Lucy (Patti) and her experience on real tracks

John and Jolanta

Just thought I would check in and get you up to date on Lucy's (Patti's) progress. I have been able to get her out on 5 "real" tracks so far. 3 of the 5 I knew where the deer were and had marked the route. The other 2 were blind tracks. She has managed to make it to the end of every track, some with a little more help than others, but we celebrated them all the same. The long and the sort of it is that it appears that her biggest shortcoming is her trainer. Each outing has provided a new experience and I have "learned" many of the lessons that John cautions about in his book. Her tendency is to work quite fast so our top priority right now is getting her to slow down. The only other issue is that she tends to pitch a fit whenever I go hunting and she doesn't get to come along (which isn't a bad thing unless its 4:30 a.m.). The bow season is just starting to pick up so I anticipate having more opportunities to get her out yet this fall. I will keep you posted on how it goes.

Dan