Jezy gets a taste of real tracking

This morning brought a nice e-mail from Jerry Davis:

Jezy [Quipster] went on her first two real blood trails last week. They were both good bow shots and easy tracks (75 yards or so long). Her desire to track was strong ! It was priceless to watch her astonishment upon finding the first deer. She was quite taken back and slowly circled the deer. Upon much praise and encouragement , she was then delighted to chew on the deer's tongue during the entire drag out of the woods. I think she really got the idea as she showed better focus on the second track .


She's made a great house dog and seems sure to become a good tracker as well. During our daily walks she is constantly "hunting" prompting my wife to comment that she was "born-to-track"!

Good job Jezy! These easy real tracks are a great training tool for puppies.

Quentin, now Radar, and his training

Radar (Quentin von Moosbach-Zuzelek) and his owner Craig Dougherty of Northern Whitetails have been doing well. In his first report Craig wrote "Talk about personality! This guy has it all. He is a real charmer and incredibly observant. He sure acts a lot more like my Lab puppies than the beagles I used to keep. He took to the crate like a champ and sleeps peacefully through the night. Housebreaking is coming along nicely and he answers to his name nicely."

The recent e-mail says: "Wanted to let you know that Neil and I are now "official" and legal having passed the NY Certification Test. Radar seems to be coming along nicely. Working him about 2x per week on different concepts. Did nicely on a 24 hr. trail last week in the rain. Worked him around the perimeter of a heavily used plot with lots of fresh sign the other morning. He showed plenty of interest in the fresh trails but with a little help stayed "true" to the 12 hr blood trail we were working. I am learning every day. Now wearing ring of clothes pin flagging around my neck when putting out a trail after learning how easy it is to loose track of a trail that you were sure you would remember a half day earlier. Have replaced my plastic puppy clothesline with a nice orange training line which moves through the woods better and picked up a wide tracking collar I had made from our local Amish harness maker (he happens to practice QDM as well).

Radar seems quite 'calm" when trailing. Nothing "frantic" like I have seen with some other dogs when they are working some kind of scent trail. You can generally tell when he is back on track after drifting off line but he doesn't make a real big deal over being back "on line" he just moves on without a lot of drift."

Update on the Q-puppies

Q-puppies are four months old now. Over the last few weeks we have received quite a few updates on the pups.

Let's start with QUENOTTE as she is the pup that we have kept. She is pretty small and when she had her rabies shot ten days ago or so she was 9.3 lbs. Her beard started to grow, and it is becoming clear that she is going to have the wirehaired coat very similar to her mom's coat - quite short and wiry with a medium beard. Quenotte is an easy going pup who sleeps during the night in her crate without any fuss. During the day she spends some time with us, and of course with the dogs. She is learning that not everybody cares to play with her, and if she insists on harassing older dogs, she gets corrected by them. The mild discipline is exactly what she needs.

She travelled with us to field trials in Michigan and it was a very good experience for her. She got to meet new people and see a lot of dogs. The picture below shows Quenotte schmoozing with Phil Ruggieri.

Quenotte is very affectionate and she just loved Phil Ruggieri

While we were running multiple dogs in Michiga, she spent her days in a pen watching her surroundings.

We take Quenotte on walks, and just yestarday she was swimming in the pond trying to get a feather floating there. We started with her easy obedience exercises and continue blood tracking training.

Quenotte

Quenotte

David Bells' QUELLA is doing well in training.



QUELLA



WALDO (Quantum) is helping Koren paint



Waldo's first canoe ride



Quick and his buddy Fitz



 Pam Ellenberger writes: Fitz and Quick are getting along very well. Quick never challenged Fitz and they have settled in together nicely Somehow Fitz know that he needs to be gentle with Quick. The biggest challenge we've had is to get used to a puppy this small. He can go through places that our cats don't even attempt! We've all decided that Quick is a perfect name since he can get into trouble in a flash. We love him & will stay in touch.

Ruger is on his journey to a new home in Georgia

Josey Visnovske from Georgia was planning to come here to pick up his puppy on Friday evening. He was planning to drive from Maryland, where he was for his job, and next day he was to go back to MD to catch a flight back home. The hurricane Earl complicated things tremendously. So last night Josey came here after 11 pm, stayed with us overnight and left today at 7 am with Ruger in his arms...well in a Sherpa bag.

We hope Josey and Ruger make home tonight without further complications. Good luck to both of you; please stay in touch!

We have been receiving good feedback about puppies but have had no time to post it. Things should get better soon, especially after Saturday, when we are hosting a United Blood Trackers test here in Berne.

Gertie's great trail

From Chris Barr in Indiana: "I laid a 200 yard track using 2 oz of blood and 1 scent tracking shoe.There were 5 turns through woods, on and off quad paths (or two-tracks as you all refer to them). I aged it 3 hours. I wish one of you could have seen her run it to tell me if it was as good as I think it was. She needed a little help at the turns but otherwise, I think she did great.She even corrected herself twice. I was really excited. It was by far her best one yet."

Update on G-puppies at 4 months

We got a nice update with pictures from Steve Hardee from North Carolina on Henry (Grizzly):

I thought that I would update you on Henry(Grizzly). He is doing fine and weighs 17.1 lbs now. He has had all his shots until next year. He is doing better with his house training, but still has some accidents. We have been training 3-4 times a week and Henry has been doing very well. I have been using the scent shoes for the past week or so. Henry has been running blood lines with the scent shoes for 200 -275 yd lines. He has an excellent nose. He sometimes will miss a turn but that might be my fault I think the 90 degree turns are too tight and I need to round them out slightly. Today and tomorrow will be 98 so its too hot to train for a day or two, we might only get 2 sessions this week anyhow thanks for the info you send it helps a lot.

