Indiana, Farms, and Tracking

The Whitted farm has been in Alan’s family through his mother since the 1830’s.  The original farm was 150 acres.  When Maxine’s parents died, the farm was split between Maxine and her sister Margie.  Maxine got the farmhouse and 70 acres attached to it.  Margie got the 80 acres across the road.  About 10 years or so before Maxine died, she had the farm transferred to her 3 children.  Maxine and Sonny had lifetime use of the farm.  Maxine died a few years ago. 

When Alan and I were engaged and then married, we spent at least one weekend a month at the farm.  The farm hasn’t been a “working” farm for about 35 years.  It has pastureland, rolling hills, and lots of woods.  Tim really enjoyed it when he was young and brought various friends to visit.

Last week we drove up for the day so I could track with Magnum.  I want to get more experience tracking in the woods.  Alan laid a track that started in a pasture and then wove in and out of the woods.  The track was 1500 yards and aged 2 ½ hours.  Magnum did great.  He missed an article as he was going up a hill.  He was off the track by about 20 to 25 feet, but got himself back on it.  I think he had been following a recent animal trail.  Then in the last fourth of the track, he wanted to make a left turn.  I was able to get him back on the track and we discovered the problem when he finished the track.  Alan’s exit path had been too close to the track.  When Magnum was trying to turn left, he was following the exit path.  Tracklayers need to walk at least 50 feet away from a track. 

Yesterday, we tracked on the farm surrounding our house, which leads to woods also owned by our farmer friend Joe.  Joe tills his land; so there was bare earth and some ground up corn stalks.  Alan again laid a 1500 yard track, aged 2 ½ hours.  I wasn’t sure how Magnum would do on bare earth, which doesn’t hold scent as well as vegetation.  Magnum was awesome.  His only challenge was near a ditch close to where he was to enter the woods.  Scent collects in ditches.  There are a herd of deer that we see regularly on this farmland and they run along the ditch.  Magnum wanted to go to the ditch.  I thought I could tell from his behavior that the track didn’t go that way.  He struggled with it and kept trying to get to the ditch.  I finally took a step forward and said back to work.  It did the trick and he got back on the track running into the woods.  We zig zagged through the woods and came out into another farm field.  It really is great fun and exercise to get out with Magnum and track.

Elections

Okay maybe it’s a little late to talk about the election results, but suffice to say that I was very happy on Wednesday.  It’s been a long time since I stayed up late to see the election results, but I did this year.  I was concerned about the network reports showing Ohio 49% to 49% for the presidential candidates, even though Ohio had been called for President Obama.  When the local networks said that ballots from Cuyahoga and Summit Counties were just coming in, then I knew President Obama was definitely going to carry Ohio.  Then I decided to stay up to see Romney’s concession speech.  I watched most of the results on PBS because their commentary is so much better than what is on the networks, but I kept switching to the networks to see the actual vote counts.

After a least an hour after the election was called for President Obama, Romney appeared for his concession speech.  Didn’t he look like a deer in the headlights?  The next day I discovered why.  I don’t follow the conservative news channel and hadn’t been aware they had predicted a big win for Romney.  And, Romney was so sure of winning that he didn’t prepare a concession speech.  Actually I can understand not preparing a concession speech. 

So now with the elections over, it appears that the Tea Party or as I like to call it The American Taliban can’t get a candidate elected to a statewide or national election.  They get candidates elected as representatives in areas gerrymandered.  Or so it appears to me.  On the season finale of “The Newsroom” Aaron Sorkin had his anchor, played by Jeff Daniels, who is a moderate republican define the Tea Party as having views as “ideological purity, compromise as weakness, a fundamentalist belief in scriptural literalism, denying science, unmoved by facts, undeterred by new information, a hostile fear of progress, a demonization of education, a need to control women’s bodies, severe xenophobia, tribal mentality, intolerance of dissent and a pathological hatred of the U.S. government.”  Jeff Daniels’ character ended saying, “They can call themselves the Tea Party.  They can call themselves conservatives and they can even call themselves Republicans, though Republicans certainly shouldn’t.  But we should call them what they are The American Taliban.”

Here, here!!

So as our Congress tries to resolve the financial crisis, let us all encourage our representatives and senators to increase taxes on the 1% and to compromise.  It is always compromise that makes governing possible.

