Fall 2017 Saber Tails 81
Petit Basset Griffon Vendéen Club of America
of the building, but Eleanor was pulling about has hard as she had all morning. And, we could have come across the 1st
article by cutting the corner and the track really went down the front and turned out into the parking lot. I was pretty
sure this wasn’t the case, but let her check. She checked and we decided it wasn’t right. She headed back to the vicinity
of the 1st article. Turned right back across the lot where she had crossed the 1st time. When we came to a line of parking
spaces, Eleanor turned left and head down a large tar strip. A little way down, she veered right, up to the building and
landscape. Then she came back to the tar strip and continued forward. A little further down, she veered to the left over
to some really small grass end caps and rough. She worked this area for a short time. As she turned back towards the
driveway and building I looked up and saw a dark object laying on the sidewalk almost the whole length of the building
ahead of us. “Wow. That looks like our 2nd article!” Eleanor finished her circle, took off across the driveway and up the
sidewalk. Close to the object, she sat. Woohoo!! It was our 2nd article. I picked it up and held it over my head. This time
Eleanor vocalized and I was getting excited.
T
his was further than we had ever been before. I had a good feeling about where the track went from here because
of the location of roadways, etc. relative to our track. But, Eleanor had to lead the way. I encouraged Eleanor to
continue. Off she went, up the sidewalk which transitioned to grass. We continued on the grass a short distance, then
turned to the left. Eleanor was moving right along now because grass holds more scent than hard surfaces. I was look-
ing for anything that could be the final article. The track continued across a driveway, more grass, a sidewalk, more
grass, another sidewalk, and yes, more grass. We continued into another area of rough. I don’t know if she sensed my
hesitation, but she turned back to the short grass and headed down along the side of a building. I admit I thought the
track was going to end before the rough, so I did probably hesitate. When we were almost to the end of the building,
Eleanor laid down in the shade. I gave her some water and glanced up to see if the judges had followed us. Nope. We
had been right the first time. Now, to get back to where we were and find the article. I gave Eleanor a little more water
and re-scented her with the started article. I told her she was right and asked her if she could “find it.” She got up went
to the rough grass transition and headed back toward where we had been. She turned left onto the track and contin-
ued for what seemed like forever. Then she stopped and buried her nose in the vegetation. I saw it! The final article. A
thick piece of brown leather. I picked it up and turned it over, looking for the #4 to confirm. I held it high in the air and
started to tear up. The judges and tracklayer cheered. We had done it. We had finally PASSED our VST!!! Eleanor had just
become only the 2nd PBGV to earn a Champion Tracker title!!! There were hugs and a few more tears, but smiles ruled.
It had taken us 39 minutes to complete this 613 yard track. Our judges had been so patient and allowed Eleanor to work
the track and figure it out. Our journey was complete.
W
hat’s our next journey? I think we will try Nose/Scent Work.
the channels having a wonderful time! We KNOW he didn’t have the remote 30 minutes previously. Where had it been?
Bending down to retrieve the remote, Cider figured out what was about to happen. He grabbed the remote in his
mouth and disappeared behind the love seat by his puppy pen. We moved the love seat away from the wall and found
Mr. Cider’s treasure-trove. One thing is perfectly clear...Cider is a thief! In his lair he had a shoe, several of Paloma’s tennis
balls, a few socks and, apparently , the remote for the day. Quite a collection for 10 week old puppy! Good thing he’s
so cute!
***See photos of Sue and Eleanor on the Back Cover.
Cont’d from p 75