Fall 2017 Saber Tails 63
Petit Basset Griffon Vendéen Club of America
TRUST the dog in order to get to the end of the track. Letting go of your thoughts about where the track might go and
trusting your dog is much harder than you think.
N
ow that you have the back story of AKC tracking and how Eleanor and I got started, sit back and enjoy our journey
in the pursuit of the very humbling and elusive Champion Tracker title.
Eleanor’s TD
O
ur 2nd TD attempt was at the Greater Kansas City Dog Training Club test at Smithville, Missouri. Smithville is a large
recreation area where the wind really blows off the lake. It was a COLD and cloudy March day. The air was moist and
the grass was crunchy when you walked on it. This test is a big one: 12 TD tracks. They divide the tracks into 2 groups of
6. I drew Track 5 of the blue team. So, Eleanor and I had to wait our turn and try not to get too stressed while waiting.
The grass at Smithville is generally quite short which does not hold scent as well as longer grass. But the moist air and
cold temperature would help intensify scent. Eleanor was the 1st PBGV either of my judges had ever seen in tracking
and they were excited to see a PBGV track. I was hoping we would have a good day and Eleanor would do the breed
proud. At 10 AM, our judges directed us to our start flag. For TDs there is a start flag with another flag 30 yards down the
track to help the handler. Eleanor is a speed-demon. She generally runs through a track, dragging me behind. Today
was no different. As we walked up to the start flag, she had already picked up the tracklayer’s scent. She briefly stopped
at the flag to sniff the start article, then we were off with the grass and frozen puddles crunching under our feet. We
were heading for a tree line, since TD tracks cannot go through woods, I knew a turn was coming up somewhere before
the trees. But Eleanor was at the other end of the 40’ tracking line, nose down, and on her game. Trust your dog, I told
myself. Soon enough, Eleanor lifted her head indicating loss of scent. She circled to the right and gave a nice track in-
dication (dropped her nose) as she crossed the track. She veered left and headed down the 2nd leg. Later, when I was
looking at the judges maps, I would find out the 2nd leg was 110 yards long. But for now, we just needed to keep on
trucking down the leg.
W
hen we got to the next turn, Eleanor again lifted her head and indicated loss of scent. This time she didn’t really
circle, she just turned to the right. I stood my ground and waited for her to indicate she was on track again. As she
crossed the track, she abruptly turned her head to the left and stopped. When her body caught up with her head, she
took off down the 3rd leg. She was really on now. Her body flattened out and her tail was held up at angle. Our 3rd leg
was 105 yards long. The good thing was she was moving fast enough, I didn’t really have time to think...or screw her
up. I was practically running behind her. Soon she made another turn to the right. As we passed the end of a tree line,
I look up and ahead, I see what I thought was the end glove straight head. WE ARE GOING TO DO THIS!! But Eleanor
made a nice turn to the left and headed off across an open field. I thought to myself, “What is she doing? The glove is
right up there.” So, I hesitated, but she kept motoring on. Then I looked ahead to the left and there it was. The REAL
glove!! When Eleanor got to the glove, she stopped, sat, and let out a resounding “AROO”, followed by repeated “Aroos.”
We had our TD title. The judges were impressed with her tracking ability and speed. One of the judges told me, “You
know, tracking is not a timed event. But, if a Golden Retriever owner asks you how fast you ran your TD, you tell them 4
minutes.” Yep, it took Miss E all of 4 minutes to travel 445 yards and make 4 turns. (Apparently, Golden Retriever people
are really into the time element of tracking).
Eleanor’s TDX
M
arch 24, 2013 dawned cold and cloudy with snow flurries. It was the day of the Cornhusker Tracking Test at Branched
Oak Lake northwest of Lincoln, NE. I threw the dogs in the car and off we went…Eleanor was going for her TDX
title. This was Eleanor’s 6th attempt at this title. Our failures to pass were mostly my fault, my inability to truly trust my
dog. Some of our tries left me feeling like I couldn’t train a dog to do anything and some left me hopeful. Sometimes
it seems like passing a tracking test depends as much on the “stars aligning” as it does on training. Eleanor, however,
always enjoys tracking and is never concerned with whether nor not she passes a test. She just enjoys the journey.
We stopped at the McDonalds for our traditional tracking treat – a sausage biscuit from the dollar menu - and contin-
ued the drive to the test site. I walked into the draw site and would be the 4th person to draw for 1 of the 5 tracks. The
tracking community is relatively small and most of us know each other and have trained together at some point. You are