Leaving Michigan

The morning is cloudy with a mist of rain.  Not bad with what everyone on the east coast is experiencing with Hurricane Sandy.  We’ve been in northern Michigan for a little over 3 weeks and we are heading home, once again with all the bags on the roof of the car.

We were able to complete most of the projects we planned – new appliances for the kitchen, a new garage door, new kitchen counter and sink ordered to be installed when we are there after Christmas, and Alan installed a new range hood.  Alan also put up a mailbox with a snow guard.  In northern Michigan, most folks have a snow guard for their mailbox due to the amount of snow that gets thrown when streets are cleared.  The snow is heavy and will eventually knock over the mailbox unless it has some protection. 

Alan also built an agility teeter for Magnum.  The first facility Magnum and I visited for agility practice had a really old very heavy metal teeter.  All the dogs were afraid of it.  Magnum has never had teeter problems, but developed problems after going on that teeter.  After visiting the other agility facility, which had an okay teeter, he was still having problems, so Alan built one for us to practice on.  It is nicer than the teeter we have at home in Ohio.  It only took a day of practicing several different times for Magnum to be okay with the teeter again.  It was a joint project, I did the painting and we got it completed in 2 days. 

While in Michigan, the trees lost all their leaves.  Walking in the woods meant sometimes there was almost a foot of leaves to walk through.  The dogs loved the smell of the leaves.  We were cautioned that there had been a bear sighting in Michaywe.  I read in the newspaper that a bear had been hit and killed by a car.  We never saw a bear, but I thought they would probably stay away from good-sized dogs.  We also make quite a bit of noise in the woods, which would have alerted any bear to our presence.

Magnum had his first experience of tracking on concrete.  Concrete is probably the most difficult surface for a tracking dog because it doesn’t hold scent well.   I followed the advice of AKC Judge Steve Ripley and had Alan lay a 200-yard track along a curb (behind Lowes in Gaylord).  Curbs will hold a scent so it is stronger than scent on flat concrete. The idea is to convince the dog that a track can be on concrete, even if it is fainter than on grass.  It was fascinating to watch Magnum and it was just as Steve described in his book.  It took Magnum awhile to figure out that the track was on the concrete and not in the grass.  Magnum kept hopping up on the grass and looked all over for the track, then would return to the curb.  Over all, it was a good first attempt.

Northern Michigan

As we pull out of the driveway on our way to northern Michigan, I think about the Beverly Hillbillies.  I imagine that our car has some resemblance to the truck from the TV series that had Granny in the back on her rocking chair with other possessions.   We will be gone for 3 ½ weeks, so we are loaded down.  Inside the car are 3 dogs and 3 cats.  As a result, our clothing and light items are in 3 large water proof bags (canoe bags) on top of the car.  None of the dogs are riding on top of the car, but I must admit that Magnum’s (17 months) bed buddies – 2 different sizes of stuffed golden retriever dogs are inside one of the bags.  When I put them in the bag, I did question to myself if this was okay.

This will be the longest we have been at our place just south of Gaylord, Michigan.  It is also one of the wettest October’s they have had.  The house is in the woods and is gorgeous this time of year with lots of golden, orange, red, and rust colored leaves all around.  We take the dogs on at least two walks a day following a path from our house to the cross-country ski trail – all in the woods.  So, even when it is raining, we hardly get wet because of all the trees.  Our whole area of Michaywe is on an enormous sand dune, so the water runs right into the ground and rarely puddles.  With all of the leaves coating the paths, even when it is cloudy, the paths are light up with the colors.

When it is rainy, we go swimming and when it is sunny we canoe.  We have found several great places to practice tracking with Magnum.  A couple of the sites have transitions from grass to gravel to woods.  One of the sites provides opportunities for cross traffic because animals and humans walk over the track before it is time for Magnum to use it.  The cross tracks are presenting a challenge for him and I need to read up on how to assist him better.  He seems to have no problem with the transitions.

I’ve found a couple of places within an hour’s driving range to take Magnum to practice agility while we are here.  Jane, one of the facility owners, used to train at Bud Houston’s former facility between Marysville and Delaware where I also train.  She built her facility with Dogwood as her model. 

