a October 26th, 2008

  1. How We Fixed the Saturday Conflict

    October 26, 2008 by MyEye

    Wow!  45,000 Obama supporters went to UNM last night to hear our next President speak.  John McCain was in Albuquerque yesterday morning and 2,000 went to hear him.  I am so relieved that the really nice people at the Albuquerque Academy permitted our VST (tracking) seminar to be at their facility on Saturday because it would have been impossible to park and then to work the dogs at UNM — with the faithful coming in.  People parked miles from the campus and walked.  When Johnson Field filled, people stood across the streets and into the neighborhoods to hear him.

    Actually it gave us (tracking people) the opportunity to work at two splendid VST venues.  Our seminar leader opined that we should submit both locations to AKC for approval for future tests.  Great weekend — in so many ways.

    Category Politics, Tracking | Tags: | Comments Off on How We Fixed the Saturday Conflict

  2. Tracking Seminar — I can barely walk

    October 26, 2008 by MyEye

    It was a splendid 75 degree day spent in the center of the old UNM campus.  It culminated with the fourteen working attendees trying Moment of Truth (MOT) turns.  They are on concrete with nothing for the handlers to key on — it’s all up to the dogs.  I now know so much more about how dogs scent, how the wind and curbs and stairs effect scent, why a tracking dog must have a strong article indication . . . amazing.

    And after we finished the seminar at 4:30, I went home and grabbed Chase.  We went to track with my friend Burt.  Little Chase did a grass to landscape rock track with the single turn on the rock — and the little guy did it pretty well.  My goal is to have him certified this winter so he can be entered in the El Paso TD test in January (maybe in ours, but since I always work the test, it would be hard to enter the two dogs there).

    Our seminar instructor was Ed Presnall lured here from Wisconsin.  Our main campus is large, with lots of buildings so Kip and I played “Sacajewa and dog” to guide him to the duck pond and surrounding grass, gravel, wooden bridge . . .  We have lots of wide monument steps — he made good use of them.  What that means is that Kip will sleep until Tuesday and I’m taking lots of Aleve.  Sorry, I took no photos because I was thinking the entire time!

    Category Kip, Tracking, UNM, Weather | Tags: | Comments Off on Tracking Seminar — I can barely walk