Weight: 20Kg
Height: 16" / 41cm
Saturday 21 August 2010
Wednesday 18 August 2010
BMH HEIDI'S 1ST OVERNIGHT TRACK IN WOODLAND
I know Heidi has done an overnight track before, but that was open ground. This time it was to be as real as possible. The track was laid around 8.00pm, using the same wood as our previous track, but I must point out that over one week has since passed, and the route taken this time was completely different.
The start point was on a fairly open path, but not long after we came up against thick undergrowth, nettles and dense vegetation, so on this occasion distance was not to be a challenge, but everything else was. To compound the track for Heidi, about one hour after I got back from laying the trail, it rained for a couple of hours. This was not forecast!
About 13 hours after laying the line, at 9.00am, I took Heidi to the wood, where I was definitely not optimistic on her chances of success. Against her were the previous nights rain, age of track, thick vegetation, fallen trees and branches, with worst of all nettles. Anyway again within 15m of the 'impact area', fitted her tracking collar and leash. As usual now, she picked up the starting point, and was off before 'track on'.
She went off at a good pace, using her nose a lot more now than when on her earlier tracks. We reached the first left turn, which was on an clear path in the wood, with spare ground cover that had been open to the rain from the previous night. The turn was dealt with very well, with no overrun as in her earlier months.
We then headed on, with Heidi using her nose very well and pulling at a good pace. We eventually got to the next turn which was a right hander, going off through fallen branches and undergrowth. This sort of cover was new to Heidi, and she dealt with it pretty well. I could see she knew the line but tried going around the branches rather than through them, which she did for a distance of a couple of meters, but then locked back on to the line when through the obstacle.
Next up was tall vegetation, leading through to a short open section which was to be crossed on a diagonal path. Heidi however decided to investigate to the right, for the distance of the leash. Now at this point I should have let her go with it, to discover for her self that it was a dead lead, however I was carrying an overloaded kit bag, with a spare piece of skin wrapped up in a bag because I thought there may have been a possibly of her find have disappeared to foxes/badgers overnight, and did not want her to bee disappointed at the end, plus it was now getting hot. So I let her get to the end of the leash, and then held her from going any further, and gave one gentle tug. With this she happily came back, picked up the line quickly, as though she knew it was there all the time and off we went again.
The next section took us through a really thick section of nettles, which she took very cautiously, but never the less, stuck to the line, and once through it was just a few meters to her find. Success!
Age of track: 13hrs
Length of Track: Approx 250m.
Type of track: Shoe and diluted blood.
Amount of blood: 200ml (1/2 diluted with cleave juice).
Wind direction: From ahead initially.
Wind strength: 8-12 mph
Temp: 22ºC
Weather: Bright and sunny, damp ground after a couple of hours rain the night before
Time: 09.00pm
Age of Dog: 5 3/4 months
Conclusion:At the point where Heidi went to investigate an area where I held her back on the leash, I realise now as I write that at this point I took the track there myself, but decided it was to thick for me to get through, so back tracked the short distance, back the the original line, D'oh! Just shows the dog knows more than me!
It has now become apparent that Heidi is not too interested at the find. I guess it's just her nature, as I have in my opinion not overworked her, now laying a track only once every week/week and half, and always trying to make the find interesting. She does however 'love to track', and that is obvious, from the moment I grab my kit bag, even to when we get back home. She just loves to do the job. Maybe when we get on to live work things will change.
The start point was on a fairly open path, but not long after we came up against thick undergrowth, nettles and dense vegetation, so on this occasion distance was not to be a challenge, but everything else was. To compound the track for Heidi, about one hour after I got back from laying the trail, it rained for a couple of hours. This was not forecast!
About 13 hours after laying the line, at 9.00am, I took Heidi to the wood, where I was definitely not optimistic on her chances of success. Against her were the previous nights rain, age of track, thick vegetation, fallen trees and branches, with worst of all nettles. Anyway again within 15m of the 'impact area', fitted her tracking collar and leash. As usual now, she picked up the starting point, and was off before 'track on'.
She went off at a good pace, using her nose a lot more now than when on her earlier tracks. We reached the first left turn, which was on an clear path in the wood, with spare ground cover that had been open to the rain from the previous night. The turn was dealt with very well, with no overrun as in her earlier months.
We then headed on, with Heidi using her nose very well and pulling at a good pace. We eventually got to the next turn which was a right hander, going off through fallen branches and undergrowth. This sort of cover was new to Heidi, and she dealt with it pretty well. I could see she knew the line but tried going around the branches rather than through them, which she did for a distance of a couple of meters, but then locked back on to the line when through the obstacle.