One of the joys of being here in Otsego County Michigan, where the entire county has a slightly smaller population than the county seat of Greene County, is the freedom from the usual demands of living in a community.  It reminds me of something Alan’s deceased mother Maxine said to me when she was in her mid 70’s.  She told me how much she enjoyed going to her family farm because there was nothing she had to do there, no demands on her time – good or not so good.  At the time it sounded strange to have a retired person talk about getting away from retirement, but now I understand.

Scotland

The first night we met for drinks in the common room of Aigas Field Center at 6:30.  At 7:00, dinner was announced with the striking of a large gong.  This was the pattern each day– drinks at either 6:00 or 6:30 with dinner half an hour later.  We always started with a delicious soup, always something that I and the other two vegetarians could eat.  We three were provided delicious vegetarian entrees.  Lady Lucy, a Cordon Bleu trained chef, oversaw all the meals personally.

After dinner, we went to Magnuson House, the educational center at Aigas, for a lecture by Sir John Lister-Kaye.  Magnuson House is an environmentally green building with the roof covered with grass.  Prince Charles had dedicated the facility several years earlier with a visit and presentation.

On the 1^st full day we had another lecture by Sir John on Aigas and the Estate.  Then he gave us a tour of the House of Aigas, which has three sections – sporting lodge, Victorian section, and an addition by Sir John that matches the sporting lodge.  After lunch we were led on a hike by wonderful young rangers on the property to look at the plantations of trees, the loch and three Bronze Age hut circles, which provide evidence of Aigas’s continuous occupation for over 3,000 years.

The 3^rd day we went to the Black Isle.  Along the way, we walked past the ruins of the Red Castle, on an estate, which will pass to Lady Lucy’s oldest son.  We visited the ruined cathedral at Fortrose and then walked along a footpath by the ocean out to Chanonry Point where we saw bottlenose dolphins.  After that we went to the village of Comarty and walked around.  We had about 50 minutes to ourselves, so Alan and I ran to a museum and gave it a quick tour.

On a number of our hikes and walks, we visited ruined cathedrals that are a result of the reformation.

We also visited the west coast.  While on the way, I noticed that most of the signs are written in English and Gaelic (which is pronounced with a short a).  Then we went to the Inverewe Gardens, which had been privately owned by Osgood Mackenzie in 1862 who spent 40 years creating them.  When he died, his daughter Maree worked on the gardens for 30 years.  The gardens have species from all over the world that do very well by this protected bay because of the Gulf Stream.  Maree gave the garden to the national trust because her son was not interested in keeping it. 

Several evenings, Alan and I went to the pine marten and badger blind/hide on Sir John’s estate. We had to keep absolutely quiet or the animals could hear us.  We sat there about two hours and were rewarded by seeing a young female pine marten and a badger that visited several times.  It was really fun.

Another day we went to Glen Affric, which is a remnant of Caledonian pinewood (one of only three left in Scotland).  The highlands were once completely covered with these pinewoods.   We loved the hiking and being in the highlands. 

The last 5 days of our visit were spent with a day in Glasgow and four days in Edinburgh.  We enjoyed both cities and went to a number of museums, cathedrals and of course the magnificent Edinburgh Castle. The Scots are friendly and very welcoming.  Attached are 2 photos.  One shows several of our rangers in green.  Scot from Glasgow is sitting and Allie from England is in the background.

Tracking at the ESSFTA Nationals

Magnum, my 17-month English Springer Spaniel, and I have just gotten back from the 2012 English Springer Spaniel Field Trial Association’s National AKC Event held at the Purina Farm outside of St. Louis.  On Sunday, Sept. 23^rd, Magnum completed his first Tracking Dog test after being certified in tracking in August by Tracking Judge Steve Ripley.   I am very proud to say that he passed the test and completed the tracking test in less than 5 minutes.  He is a very fast and accurate tracker.  One of the judges told me she had goose bumps watching him track.  I selected this venue because it is very difficult to get into tracking tests.  The Springer Nationals gave priority to Springers without titles and then Springers with titles.  I got to watch all the other dogs – 3 others attempted the Tracking Dog test, 4 attempted the Tracking Dog Excellent test, and 3 attempted the Variable Surface Track test.  Only 2 other passed the Tracking Dog test.  Thank you to my good friend Michele Johnson and her beagles for being our tracking partners and to my husband Alan for the many tracks he has laid and his encouragement.  This was the culmination of 3 months of tracking 6 days a week and aging tracks up to 2 hours.  I followed the schedule of Glen Johnson.  Some dogs might not want to track 6 days a week, but Magnum loved it.

