Yankee Fall Tracking Clinic Report
By: Miles Garrod and Lily Mummert
On Saturday and Sunday, October 21st and 22nd Yankee held a Beginning Tracking Clinic at Top O’ The Hill Farm in Ayer, Massachusetts. We are again indebted to Bobbi and David Eliades for their continuing generosity in allowing Yankee to hold another Clinic at their farm. In addition to their beautiful fields, they provide us a large barn for our classroom work that is complete with electrical outlets for making coffee and heating lunch. The barn always features a freshly swept floor courtesy of the owners.
Sixteen Yankee members attended with their dogs, as well as a number of observers. The instructors were Mr. Miles Garrod and Dr. Lily B. Mummert. They were ably assisted by Bob Bass, the Event Chairman, and Ray Desmarais. As has become customary at the Yankee Tracking Events, Donna Morgan provided her usual outstanding soups and chili to accompany our lunches. With the help of some of the other members, Donna treated us to a wide selection of cookies and pastries for dessert.
On Saturday morning, Miles described the three goals for the weekend. The first was to convince each attendee that his or her dog could track. The second goal was to show every attendee how to teach his or her dog to track. The third goal was to start the owners and their dogs on their way to an A.K.C. TD title.
The Clinic was conducted as a combination of lectures and fieldwork. This permits the humans to grasp the principles of tracking while giving the dogs an opportunity to practice outside with their people. The Goldens and their handlers did a wonderful job. By the end of the first day, all the handlers understood what tracking was about and all the dogs had successfully run five short tracks.
In addition to the actual mechanics of tracking and handling in the field, the lecture modules dealt with such subjects as A Description of Scent, Proper Tracking Equipment, What an A.K.C. TD Track Is Like, and Training On Your Own. The lecture module on Reading Your Dog included slides showing the body language and postures that different dogs use while tracking. During the course of the Clinic, each attendee was given a number of handouts. These included a Sample Completed TD Map, Blank A.K.C. Chart Forms, a Suggested Reading List, a List of Area Tracking Judges, and a List of Upcoming Tests.
Sunday morning Lily laid a demonstration TD Track, so the attendees could watch an accomplished dog perform. The track was run by a handsome Golden dog, Ch. Highmark Mirasol Once A Knight, CD, TD, JH. He is lovingly known as Yogi to his owners, Alison and Ray Desmarais. Yogi earned his TD this fall at the GRCA National Specialty TD Test in Missouri. Ray and Yogi did an excellent job on the track and completed it with a minimum of difficulty. The observers were properly impressed with the performance and cheered appreciatively when Yogi found the glove.
The participants devoted the rest of the morning to lectures and to more fieldwork with their dogs. Each dog successfully completed two more tracks and a corner before we recessed for another outstanding lunch courtesy of Chez Donna.
In the afternoon we addressed the subject of Laying Great Tracks. The goal of this topic is to equip the attendees to lay the best possible tracks on which their dogs can practice and learn. The details included field selection, stride length and distance, sighting points, identification and marking of corners, and map making. In the final field session, the participants plotted a full-size TD track. The tracklayer, then, walked the track and replaced the corner flags with pennies. To demonstrate that they had learned how to identify where the corners were located, the group walked the track again and found all the pennies.
The last classroom session included extensive questions and answers and a wrap-up of the weekend. Bob suggested that the participants try to arrange to meet in small groups to train together in their local areas. To facilitate this, he provided a listing of the attendees, arranged by Zip Code, with phone numbers and e-mail addresses. He also mentioned that Yankee trackers are encouraged to ask questions and share views on tracking subjects by way of the Tracking Forum in the Online Discussion Area of the YGRC web site at URL http://yankeegrc.org.
Among the other subjects discussed were the tracking events held by the Yankee Golden Retriever Club. Bob and Miles urged everyone who is interested in participating in future Yankee tracking events to attend the TD Test next spring on April 22, 2001. We can always use more help and more tracklayers.