Tracking and Distractions

Even though it has been cold in Ohio the last few months, I have continued to track with my English springer spaniel, Magnum.  For those that don’t know – tracking is when I ask Magnum to follow a human scent laid by myself or someone else.  The track will have some articles on it that he has to identify (down next to them), cross tracks made by a human, and the track will cross several obstacles such as a road, sidewalk, and/or woods.  These tracks are aged from three to five hours.

In February, we were tracking at Twin Towers, a Greene County park.  Twin Towers is an equestrian park and has a section used to train hunt dogs.  It is one of the few parks that have wide-open areas of unmowed grasses and mowed grass that can be used for tracking.  Unfortunately, lots of folks use it as a dog park and just let their dogs run all over.  Greene County and Ohio have leash laws that require dogs to be leashed except on private property.  Greene County does have a dog park outside of Xenia. 

So, I am tracking with Magnum using a 50-foot lead with him about 30 feet out.  I hear behind me Alan saying no and hear a dog barking.  Then I hear him telling someone we are training our dog.  I decide that I won’t even think about anything except tracking with Magnum.  Next thing I know, I hear a woman yelling for her dog and of course it seems the dog is paying no attention to her.  Then a hound like dog with his lip curled up is standing near Magnum, but Magnum completely ignores the dog.  I hear the woman saying, “I am sorry.”  Although I want to say, “Lady this is a county park, not a dog park.” I continue to just focus on Magnum, tell him to track and he does great.  He just continues tracking and leaves the hound in the dust.  It was a great experience for tracking with a distraction.  

We had a similar distraction a few weeks later.  This time there were several dogs barking like crazy and I heard Alan yelling, “NO!”  Magnum did not even break stride or look up.  He just continued to track like he had to save a baby.  Alan later told me it was two dogs that were heading for Magnum.  He said if he hadn’t yelled they would have gone for Magnum.  What is wrong with the owners of these dogs?

An interesting aspect is that Magnum is doing great with the live distractions, but he is fascinated with animal scents.  He has sometimes tried to convince me that the animal track was the track he’s supposed to be working.  I still have trouble reading this.  He can be so convincing.  A couple of times when he has tried to drag me on an animal track, I have said, “Are you sure this is the track?”  Sometimes he looks at me like he’s saying, “Okay, Okay.”  Then he takes off on the correct track.  Even though these distractions can be frustrating, they are great for training.

Tracking in the Snow

Today was the first time tracking this winter in snow with the Springers – Magnum and Shadow.  I won’t be tracking again until February due to travel plans.  We tracked with our friend M and her beagle – Ernie.  I’m going to start calling Ernie, Ernie the Extraordinary!  It was Ernie’s first time on snow and he was great.  Ernie is like Shadow in that you can’t praise him much or he will stop tracking and just wait for a reward.  With Shadow, when she finds an obstacle, I just say a soft, “Good girl.”  Ernie had a starter track and then a track with a left turn and then a right turn. 

Shadow had a track with three turns.  She did fairly well with her struggling a little with the wind.

Magnum had a starter track with two cross tracks and a 600 yard or so track with two cross tracks.  M laid the tracks and I did the cross tracks.  I experimented with something I had read in Glen Johnson’s tracking book.  He comments that when laying a cross track, if you step over the track, the dog will hardly notice the cross track.  But, if you step on the track when laying the cross track, it is more compelling to the dog and he will notice it.  So I stepped over the track for the first cross track and stepped right on the track for the second cross track. 

Magnum ran the starter track without his handler and did great.  I had on bulky gloves and took one glove off after putting him in a down at the start article.  I put the glove on and picked up the article and told Magnum to track.  In the process, I dropped the lead and tried several times to grab it, but couldn’t.  Magnum took off delighted that I was not impeding him.  Since it was a straight track, I figured I catch up at the last article.  I yelled down and he waited until I got there. I assume M had a good laugh.  

Magnum also did great on the regular track and did have his handler (me) with him the whole track.  Just as Glen Johnson said, Magnum ignored the first cross track and wanted to follow the second cross track (the cross track I had stepped on the track).  He tried to follow it in both directions.  I called him back to the track and he took off on the track, but he would have followed the cross track without my intervention.  While tracking, he had several places that he check out what must have been animal tracks, but got right back on the track without my intervention other than me standing still and waiting.  His cornering was superb.  Maybe it was due to the snow, but he would really smell the area at the corner, and then take off in the correct direction.

So it was a great tracking morning for all of us.  My grandson Ajax (14 months) stayed with us for the weekend.  It was the first time with him visiting that Alan hadn’t brought him along for tracking.  Alan hasn’t been comfortable staying by himself with Ajax.  Ajax was under the weather and had a hard time sleeping last night.  Alan ended up from 1:00 AM on holding Ajax and keeping him entertained between Ajax sleeping.  This is Alan’s first experience with a baby, so I think he is due kudos for grand parenting. 

