On
Four TDX
tracks were offered, and two
dogs passed the test! It
was a beautiful
day! A great
big Thank You to the handlers who entered these well trained dogs, and
to the
workers who gave their all to make this a successful test.
Entered dogs
were:
Track #2: Daydream
Magic Mittens (Mittens)
TD. REG# E114493. 98.07/2000. Breeder Judy Boone. By WTCH CH
Cabrielino's Charli Chaplin X Daycream Rockin The Night Away. Australian
Shepherd, bitch.
Owners: Will and Anne Hershey. Handled by Anne Hershey
Track #3: Cu-Ds Perpeual Motion TD OTDsd STDs Reg#
E116828.
4/22/2001. Breeder Diana Curl by Moonlight's Bettin' The Odds X Cu-Ds
All Fired Up. Australian
Shepherd,
bitch. Owned and
handled by
Lois Allen-Byrd.
Track
#4: Vaguero's
Pipers Picnic (Piper) TD RS-O JS-E GS-N, REG# E119906.
1/22/02.
Breeder Ken Lyle. By HOF WTCH Deharo's Shaman of Vaquero RTDc
PATc DNA
CP X WTCH Justus Jesica James of Vaquero PATDc. Australian
Shepherd, bitch. Owned and
handled by Sue
Rush. Australian
Shepherd,
bitch.
Alternate
Track
#5: Hyegold Midsummer Knights Dream (Finn) ASCA TD, AKC TDX, RN, CGC
Reg
#tsn92916507. 11/05/2--2. Breeder Barbara Martin. By CH
Highmark
Mirasol Once A Knight VCD 2 SDHF X CH Hyegold Arizona Tango Blues TD JH
AX AXJ WC VCX. Co-owners Christine Hsu and Barbara
Martin.
Golden Retriever, dog. Handled by Suzanne Bria
The two passing dogs were
Australian Shepherd bitches Maddie and Piper, both handled by Sue Rush.
Congratulations,
Sue,
for this marvelous accomplishment!
Judge Barbara Adcock, Sue Rush, Piper and Maddie
Judge Barbara Adcock, Sue Rush, Piper and Maddie
Donna HighStreet, Chief Tracklayer, wrote a great description:.
The tracking test turned out really well. We had a beautiful site at Fort Ord with good grass coverage. We got special permission from Laguna Seca to camp and meet in the campground that was closed for the winter. (They even put up a special sign by the campground so our people wouldn't get lost. It said "Australian Dog Training LOL!) All of the rangers were super nice and helpful. We had 2 wonderful, very experienced judges. We had a host of great volunteers to help. All of the tracklayers weren't even PASA members. All the crosstrack layers were PASA members. I'm sorry if I almost killed a couple of them from exhaustion! And we had 4 very well trained dog/handler teams entered, plus one non Aussie alternate.
Friday when Warene, Marcia and I arrived, it was low fog, almost zero
visibility! The ranger took us up there. We were
the only
ones camped
in that campground. It was so quiet! He had to of
course
mention that
occasionally there is a mountain lion sighting. Well, that
evening,
with the aroma of our baked chicken in the air, it was kind of spooky
when we took our dogs out to potty! If there had been a
mountain
lion
close by, we'd never be able to see it anyway!
Saturday morning dawned cloudy and drizzly. No low fog
though.
The
judges and tracklayers arrived to plot the tracks. Since they
haven't
been there before, it took most of the day to get this done.
At
lunchtime, there were 8 or 9 people gathered inside the motor home to
eat and chat. Very cozy! After that was finished,
the
judges worked
on their paperwork in the RV and we fixed a yummy dinner for them
there. Then they left to spend the night at Margaret
Guthrie's
and
Nancy Resetar's houses. Thanks very much ladies!!
Sunday, test day, dawned cold and clear with a breeze! The
visibility
was incredible! The first track was laid at 6:50
AM. and
then every
40 minutes after that. Also, 90 minutes after each track,
crosstracks
needed to be laid on each track. That sure kept me busy as
the
chief
tracklayer, trying to keep up with that schedule! At 9:45 we
had
announcements and the draw, where the contestants drew their track
numbers. Warene organized this very nicely with some pretty
heart
necklaces in a bag with the track numbers. Good job Warene
(we
had a
Valentine theme). The first track was run at 10 AM, and we
finished
around 1:30 I think. Sue Rush's dogs Maddie (track 1), and
Piper (track
4) passed with flying colors. The other 2 dogs took the
crosstracks (darn it !), so didn't pass. The alternate got to
run
the
alternate track as a training track. Then we all
gathered
by the RV
and had awards, with the judges commenting on each of the 4 tracks,
followed by a delicious lunch and lots of camaraderie!
I'd like to thank all the people who volunteered to help from
PASA.
Warene who helped organize the event, and made 2 delicious breakfasts,
Marcia, who helped us set stuff up, and helped with the food, and was a
crosstrack layer, Mona, who brought 2 salads, and helped with food, and
was a crosstrack layer, Dee who helped with crosstracks, Maggie, who
helped by hosting a judge and helped with driving people around, Nancy
Resetar, who hosted a judge, Jean and Andy Danver, who came to take
pictures. Also Sue Rush, who got the permit from BLM, and
Anne
Hershey, who helped us with other details of organizing the test.
Tracking is a really fun sport, especially if you like to be outside in
the hills. It is fascinating to me to see our dogs doing
something
that we couldn't do even if we tried. I could climb over an A
frame or
even herd sheep if I did it carefully, but NO WAY could I follow a
scent. It's a sport where the dog is definitely in control
and
you
really have to trust and be able to read your dog. It's an
excellent activity to start with puppies. 
Standing: Judge Ron Simmons, Lois Allen-Byrd, Anne Hershey, Arlene Lovett, Mona Nichols, Marcia Hodes, Terry Southhard, Steve Southhard, Sue Rush, Jean Danver
Seated: Warene Waters, Donna Highstreet, Judge Barbara Adcock
If you click on the group picture it will take you to a website where you can order pictures and see all 100 that were taken.
Clicking on a small picture will display a bigger version.
