Friday, October 25, 2013

VST Ready!


I am getting ready to leave tomorrow morning for the Variable Surface Tracking (VST) Test at the Springer Nationals outside of St. Louis.  The test is on Sunday.  Just finished my last practice track with Magnum and he was awesome.  We tracked at Antioch College and the campus was busy with the new students and people in the community who walk on the campus.  There were lots of cross tracks. 

I was a little frustrated with Magnum on the first leg because he kept trying to follow cross tracks.  I just had to be patient.  He was running about 4 feet off the track and almost missed an article, but came back for it.  I was impressed.  I let him smell the start article several times to remind him what he was tracking. 

He made most of his turns decisively.  A big difference I see in VST is that he wants to check out bits of trash along the way to see if they are articles.  I have to let him do it or he won’t give up on it.  He went about 30 feet past his first turn, but then came back and found the turn.   The track was a little over 3 hours old. 

It was a good way to end it before the test.  He tracked well and reminded me that I need to be patient and follow my dog. 

We are taking so much with us on the trip because after the nationals we are going to Rice, Texas to pick up a Casita Travel Trailer.  We’ll spend about 10 days camping making a circle back to Ohio.  So, we are packing camping gear – towels, sheets, dishes and all the stuff we will need.  I actually started packing about 5 days ago, which is rare for me.  I think I have it all together. 

I so want Magnum to pass the VST test.  Preparing for it has taken so much of my time and Alan’s time.  I am ready to move on to some other stuff.   I won’t stop tracking, but will only do it a couple of times a week.  Wish us luck!


No comments:

Post a Comment