YANKEE SPRING TRACKING TEST 2001 RESULTS
Yankee’s spring Tracking Test was held on May 20, 2001 at the High Ridge Wildlife Management Area in Gardner, MA. The originally scheduled date for the test was April 22, 2001 but due to the amount of snow present at High Ridge in April the test had to be postponed to May. It was a beautiful sunny spring day in the middle of our spring drought. The fields were very dry with only a little morning dew to moisten the grass.
We had a total of six entrants out of a possible 8 tracks. Due to the snow quantities this past winter and spring not many of us were able to track unless we used snowshoes.
Track #1 - Mirasol’s Usual Suspect TD aka "Keyser," a golden retriever boy handled by Ray Desmarais. Except for checking some possible animal tracks on the first leg, this eight-month-old exuberant puppy did a great job, successfully bounding through his track in six minutes.
Track #2 - Landbur Sweet Rosie O’Grady CDX, TD aka "Rosie," a female beagle handled by Beatrice Dorbacker. This little girl completed her track in a steady and deliberate manner, never taking taking her nose off the ground to earn her TD title.
Track #3 - Ch. Mirasol’s Redecorator CDX, JH, TD aka "Caper," a golden retriever bitch handled by Ray Desmarais. Caper grabbed a few bites of grass en route but didn’t forget why she was there. She flew through her track in five minutes, leaving the judges and handler huffing and puffing.
Track #4 - Long Trail Roaring Brook AX, AXJ, TD aka "Brook," an Irish setter bitch handled by Patricia Kehoe. A very strong tracker, Brook did a great job but had everyone worried at the last turn. The handler backed up thinking she had passed the glove and Brook recovered nicely to earn her TD.
Track #5 - Tricon’s Whirling Der-Wish CDX, JH, TD aka "Missy," a female golden retriever handled by Dagmar Guthke. This girl worked through the track with sure and steady confidence. Although this team had already achieved their TD title, completing a track under test conditions is always a treat.
Track #6 - A Shiba Inu had a tough time getting started. Apparently the young grass shoots were too tasty to pass up. This dog will surely pass soon at another test.
Thanks to Miles Garrod & Lily Mummert for judging and assisting in all the preparations that led to another flawless event for Yankee. Thanks to our tracklayers Jill Moffett, Susan Menne, Earlene Robertson, Jan & Henry Rines and Chief Tracklayer Kate Boden. Thank you also to Alison Desmarais for the gourmet food spread and to behind-the-scenes workers Pat Lindquist and Bliss Glazebrook, who could not attend due to the change in date. Most of all, thank you to Test Chairman and Secretary Donna Morgan for putting the whole event together and making Yankee tracking shine!