a handler had, they all seem to agree that they had a great time.

Track on!

Pattie Moon
Tracking Class Instructor