Don Dickerson from Michigan wrote:

Gunther is doing very well. We have done several tracks and he is progressing quite nicely in my mind. Friday night I laid down a track of about 200 yards with 4 turns. I have been using a combination of beef liver drag with deer blood placed periodically along the trail, it has been working well. I think he is working the line a little fast right now, he tends to overshoot the turns a bit, but he corrects himself right away and goes back and picks up the line. It is so much fun watching him work, he concentrates very hard and is not easily distracted. Let's just say I am very very happy with him all the way around. He has become a member of the family and fits in very well. He and our 5 year old Min Yorkie play a lot and have become buddies. He also gives the girls kitten a good workout and lets her know her place, if you know what I mean ;).

I have some friends that farm and because of the huge deer population in our county the DNR issues them block permits to kill deer to control the population and reduce crop damage. Last night I received a call from one of them and was able to secure four fresh legs, blood, a liver and a hide off of a deer they had killed with a block permit. I have the word out that any of them have a fresh kill and they are sure it is down and know the location to call me so Gunther can track a sure find. Thus, Gunther will should be able to do some live tracks on downed deer before the season even starts! Keep you posted on any finds and will send pictures. I tried to attach some pictures this Morning but I am having problems with my computer and can't get them to attach. I will try again in the next email.

And Chris Barr from Indiana wrote about Gerti (Gwen):

Hey Jolanta, I thought I’d tell you that Gerti is spurlaut as well….but so far just on the cats. I took her out to the back yard over the weekend and one of our two un-suspecting cats was in the back yard as well. Gerti started chasing her and sounded as pretty as any beagle I’ve ever been around. We’ll see what she does on rabbits in January.

I took her on a long walk last night. We stopped at a creek with ripples and a shallow pool. She waded right in the water and into the pool to swim. This is only the second time she’s been in water deep enough to swim in. I’m surprised at how much she enjoys water when I can hardly get her to go outside to do her business if there’s the slightest dew on the grass.

This morning she got into trouble for grabbing a shoe. She got a swat on the fanny and a firm no. She went into the living room, sat in the middle of the floor and barked at me. Just what I need, another woman in my life that talks back Ha Ha.

Puppies open on a rabbit for the first time - they are spurlaut!

Today we had another wet day. Yesterday Albany received 2.5 inches of rain, and July 2009 was the wettest July on record. Well, rain or no rain, puppies need exercise so today while we had a light drizzle, I took the two pups out. I did not expect that rabbits would be out, but at the end of our walk I noticed a small rabbit sitting on the edge of the path.

Paika picked up the rabbit scent quickly and opened on it. By then the rabbit was gone and she never saw it. Poppy followed and was opening too. This was like a music to my soul. Not all dachshunds open on rabbits so hearing pups voice at four months is a treat!


There are three articles on spurlaut in dachshunds posted on our website and they are worth reading - go to http://www.born-to-track.com/our-writing.htm

Puppies' night out at the local concert - a rabbit in attendence

Today Theo and Keena's pups are four months old. Paika and Poppy have grown and they must be around 14 lbs now. They are a handful. Poppy will be leaving us in two weeks for her new home in Texas. We will certainly miss her!

Tonight we went to a local concert - the Georgie Wonders Orchestra was playing at the Guilderland Performing Arts Center (GPAC) at Tawasentha Park. The orchestra plays the music from the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s, including Glenn Miller, Jimmy Dorsey, Benny Goodman, Frank Sinatra and others. We thought it was a great opportunity to take pups along and let them socialize. Oh boy, we were for a big surprise!

Ten minutes into the concert a woman came with a RABBIT on the leash. The rabbit was wearing a harness, and it looked like it was not its first time on the town. John and I just could not believe our eyes. Luckily, we did not have any other dogs, besides pups, with us. I know how they would have reacted to the rabbit.

Paika and Poppy were not too close to the rabbit and did not realize its presence. And it was a good thing!

Summer days and puppies

The last few days have been busy. Dean Davenport came to breed his dachshund Elka to Billy. Elka is our Sabina's granddaughter. Just when Dean and Bruce were leaving, Beth and Gentian Shero from Deer Search came to visit with their two young dachshunds, Mae and Mariel, two sisters, who also are Sabina's granddaughters. Paika and Poppy had a chance to socialize and play. Mae loves to swim and Poppy and Paika joined her in the pond.

Also our neighbors, Paula and Kevin with their kids Logan and Mackenzie, tried to fish in our pond. Logan got a nice catfish, which you can see in the picture.

Paika, the wunderkind

It does not happen too often but every few years or so a puppy comes along that is so full of promise at a very young age. Paika, the wunderkind, has a right conformation, great temperament and tracking potential. We are happy... at least for now.

A walk in the fields and woods with Ola - upbringing of a young blood tracking dog

Ola is 15 weeks old now, and she is a nice, promising puppy. We hope that we can develop her into a good blood tracker. However, the training of a blood tracking dog requires much more than working her on artificial blood lines.

At her age she needs a great deal of socialization and exposure to the outdoors. As a blood tracking dog she will have to travel well in a car and be comfortable around strangers. Also she will track in unfamiliar places, sometimes in a very thick, punishing cover. She will have to be able to handle cold and wet conditions, go through swamps, cross creeks and streams. So now, is a good time to take her for walks in the woods and fields. These walks, of course, should not be physically too demanding.

Today we had a lot of fun during our pretty long but easy walk. Ola was fascinated by the scent left by wildlife, especially rabbits and turkeys. She handled very well - she ranged and investigated all the new scents, yet she was very obedient and always came to me when called. It was a good bonding experience too. For owners of many dogs it is not easy to spend time with each of them individually. But for a young dog it is critical that she develops her own identity and independence.

It is a big world out there!