Next up was tall vegetation, leading through to a short open section which was to be crossed on a diagonal path. Heidi however decided to investigate to the right, for the distance of the leash. Now at this point I should have let her go with it, to discover for her self that it was a dead lead, however I was carrying an overloaded kit bag, with a spare piece of skin wrapped up in a bag because I thought there may have been a possibly of her find have disappeared to foxes/badgers overnight, and did not want her to bee disappointed at the end, plus it was now getting hot. So I let her get to the end of the leash, and then held her from going any further, and gave one gentle tug. With this she happily came back, picked up the line quickly, as though she knew it was there all the time and off we went again.
The next section took us through a really thick section of nettles, which she took very cautiously, but never the less, stuck to the line, and once through it was just a few meters to her find. Success!
Age of track: 13hrs
Length of Track: Approx 250m.
Type of track: Shoe and diluted blood.
Amount of blood: 200ml (1/2 diluted with cleave juice).
Wind direction: From ahead initially.
Wind strength: 8-12 mph
Temp: 22ºC
Weather: Bright and sunny, damp ground after a couple of hours rain the night before
Time: 09.00pm
Age of Dog: 5 3/4 months
Conclusion:At the point where Heidi went to investigate an area where I held her back on the leash, I realise now as I write that at this point I took the track there myself, but decided it was to thick for me to get through, so back tracked the short distance, back the the original line, D'oh! Just shows the dog knows more than me!
It has now become apparent that Heidi is not too interested at the find. I guess it's just her nature, as I have in my opinion not overworked her, now laying a track only once every week/week and half, and always trying to make the find interesting. She does however 'love to track', and that is obvious, from the moment I grab my kit bag, even to when we get back home. She just loves to do the job. Maybe when we get on to live work things will change.
Tracking Shoe Modification
Shortly after buying my Waidwerk Scent Shoes I got fed up with the securing system that attaches the cleaves to the back of the shoes. It consisted of a large hose clip, that required the use of a screwdriver, cordless or otherwise to tighten it each time you used a new cleave.
I found that I had two problems with this. The first being that sometimes the cleaves worked loose when using the shoes, and the second which was a bit more painful, was the cordless screwdriver often slipped out of the screw and into my hand!
My solution therefore was to use two automotive exhaust clamps on each shoe, as shown below.
I found the best size of clamp to use was a 42mm type, as this fitted around the mounting bracket just nicely.
As my main training cleaves are Roe, I found that the semi circular part of the clamp would not tighten down enough on these cleaves. This was easily cured by grinding or cutting the 'tangs' off at the point of the dashed line (shown above). I don't think this will impair their use if larger species cleaves are used. When this set up is tightened on Roe cleaves it holds them absolutely secure when adjusted to the maximum thread on the 'U' clamp.
To make things even easier I use a 3/8 drive, 13mm 'deep' socket on an adapter to fit a cheap cordless drill, which is left set up on the bench just for the job of tightening/loosening the clamps when required. Its a job which now just takes seconds.
I found that I had two problems with this. The first being that sometimes the cleaves worked loose when using the shoes, and the second which was a bit more painful, was the cordless screwdriver often slipped out of the screw and into my hand!
My solution therefore was to use two automotive exhaust clamps on each shoe, as shown below.
I found the best size of clamp to use was a 42mm type, as this fitted around the mounting bracket just nicely.
As my main training cleaves are Roe, I found that the semi circular part of the clamp would not tighten down enough on these cleaves. This was easily cured by grinding or cutting the 'tangs' off at the point of the dashed line (shown above). I don't think this will impair their use if larger species cleaves are used. When this set up is tightened on Roe cleaves it holds them absolutely secure when adjusted to the maximum thread on the 'U' clamp.
To make things even easier I use a 3/8 drive, 13mm 'deep' socket on an adapter to fit a cheap cordless drill, which is left set up on the bench just for the job of tightening/loosening the clamps when required. Its a job which now just takes seconds.
Monday 9 August 2010
HEIDI'S 1st WOODLAND TRACK
Firstly I would like to give many thanks to Steve for giving me permission to use one of his woods that is very local to me, for laying some training tracks for Heidi. This has come at an ideal time, as I think it is now time to progress from open ground, which has generally been very dry and with short vegetation this year, to the completely different scenario of woodland, which is probably a more realistic environment for tracking in this area.
I had my good friend Peter visiting us today. Pete came with me when I picked up Heidi at 9 weeks old, and hasn't seen her since. So it was a good opportunity not only to see how much she had grown, but also how she had got on with her training.
