New SDA tracking titles on Halloween!!

[umzilla]

Rock River Dogsport Club in Rockford, IL hosted an SDA Tracking trial on Halloween. This will be an annual event for sure, and despite the fact that it fell on a Friday, we still had a nice turnout of 5 GSDs and 1 Boxer. Two teams event drove 3 hours from northern WI, arriving at the 7:00am start time with no problem!

Here are some photos. We arrived very early, and had to wait for some light before laying the tracks.





Answering some SDA tracklaying questions



Watching a track being laid



Our first pass of the day went to Margo Tsim and GSD Kai, who already has his CDX, Schutzhund Tracking 3, TC, TDI, and CGC. Here we are leaving the field after he had completed his track.



The second track went to the youngest team of the day - both dog and handler! They started strong and located the first article, however had trouble finding the final article. I'm sure that with a little field experience, this team will put in some strong tracking performances. This young GSD gal (14 mos) has her CGC and is AKC track certified. She is active in Rally and working on her SDA Family Obedience title as well.




The next track went to Margo again, this time with her young black GSD gal Mica. They made short work of the track, and were the second pass of the day. Mica has her TC and is working toward SchH titles.



The third pass went to Jan July and her GSD "Honey", who at nearly 11 years old proved that the nose doesn't age!! Honey is an AKC Champion tracker, and a GSDCA Performance Award of Merit recipient out of Jan's breeding program.





After Honey's track we moved further into the tracking fields.



Next passing track was Laurel Stone and her fiery GSD gal Brita von der Alte Baum. At just 23 months old, Brita has her BH, RH (European Rescue Dog title), Rally Excellent, HIC, CGC, and HT. Brita flew through her track and was a pleasure to watch.



The last track went to Minna Nousiainen-Becher and her Boxer girl Flirtin Upea-Ursule, otherwise known as "Tiki". This team was the American Working Dog Federation (AWDF) affiliate Boxer breed club (USA BOX) Schutzhund champion as well as the conformation Siegerin. Tiki has her BH, AD, Schutzhund 3, and RH1. Tiki flew through the track yet still maintained a quick drop on both articles.





Thanks to all that came out, and we look forward to more SDA tracking events!!

Christine

[G-burg]

Big congrats to all that passed!! And great job to who ever took the photos!

[Kayos and Havoc]

Wow!!! Looks like a very nice day!!!

Love Jan's dogs too! She always has awesome dogs.

Christine do you know of any clubs doing SDA out in the PNW?

[umzilla]

Read the last few posts of this thread.....

http://www.germanshepherds.com/forum...e=1#Post838402

Let me know if I can help in any way.

Christine

[TRITON]

It turned out to be a very nice morning I could hear the pheasants out in that stuff while people were laying tracks, lol! Lots of distractions out there. Congrats to everyone!

[Superpup]

Awesome job guys!!! I wish I could have taken a day off and come out to watch! It sounds like it was an awesome day!

[TRITON]

You need to come out with Cody for the next tracking trial

[Heather]

Cool pics! Wow, that was REALLY long grass... what level tests were these? First level? Are the tracks handler-laid?

[TRITON]

Originally Posted By: HeatherCool pics! Wow, that was REALLY long grass... what level tests were these? First level? Are the tracks handler-laid?

This level, yes the tracks are handler laid. Very hard though to still find your track...lots of deer tracks or other critter tracks-easy to lose your way.