2/19/2026 Track 1, 2, & 3 (oops, I forgot to save Track 1's video.) Located at short grass field in public park. Double laid. Straight Short cut grass, mud. Aged: 20 Minutes 50 yds per track. Articles: Start & End Article Food Drop Pattern: Scuff 5, walk till Scent Pad with food at 7 yards, walk 20, Scent Pad with food around 25-35 yards (depending where water is). 1 piece of food every 20 steps. (Other than for right after a tricky spot, like dog poop next to the track #1,

2/17/2026 class notes here.

2/11/2026 Not Heather's day, Wren did great! Track Located at open field Single laid. 1 Turn, Left Short cut field, mud Aged: 65 Minutes 213 yds Start & End Article Food Drop Pattern: Scuff 5, walk 30, Food, walk 30, scuff 5, walk 30, food, repeat. Extra food drop before and after the water Turn: scuff 5 into and 5 out of turn, scent pad with food 10 paces after turn. GOAL FOR THE TRACK: Practice a simpler track in a less contaminated site, verses our normally heavily scent c

Wren turned 2 years old this week!!! (2/6/26) My BAAAABBBBYYYYYYY is a big girl! 2/2/2026 Track 1 Located at short grass field. Lots of human and dog cross tracks. Single laid. Straight Article Track Short cut grass. Aged: 1 Hour 30 Minutes 60 yds total. Track 2 Located at short grass field. Lots of human and dog cross tracks. Single laid. 2 Turns, 1 left, 1 right. An an (oh my gosh I forgot the name. Augment? the thingy where you sidestep and the dog resets and finds he new

January 27, 28, & 29 January 27, Tracking on a ice field on base. We went to base to drop Elliott off, and decided to go for a walk. Most of the paths have some sort of ice treatment, so I put on her booties. She wears these on hot asphalt, ice walks where there might be chemicals for sidewalks, and playing in sharp areas, so she is quite used to them. I decided to leave them on when I put in 2 small tracks because the ice was hard/sharp when I pressed my hand to it. Double

1/21/2026 The first little clip was from another day (1/18/26) , but my camera did not catch the whole track. It was a delayed start, I didn't realize. I left it in because I wanted to keep it to look back at later. Wren did very well in that tiny 1 turn track into tall grass with a turn in the tall grass. It was raining that day. Both the tall grass, and the rain, are elements Wren has seen before, just not at the same time. Now Onward to 1/21/26 below: Track 1 Located at sh

1/14/2026 Today, I wanted to be very mindful of my handling, and really watching my dog instead of trying to keep her perfectly on the track. Track 1 Located at short grass field running towards wood line. Lots of human and dog cross tracks. Single laid. Straight Article Track Short cut grass. Aged: 25 Minutes 40 yds total. Articles: Start Article: None, Articles on Track. Food Drop Pattern: Food at start instead of article. Food between article drops. Track 2 Located at sh

Wren being the best girl in class today. ❤️ Saving this here so I can keep going back to watch my handling and the feedback.

1/10/2026 On both trackers, the Yellow Line is human + dog cross tracks that happened after I laid mine. I also lost my paper map...I think I accidentally threw it away with the poop bag. Oops. Track 1 Located at short grass field running along dog parks and child playgrounds. Lots of human and dog cross tracks. Single laid. 2 Turns: Right & Left Short cut grass. Aged: 60 Minutes 200 yds total. Articles: Start Article: leather glove, Article 2: Leather Wallet, Article 3:

***Update 12/21/25: I just noticed Wren is in hwr 2nd Heat Cycle, so maybe that was a factor or ma ybe it wasn't. Either way, good to note for myself to keep an eye on. ❤️ Track 1 Located at open field used for parking. Single laid. Article Track Short cut field grass. Aged: 30 Minutes 6 Articles Total In this Order: Hat, Wood Block, Knotted Scarf, Hard Plastic Case, fabric webbing with hard plastic, sock. Start flag with article, 10 yards 1 food, 10 yards article, 10 yards

