Extreme Tracking :)

[Vislor]

Originally Posted by Sophie

Hi guys!
Not been around for ages but having just seen this thread and Notspol Gilly I thought I'd better but in with some pics of Maverick a.k.a. Notspol Harris :-)
He's 14 months now- the pic of him standing was ages ago but wanted to highlight the similarities between him and Gilly... Wonder if they share a parent?!

Gilly's Pedigree.

She was bred by Nottingham police and actually given to us at 7 weeks for dad to train and compete with in schutzhund because they think training with dad will best promote their breeding programme to the wider public

Very flattering and to their credit she's coming on really well!

The one of Harris standing looks just like her!

[Sophie]

Ahaaa! The reason they look similar is that Gilly's daddy is Beano, and my boy's mum is Boo. Beano and Boo are brother and sister so our dogs have the same grandparents on one side :-)
Harris' (Maverick's) sire is Dargo Aykmar of Limasmythe, a Czech import which I think is where he gets his wolfy look.
I'd love to do something like trials or Schutzhund with Mav but it would be hard to commit to it working shifts. He's bright as a button and thrives on play.

[Vislor]

Originally Posted by Sophie

Ahaaa! The reason they look similar is that Gilly's daddy is Beano, and my boy's mum is Boo. Beano and Boo are brother and sister so our dogs have the same grandparents on one side :-)
Harris' (Maverick's) sire is Dargo Aykmar of Limasmythe, a Czech import which I think is where he gets his wolfy look.
I'd love to do something like trials or Schutzhund with Mav but it would be hard to commit to it working shifts. He's bright as a button and thrives on play.

Well you should have all the genetics there for a really good Schutzhund Dog as Gilly is one of our best young dogs and will be competing in Schutzhund soon now she's old enough.

Even as a young pup she was really good!

Notspol Gilly - YouTube

Notspol Gilly - YouTube

Doing schutzhund is like a second full time job, though. Fortunately for me it is my only job

[Sophie]

Wow she looks cracking! Can't believe how similar they look! Although Mav is obviously bigger and much clumsier. And his ears slow him down :-)
I wish wish wish I could do Schutzhund :-(

[Sheila in SA]

Hi,

here in SA we find it extremely difficult to find suitable ground to track on, often (in summer - after no rain) - the ground is hard as iron, no grass. We use fields with cattle on it, also small rodents that burrow and make it difficult for the handler not to step in a hole and break the ankle, also in summer - snakes can be a big problem. I track on a much longer line - at least 10m. In ITT it is mandatory to track on a longer line

[Vislor]

Originally Posted by Sheila in SA

Hi,

here in SA we find it extremely difficult to find suitable ground to track on, often (in summer - after no rain) - the ground is hard as iron, no grass. We use fields with cattle on it, also small rodents that burrow and make it difficult for the handler not to step in a hole and break the ankle, also in summer - snakes can be a big problem. I track on a much longer line - at least 10m. In ITT it is mandatory to track on a longer line

We have two South African trainers at our club they tell us all the horror stories

Finding soil to track on is difficult in England, which is annoying as a lot of trials in Germany involved tracking on soil. When we train in Germany we track on it as much as possible!

After the World Championships next year we're going to try and get an FH on Kai (for those that don't know its an advanced tracking qualification which involves tracking over multiple difficult surfaces, including tarmac), which would be another huge achievement as not many dogs in the UK have it.

The hardest part of tracking isn't the training, but like you say its finding the ground