I went out around 8.30am, and due to the woodland now available, was able to put down what I considered a very realistic track.
Pete turned up shortly after I got back, and we spent the morning chatting, catching up, and discussing a few business matters. Mrs Y prepared a great lunch, and around 2.30pm, Pete and I set off with Heidi to the wood.
We parked about 150m meters away, and took a steady walk towards the start point keeping Heidi calm and her anxiety levels low. Upon reaching the corner of the wood, I asked Pete if he could hold on to Heidi while I cut across the top of the wood, and worked my way down to the finishing point, where I set up the 'find' at the end of the line. I decided to do this because the weather was very hot, and I didn't want the 'find' to become completely ruined with fly blow. Never having left her with someone like this before, I was amazed to hear her howling and whining while I was gone. So much for keeping her anxiety levels low!
On my return she quickly calmed down and we continued to the start. About 25m away I put Heidi's kit on, and within a few meters told her 'track on'. With no hesitation she was away giving a good pull on the leash. One of the obstacles I thought to be a good test was a small branch laying across the track, where I though she may prefer to walk around, but instead was spot on, walking over it at exactly the right point.
We came to the first left hand turn, which she handled with no problem. This took us down the side of a soon to be used pheasant pen, which was quite an open area, with no much coverage on the ground. This section I had envisaged to be a problem, but again was proved wrong! Heading downhill, the undergrowth narrowed, and I could see a white object on the track that was not there earlier. This made Heidi a bit cautious, and held back slightly, which prompted me to give a 'track on', upon which she approached it and started to give a good sniff at the object. The offending article turned out to be a large white plastic bag, in which I usually carry the 'find'. It was empty and had fell out my kit bag when laying the line earlier. Although potentially a problem to this training exercise, I think it turned out to be a positive, and in effect we looked upon it as being a couch area, as Heidi examined the area around the bag, realised its not what she was looking for, and then continued back on the line.
At this stage we had reached the far end of our circuit, where the undergrowth was thicker and taller, almost forming a tunnel effect. This is where Heidi had most trouble on the whole track. she became very steady, and even back tracked just a few meters, before convincing herself she was doing okay, and moving on.
We then came to a right hand turn, which she turned on as precisely as a robot, and continued to pull uphill, only pausing slightly at a white pheasant drinker on the right hand side of the track, where she attempted to have a drink, but I gave her a gentle tug on the leash, with no command, as I did not want her drinking this old water of a suspicious nature. This was enough to re-focus her, and carry on with her work.
Eventually we came to what I can only describe as a T junction, where the line I set went straight on. Heidi on reaching this point turned right to investigate a point about 4 meters away, which must have had some interest to her but not enough, as she came back to the right spot and picked up the line, pulling hard right up to the finishing point. Here she received her normal reward and a refreshing drink of water.
Conclusions:
I thought this was going to be a really tough exercise. The weather was very hot and dry, some of the woodland floor was very sparse, but I was totally wrong. The only point of real concern was where we reached the tall, 'tunnel' section of undergrowth where Heidi seemed a little confused. My feeling was that the wind in this section was swirling around all over the place, causing the problem. The blood used was heavily diluted which I thought may be a problem, but the woodland floor definitely holds better than any ground we have come up on so far! This was probably one of her best tracks yet.
Age of track: 6hrs
Length of Track: Approx 450m.
Type of track: Shoe and diluted blood.
Amount of blood: 250ml (3/5 diluted with cleave juice).
Wind direction: From ahead initially.
Wind strength: 4-7 mph
Temp: 26ºC
Weather: Dry, very hot and humid.
Time: 02.30pm
Age of Dog: 5 1/2 months
I had my good friend Peter visiting us today. Pete came with me when I picked up Heidi at 9 weeks old, and hasn't seen her since. So it was a good opportunity not only to see how much she had grown, but also how she had got on with her training.
I went out around 8.30am, and due to the woodland now available, was able to put down what I considered a very realistic track.
Pete turned up shortly after I got back, and we spent the morning chatting, catching up, and discussing a few business matters. Mrs Y prepared a great lunch, and around 2.30pm, Pete and I set off with Heidi to the wood.
We parked about 150m meters away, and took a steady walk towards the start point keeping Heidi calm and her anxiety levels low. Upon reaching the corner of the wood, I asked Pete if he could hold on to Heidi while I cut across the top of the wood, and worked my way down to the finishing point, where I set up the 'find' at the end of the line. I decided to do this because the weather was very hot, and I didn't want the 'find' to become completely ruined with fly blow. Never having left her with someone like this before, I was amazed to hear her howling and whining while I was gone. So much for keeping her anxiety levels low!