12/17/2025 Wren and I trucked up to Judi's for a private lesson to work on articles. Little notes for myself from Judi Lesson: Wren needs to indicate article 3x before being allowed to move on. Trying to get a tighter 'Loop' of behavior: Nose finds article, pick up, turn, rewards, repeat. Sneak Up/Hustle Up close behind Wren as she reaches article. She tends to indicate faster when I am closer. (protecting prize, seeing I'm closer to reward her, cue, etc, doesn't matter why

12/5/2025 & 12/9/2025 Two different days combined into 1 Blog. 12/5/2025 Weather: 40F, 43% Humidity, Sunny getting dimmer, Wind NE 9 MPH. Track 1 (I laid this track) Located at open field that gets lots of dog and human cross tracks. Single Laid 2 Turns, and a 'lost track start' Short cut field Aged: 30 Minutes 3 Articles, a start, '1st end', and a '2nd end' 160 yds total. Food Drop Pattern: Shuffle 5 steps, Walk 30 strides w/ food at step 15ish. Repeat. There is a scent pad

12/1/2025 Off Lead Dogs, and Jets, and Construction, Oh my! Weather: 45F, 43% Humidity, Sunny getting dimmer, Wind NE 9 MPH. Track 1 Located at open field that gets lots of dog and human cross tracks. Double laid with Flora and I walking it at the same time. 1 Turn 90° Left. 3 Large Steps to the Right then a 2nd Straight leg of 30 yards. Short cut field, and sanding patches. Laid: Aged: 29 Minutes 90 yds total. Start Article: gator neck thingy, Midway Article: Flora's wool

11/25/2025 I need to come back when I grab my notebook from the car and write my notes about sidestep track and scent pads.

11/13/2025 Weather: 68F, 49% Humidity, Sunny, Wind N 5 MPH. Track 1 Located at open field that gets lots of dog and wildlife cross tracks. Single laid. 1 Turn 90° Right Short cut field, and sanding patches. Laid: 1:30 pm / Ran: 2:01 pm Aged: 31 Minutes 100 yds total. Start Article: n/a, End Article: sock Food Drop Pattern: Shuffle 5 steps, Walk 20 strides w/ food at step 10. Repeat. Shuffle into and out of turn. No food on turn. Track 2 Located at open field that gets lots of

11/11/2025 AHHHHHHHH It was COLD and WINDY and GUSTY The kind of day you retreat into a warm blanket cave like some disgruntled bear woken too early from hibernation. But good Golly was it fun seeing everyone (old and new friends) Wren is such a little rock star!

11/04/2025 Went back to good ol' Fort Eustis to steal their parade grounds for tracking shenanigans. Today I got to drag along my...I mean my sweet husband volunteered to hold the camera and didn't get grumpy even when I kept bossing him to not crowd our turns. (We love you Elliott!) Weather: 64F, 37% Humidity, Sunny, Wind W10 MPH, Gusts of 20 MPH. Track 1 Located at open field used for drill. I am working mostly 10-15feet down the line from Wren. More given at turns when she

10/27/2025 We had a blast today. Just a couple of goobers throwing around articles, tugging, and playing chaise after our tracks. haha! I am pretty sure there were a few park goers confused by a woman in her 30s dramatically running and falling down as a pint sized fluffy dog tackles her for a glove. Track 1 Weather: 62F, 51% Humidity, Spotty Rain/ Cloudy, Wind E12mph, Gusts of 21MPH. Located at open field that is frequented by Dogs and Humans. I am working mostly 10-15feet d

10/14/2025 I have lost footage / not posted a couple tracking sessions between this and my last post. This will be the 5th session working with Single Lay instead of Double Lay tracks. Tiny Tracks 1, 2, 3 (not recorded) Weather: 65F, 81% Humidity, Spotty Rain/ Cloudy, Wind N13mph. Located at open fields/gravel disc gold paths. I am working mostly 10-15feet down the line from Wren. Straight Single Lay Tracks with no food drops. Start Flag w/article-->20 Yards--> End article. S

9/15/2025 Today we visited one of my favorite (but surprisingly rarely visited) tracking spots, Fort Eustis. (Yay Military Spouse ID!...