I went out about 7.00am, laid the track, and returned home having to cross the track, just after where the first turn was. Four hours later we went for it.
I led Heidi to the starting point, and 'Track On'. This first section, all the way to the first left handed turn was a grass path that was topped about 2 week previously, and was somewhat sheltered by trees, therefore fairly cool. We got off to quite a good start with the exception of a very low flying helicopter, which caused even Heidi to stop, look up and watch but we got to the first turn without too much fuss. If you watch the video you can see that this is where things started to go a bit wrong.
Once out of the shelter of the trees, it was blazing hot sunshine, and I was not feeling confident. Rightly so as it turned out. I think any scent had almost disappeared with the heat of the sun, and this gave Heidi a major problem. She seemed a little lost as she went well left of the track and seemed very interested in something. She was, it was me earlier. I know this because it was at a point on the line that I had to cross to return home earlier this morning, and curious to what her reaction was going to be I made a mental note of it.
It does show an interesting point about tracking shoes though. Obviously when putting out the track I was wearing them, and she seemed to have lost the scent. When ringing around to relocate it, she found mine from earlier without the shoes on, and would have followed that given the chance. Does this prove that wearing tracking shoes really does help eliminate some of the human scent? I think this is yet another piece of practical proof that it does.
Moving on with gentle persuasion we progressed slightly, and slowly. The heat of the sun was now intense on the open unsheltered track. Heidi was really, really struggling, not only with the lack of scent, but the extreme heat that she was now working in. I'm sure she wanted to give up, but I couldn't let her finish on this big low. So I just kept edging her on gently, for what seemed like forever along this long, open mid section.
Just before we reached the second and last left hand turn is the point where pathway becomes a little more sheltered and cooler. This was a pivotal point for Heidi, as she easily picked up the turn and showed to be very positive about where she was now going, which as spot on. She was on a role, and only two things seemed to slow her up. The first was some big leaved weeds which were just taller than her, and almost blocking her path, she spent a few moments here getting sorted out, then worked her way around them, and back on to the last stint.
All went well until the last few meters where she ran in to her old friends-thistles. There was just a few of them, and not very big. Luckily she had enough drive to press on through them to reach her goal, where we both seemed very relieved and happy. She was rewarded with her liver treat a Munty leg, and a game with the skin, but perhaps more importantly a good drink of water.
I had gone prepared with water because of the heat, using a dog water drinker that I have had for sometime, of the type where a small trough like bowl folds over the water container, when you unfold it squeeze the bottle and water trickles into the trough. Trickle is the right word and is too slow to be practical, so I have now replaced it with a sports/cycle type container with a nipple type affair on the top. This is great, as after a bit of practice Heidi now lets me pour it into her mouth!
Conclusions:
Be fully aware that the shorter and drier the vegetation is the less it seems to hold scent. Baking hot sunlight is to be avoided wherever possible, not only for the dogs sake, but also it appears that the scent dries up. Whether or not it rejuvenates as the damp moist air of the evening comes down will be interesting to discover.
Age of track: 4hrs
Length of Track: 400m.
Type of track: Shoe and diluted blood.
Amount of blood: 250ml (1/2 diluted with water).
Wind direction: From the left and behind initially
Wind strength: 1-3 mph
Temp: 27ºC
Weather: Dry ground, hot, sunny.
Time: 11.00amAge of Dog: 16 weeks
Be warned: There are 3 videos to this track. The first two around 10mins each, and the last one about 3mins. As usual they are not great quality, and you may find them boring.
Part1
Part2
Part3
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