On my return she quickly calmed down and we continued to the start. About 25m away I put Heidi's kit on, and within a few meters told her 'track on'. With no hesitation she was away giving a good pull on the leash. One of the obstacles I thought to be a good test was a small branch laying across the track, where I though she may prefer to walk around, but instead was spot on, walking over it at exactly the right point.
We came to the first left hand turn, which she handled with no problem. This took us down the side of a soon to be used pheasant pen, which was quite an open area, with no much coverage on the ground. This section I had envisaged to be a problem, but again was proved wrong! Heading downhill, the undergrowth narrowed, and I could see a white object on the track that was not there earlier. This made Heidi a bit cautious, and held back slightly, which prompted me to give a 'track on', upon which she approached it and started to give a good sniff at the object. The offending article turned out to be a large white plastic bag, in which I usually carry the 'find'. It was empty and had fell out my kit bag when laying the line earlier. Although potentially a problem to this training exercise, I think it turned out to be a positive, and in effect we looked upon it as being a couch area, as Heidi examined the area around the bag, realised its not what she was looking for, and then continued back on the line.
At this stage we had reached the far end of our circuit, where the undergrowth was thicker and taller, almost forming a tunnel effect. This is where Heidi had most trouble on the whole track. she became very steady, and even back tracked just a few meters, before convincing herself she was doing okay, and moving on.
We then came to a right hand turn, which she turned on as precisely as a robot, and continued to pull uphill, only pausing slightly at a white pheasant drinker on the right hand side of the track, where she attempted to have a drink, but I gave her a gentle tug on the leash, with no command, as I did not want her drinking this old water of a suspicious nature. This was enough to re-focus her, and carry on with her work.
Eventually we came to what I can only describe as a T junction, where the line I set went straight on. Heidi on reaching this point turned right to investigate a point about 4 meters away, which must have had some interest to her but not enough, as she came back to the right spot and picked up the line, pulling hard right up to the finishing point. Here she received her normal reward and a refreshing drink of water.
Conclusions:
I thought this was going to be a really tough exercise. The weather was very hot and dry, some of the woodland floor was very sparse, but I was totally wrong. The only point of real concern was where we reached the tall, 'tunnel' section of undergrowth where Heidi seemed a little confused. My feeling was that the wind in this section was swirling around all over the place, causing the problem. The blood used was heavily diluted which I thought may be a problem, but the woodland floor definitely holds better than any ground we have come up on so far! This was probably one of her best tracks yet.
Age of track: 6hrs
Length of Track: Approx 450m.
Type of track: Shoe and diluted blood.
Amount of blood: 250ml (3/5 diluted with cleave juice).
Wind direction: From ahead initially.
Wind strength: 4-7 mph
Temp: 26ºC
Weather: Dry, very hot and humid.
Time: 02.30pm
Age of Dog: 5 1/2 months
Wednesday 4 August 2010
Monday 2 August 2010
Heidi's First Real Overnight Track!
Heidi is now 5 months old, and the weather now has turned a little cooler during both night and day, leading to to slighter damper air in the evening, right through to sun break. With this in mind I was keen to to see if Heidi could manage a proper overnight track. Not one from midnight through to 6.00am, but from being laid at 8.00pm, and following up at 8.00am the next day. So with a bit of reconnaissance a day or two before, making sure the ground was suitable, this is what we did.
We started off on the left hand side of a grassy track. Again I suited Heidi up with her tracking outfit 15 or 20m before the starting point. At this stage she now always becomes really excited, and know that its work time rather than just going for a walk. Mind you I'm sure my kit bag is a dead give away to her.
Well as we approached the starting point, she became very interested, and by the time I said 'track on', she was away. Now after a while she was going really well but for some reason, slightly to the right of where I had laid the line, but never the less she was following it. I'll point out here that the wind was from behind us, and the ground on this section was mainly short, dry grass. Something else to mention is that on a couple of occasions she suddenly stopped, went to the right a meter or two, had a sniff around and then got back on track. Thinking about this since I believe it could have been the strong smell of rabbits that frequent this path, and she was distracted by them, but only briefly.