Tuesday and Wednesday were agility.  Tuesday was all breeds and Wednesday was Springer only.  Purina has a wonderful event center.  Agility was in one ring, obedience in another, and conformation in a third.  This was my first agility trial with Magnum and my first in 3 years since Shadow went blind.  I was really nervous.  I will cut to the chase and tell you that Magnum came out with double q’s both days and first place blue ribbons for all runs.  He had a score of 100 for each of the four runs and was well under standard time.  Magnum was awesome!  He was completely focused and ran fast.  I had not expected such focus and accuracy.  Now, I know that it is much easier in Novice and Open to get a first place blue ribbon than in Excellent, but I am relishing this first time out performance.  Alan says that it is so much easier for the long ride home with your partner when your dog has exceeded all your expectations. 

Will We Ever Get Out Of Dayton?

I had been standing in line with Alan at the United Airline desk after the plane taxied back to the terminal due to mechanical problems.  It seemed like we waited almost 45 minutes until it’s our turn.  We are told that all planes for Chicago have left and we will need to talk with American Airlines to see about a flight for the next day.  We have missed our international flight out of Chicago for London Heathrow.  We are tired and totally bummed.  No one is at the American Airline desk and I am told they have gone home.  I get the 800-telephone number for customer service and call to request assistance.  We are able to schedule a flight for 6:30 the next morning, a flight to London around noon, but will need to stay all night in London and fly into Glasgow on Saturday.  Oh boy, we have already paid for room, dinner and breakfast in Glasgow – and it looks like we will miss our coach taking us to the highlands and Aigas Field Center. 

We head home, tired and discouraged.  The day started so lovely.  We walked the dogs and then took them to the kennels.  Everything goes wrong once we get to the airport.  Our flight has been cancelled by American Airlines due to thunderstorms in Chicago.  There is a delayed United Flight that we are rescheduled to take.  The United flight keeps getting delayed.  Finally we board the plane, get buckled in, and hear an announcement that there are mechanical problems so we need to get off the plane.  We wait in line for half an hour or so and learn there is another flight and the airline will reserve seats for us, but they hope to get the plane fixed and hope we can leave on it.  We wait and wait.  We are told we can get back on the plane.  We get buckled and the plane taxies to take off and then we get another announcement from the pilot about additional mechanical problems.  By the time the plane is back in the terminal, all flights have left for Chicago.

After talking with the airline, I call Road Scholar’s 24-hour line and tell a nice man that we missed the international flight and won’t get to Glasgow in time for the coach.  I ask for help getting a room at a hotel in London.  No problem booking a room at an airport hotel and he says he’ll send a message about missing the coach.

We go home for the night and have about 3 hours to sleep.  I discover that maybe it was good we had to come home because I forgot to leave food out for the cats.  Their friend Diane isn’t scheduled to come until the next day.

Everything goes well on Friday and we arrive at London Heathrow.  While there, I check on trains to get us from Glasgow to Inverness, Scotland.  It is then about half an hour to Aigas.  On Saturday we arrive in Glasgow about noon.  We make our way out with our bags and a friendly man dressed in a navy suit holding a printed sign with our names greets us.  His name is John and he insists on taking all of my bags.  He takes us to a new Mercedes and tells us he will drive us to Aigas Field Center.  He takes the Carriageway and gets us there in about 4 hours.  During the four hours, Alan tries to keep him talking and learn his views on the vote in 2014 on Scottish independence.  He has quite an accent and we learn that folks from Glasgow are the most difficult to understand.  They seem to struggle with our accent.  He pulls up to a very large, grand Victorian home with is at the end of a mile or so long drive.  We are greeted by several friendly rangers and invited to relax and have tea.  They will take care of our bags and take us to our lodge after the others have arrived.  Wow, we have beaten the coach.  The others arrive and we meet our 14 other guests.  One of the guests later tells me he thought I was Lady Lucy sitting having tea because I looked so relaxed and comfortable.  The picture is the home of Sir John and Lady Lucy Lister-Kaye.  All our meals, tea, and some of our briefings are held in the great room, common room, library, or drawing room.  More to come.