Yankee held its first Variable Surface Tracking (VST) Match on the campus of the University of New Hampshire on August 10, 2002.  We offered three tracks for which we had two entries.  Neither dog entered passed the test but both did a great job.

One of the entries was my own Keyser as our more experienced Nikita was at a conformation show and could not make the match.  Keyser really did a great job for a beginner.  At one point the track went up a few sets of stairs, which is usually a fairly straightfoward scenting obstacle for dogs. (The shape of the stairs tends to hold scent in the crease of the stairs).  Keyser kept working both sides of the stairs and even detected the tracklayer's scent on the railing but would not go up the stairs.  I finally went up a few steps to look over the top of the stairs and there sat a skunk.  SMART DOG!!

We all had a great time and would like to thank Miles Garrod and Alison Desmarais for judging, Geoff Stern for chairing, Roseann Mandell for playing secretary and Jill Moffett & Henry Rines for tracklaying.  Yankee is now qualified to hold a VST test next year.

Our next event is our fall test and we again have a full test with all Goldens running. Good luck to all!

Our planned schedule for next year is to hold two combined TD/TDX tests on April 20 and September 14, and our first VST test on August 9. We will need help with key positions: Chairman, Secretary and Chief Tracklayer for the two combined tests and a Chief Tracklayer for the VST test. Please contact me if you can fill one of these positions and help keep Yankee's program on the right track.

Thank you to everyone for making this a very successful tracking year for Yankee!

Ray Desmarais
Tracking Co-Chair