Next up we came to a short, narrow path between two woods, which was pretty much just dry mud, and last night at this point I did drip just a bit more blood at this section, anyway she pulled through okay. This led us on to a strip of set aside, where there was a natural track to the right on the field edge, but I had laid the line around the middle, and thought that Heidi might be tempted take the natural option, but rather pleasingly she picked up and followed the correct path. For this whole section along the outside of the wood she went at a very slow and steady pace, sometimes stopping and even looking lost. This surprised me, as I thought this would have been the best section for her, as at this shady edge of the wood, the vegetation was quite dense, damp and lush, given the weather we have had. All I could do was be patient and quite, with the odd exception of telling her to' track on', when she stopped completely and looked at me. This seemed to re-focus her and she was able to continue. It was around this point the first video stops, but the track had a gentle turn to the right, which she picked up fairly easy considering the trouble she had been having along this section, turning into the corner of the wood, and then out again within a few meters by means of crossing a small, narrow footpath bridge.
Across this wooden bridge I noticed she seemed to be able to pick up the scent from the day before without any trouble. Once out into the field edge the other side the rest is pretty much history. Heidi just picked up the scent and went off, giving really good tension on the lead, all the way to a left hand turn which she had no trouble with, and then within a few meters, her find!
Conclusion:
If I had to give Heidi a rating for this track, I would say 65-70%. The middle section was really strange, and seemed more difficult for her than I imagined it would be. Maybe because the vegetation was so long here, the drips of blood did not get down to the ground where she was scenting? I think this because I distinctly remember getting blood on my trousers along this section, where I was walking through the long grass.
All in all though, 700m, 12hrs old track, 5 month old Bavarian-Team Heidi was very happy.
Age of track: 12hrs
Length of Track: Approx 700m.
Type of track: Shoe and diluted blood. Fresh defrosted cleaves.
Amount of blood: 250ml (1/2 diluted with cleave juice).
Wind direction: From behind
Wind strength: 4-7 mph
Temp: 24ºC
Weather: Dry, very close, but just had a very, very light drizzle for about 5 mins
Time: 08.00am
Age of Dog: 4 1/2 months
We started off on the left hand side of a grassy track. Again I suited Heidi up with her tracking outfit 15 or 20m before the starting point. At this stage she now always becomes really excited, and know that its work time rather than just going for a walk. Mind you I'm sure my kit bag is a dead give away to her.
Well as we approached the starting point, she became very interested, and by the time I said 'track on', she was away. Now after a while she was going really well but for some reason, slightly to the right of where I had laid the line, but never the less she was following it. I'll point out here that the wind was from behind us, and the ground on this section was mainly short, dry grass. Something else to mention is that on a couple of occasions she suddenly stopped, went to the right a meter or two, had a sniff around and then got back on track. Thinking about this since I believe it could have been the strong smell of rabbits that frequent this path, and she was distracted by them, but only briefly.
Next up we came to a short, narrow path between two woods, which was pretty much just dry mud, and last night at this point I did drip just a bit more blood at this section, anyway she pulled through okay. This led us on to a strip of set aside, where there was a natural track to the right on the field edge, but I had laid the line around the middle, and thought that Heidi might be tempted take the natural option, but rather pleasingly she picked up and followed the correct path. For this whole section along the outside of the wood she went at a very slow and steady pace, sometimes stopping and even looking lost. This surprised me, as I thought this would have been the best section for her, as at this shady edge of the wood, the vegetation was quite dense, damp and lush, given the weather we have had. All I could do was be patient and quite, with the odd exception of telling her to' track on', when she stopped completely and looked at me. This seemed to re-focus her and she was able to continue. It was around this point the first video stops, but the track had a gentle turn to the right, which she picked up fairly easy considering the trouble she had been having along this section, turning into the corner of the wood, and then out again within a few meters by means of crossing a small, narrow footpath bridge.
Across this wooden bridge I noticed she seemed to be able to pick up the scent from the day before without any trouble. Once out into the field edge the other side the rest is pretty much history. Heidi just picked up the scent and went off, giving really good tension on the lead, all the way to a left hand turn which she had no trouble with, and then within a few meters, her find!
Conclusion:
If I had to give Heidi a rating for this track, I would say 65-70%. The middle section was really strange, and seemed more difficult for her than I imagined it would be. Maybe because the vegetation was so long here, the drips of blood did not get down to the ground where she was scenting? I think this because I distinctly remember getting blood on my trousers along this section, where I was walking through the long grass.
All in all though, 700m, 12hrs old track, 5 month old Bavarian-Team Heidi was very happy.
Age of track: 12hrs
Length of Track: Approx 700m.
Type of track: Shoe and diluted blood. Fresh defrosted cleaves.
Amount of blood: 250ml (1/2 diluted with cleave juice).
Wind direction: From behind
Wind strength: 4-7 mph
Temp: 24ºC
Weather: Dry, very close, but just had a very, very light drizzle for about 5 mins
Time: 08.00am
Age of Dog: 4 1/2 months
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