TDX class

[Samba]

We started our TDX class yesterday. Oh super, opening day of deer season!! Orange is not my color, but, oh well.

First class we worked on starts as the dog has to find the direction of the track on TDX. I am working ahead a bit as my girl ain't getting any younger! Today we did our first cross tracks. Aged the track over 3 hours and put the cross tracks 15 minutes prior to running the track. It went well. Really hoping we can hurry, hurry try for TDX soon.

Tonight rain started for the next four days. Maybe I will lay low then. Drove over 400 miles this weekend in order to train with everyone I wanted to!

One of my tracking friends is trying for VST next weekend. I am soooo wishing her luck. That is challenging stuff.

[Castlemaid]

Good luck to you too Samba!! I stand in awe of people and dogs doing TDX tracking and VST tracking.

Don't worry about the orange, I'm sure your pups love you just the same! Snowed all day here today - better than rain all day I say, except I had to shovel it . . .

Busy weekend for you, that's for sure. Nice when after all that effort our dogs do well, helps to rationalize all the time and money and driving and standing out in the cold rain!

[Samba]

I think I may have made a mistake!! I sent in an entry for an X test next month. I now have to cover aging, obstacles, multiple articles, distance and cross tracks in one month without burning out the dog.

I lost my other female recently and she was just one year older. I am sorta freaked that this girl may not last long either so I have been trying to get some things done with her. She has loved getting out to track and spending time with me and I will have the memories. But, this may be too much to incorporate in a short time. Maybe I won't make the draw!!

[umzilla]

Enjoy your time with her, don't worry about the titles.

[Samba]

Yes, the time with her is what it is about. Of course, I think she might be able to get the title but I am not too worried about it as evidenced by my entry into a test that could be a bit beyond us. I don't really care if we get it... but, might have a lucky track!

For certain the dog doesn't know about a piece of paper and she sure is enjoying getting to be the "it" dog here in her old age. We often go for her favorite.... an ice cream cone after tracking.

[Kayos and Havoc]

If you make the draw and there is a list of alternates you can withdraw if you do not feel ready, you will get your money back as long as an alternate runs the track. It is better to withraw and let an alternate run than to take a valuable track from a team that may be more ready. But you have no way of judging whether another team is more ready either unless you know them.

I think the dogs have more trouble with the length of the track than they do the obstacles and cover changes. Most X dogs fail at the start becausue they have never been taught a blind start and the owner has not worked a blind start enough to trust the dog can figure out the direction. Multiple articles are usually not a problem, if the dog has trained on one article they pick up the multiple article game pretty quickly.

The other big fail point is the cross tracks. I don't know how anyone else trains cross tracks but I don't train for them specifically. There are cross tracks all over the place and the dogs figure it out. When I am getting ready to test I will have a few tracks with set cross tracks.

I train for TDX from the first track a puppy does. I use multiple articles and teach a blind start very early.

I hope you guys do well. And if you don't pass you know where to work.

[Samba]

Good words, Kathy. I have never "trained" a straight start. I am just slop and the dogs get the approach they get to the flag. You never know what the deal at the test will be though!

I just laid a track. It is in a public area so I hope it stays there with my little flaggies! I marked for cross tracks that my son will put in at his lunch time. I put articles after the cross trax and a corner to reward getting past those and to have several articles. She started tracking with multiple articles so hopefullly that comes back to her. She is most likely to blow by an article as she sees those as impediments to tracking and it is hard to "out value" tracking for her. I can give her a little reminder to indicate here in training.

My friend laid a short straight track this morning also for her to run late this evening as we work on getting age to 8 hours.

I too wonder about the distance. I don't think she is real aware of how far as she is so focused on the track but she's older and has spondylosis, so not a perky pup any more. I will lay her a long easy track soon just to work the distance in the upcoming weeks. I have been advised not to do this more than once. TDX seems SOOO long!!

Gotta get a road crossing in soon. We have crossed gravel paths recently but not a pavement area.

[Kayos and Havoc]

Road crossings are easy. Lay the track on an angle across the road too. The angle tells you she is tracking not just getting across the road. Put an article half way across the road to pull her out and another article about 10 paces into the brush on the far side.

Use the same road and just do zig zags over it 4 or 5 times. By the last few you should be able to loose the article in the middle and then just use an article about 15 to 20 paces into the brush on the far side. Eventually you will get rid of that one too.

TDX is long. I never ran full length tracks very often. I did about once a month for about 6 months before I tested. I had also been deployed and lost out on testing season so we waited and trained. Kayos still did not pass her first attempt. She got down in her hips and just was hurting so we quit about 40 yards from the end. She passed on her second attempt easily.

I also did not test until I knew she could go 1200 yards sucessfully. I tend to over train the entry is too expensive!

[Samba]

The draw for the test is on Dec 10th. Coming right up!

We need to keep working road crossings as the road wierds her out a bit. We've done a long track, done 8 hour old tracks, done cross tracks at regulation interval. She is getting her articles. She has to work harder at obstacles like tree groupings etc where scent is pulled and pooled. Hoping that she is getting these puzzles figured out or is getting used to working them out.

Class tomorrow is on "transitions". I am sure I will learn something!

I tracked three dogs on Thanksgiving. Clearly, ADDICTED!

[ShatteringGlass]

First thing Thanksgiving morning I took Shane tracking, too! I would've done a "fun" track for Sydney, too, but darn familiy obligations! LOL