Cross Country Skiing, Snow Shoeing and Tracking

Northern Michigan had about 20 inches of snow that they gotten before Christmas.  It tends to snow a little most days there, so even though there is evaporation the amount of snow stays the same or is increased slightly.  I cross-country skied at Aspen City Park in Gaylord three days in a row.  Aspen Park is a lovely treasure with plantations of pine and areas of deciduous trees.  The park includes an area enclosed by high fencing with a small elk herd.  The city grooms the ski trails for Nordic skiing and they stay in fairly good condition.  This is probably in part because the younger folks tend to skate ski, which requires a groomed trail, but a differently groomed trail.  Most of the other skiers I saw were mature adults.  Snowmobiles aren’t permitted in the park, so it is quietly peaceful.  I love skiing there!

Skiing through the pines got me to thinking about problems with pine plantations.  Last summer we were in the Scottish Highlands where there are a number of pine plantations.  I learned that pines planted too closely so that other species don’t grow would eventually die.  They become susceptible to insects, disease, and forest fire.  The dying out of a forest is happening at the pine forest in Glen Helen Nature Preserve in Yellow Springs.  So, I wondered if this might eventually be a problem for Aspen Park. Northern Michigan has a number of pine plantations where trees are harvested thus thinning the forest, which makes it healthier. 

I also snow shoed from our house in Michaywe to a trail that runs behind it.  When there is so much snow, the only way to take a walk in it is to snow shoe.  After going over the same path several times, the snow gets packed down so that animals and humans can walk without too much difficulty.  I do love the snow and winter activities.

I’m finished with the intensive training with Magnum to recognize and ignore cross tracks.  Now when I track with him, I first lay a starter track of about 100 yards with 3 cross tracks on it.  Then a regular Tracking Dog Excellent track is laid (850- 1500 yards) with 2 sets of cross tracks on it.  Last time we tracked, Magnum wanted to follow a cross track on the starter track.  I excitedly called him back to the track and he continued on.  We then did the regulation track and he completely ignored the cross tracks.  It was almost like he was communicating, “Okay, you fooled me once, but not again.”  

Annie Leibovitiz

Annie Leibovitz was born in 1949, a year before me and the same year as Alan.  I became aware of her through her photography for the Rolling Stone. She became know as the photographer of the Rock Stars because of her work at the Rolling Stone.  An exhibition of her work is at the Wexner Center for the Arts at Ohio State University and it is well worth seeing. 

From the Rolling Stone she went to Vanity Fair, then Vogue and now is back at Vanity Fair.  It is probably her work at Rolling Stone that touches me the most.  It was that period in my late teens and 20’s that music meant so much to me.  Annie photographed all the legendary rock stars and provided a window into our knowing them.  They were in a sense defined by the photographs.  But Annie doesn’t see she is capturing a person, she sees a photograph as just a moment with someone. 

The exhibit includes the photograph of John Lennon and Yoko Ono taken hours before he was shot to death.  It appeared on the cover of the Rolling Stone.  In it, both John and Yoko are naked and John is curled up next to her. 

There are photographs from the 16 years she was with Susan Sontag.  A gorgeous photograph of Queen Elizabeth at Buckingham Palace is a part of the exhibit.  It was recently sold at Sotheby’s Auction House for 50,000 pounds.

Also included in the exhibit besides all the rock stars and stars are landscapes.  I hadn’t realized that she had done them.  She did a lot of them while traveling across the county. 

The exhibit provides an opportunity to see wonderful photographs of a living iconic photographer.  

Outstanding In Her Field

I have been spending time standing out in a field, thus outstanding in her field.  This week I’ve been working on cross tracks with Magnum.  We started on Sunday with my friend M laying the track and Alan doing cross tracks.  Now Alan lays the track and I do the cross track.  The track is a total of 860 yards with 4 long legs of 200 yards that are parallel each (except for the last leg) with a turn at the end and a short leg of 20 yards.  The person laying the cross tracks walks out 60 feet past where the tracker layer is starting, then puts flags in at 20 yards, 60 yards and 180 yards.  Then the person laying the cross tracks just hangs out in the field waiting for the tracklayer to get to the last leg.  On the last leg the cross tracklayer again is 60 feet out and walks along with the track layer and put a flag in at 20 yards and 180 yards.  The cross track layer then waits the designated time and then walks from cross flag to cross flag so there are a total of 16 cross tracks.   The cross tracks are aged progressively each day starting with 30 min., 45 min., 1 hr., 1 ¼ hr. and then 1 ½ hr.  The age of the track is double the age of the cross track.

Glen Johnson comments in his book that cross tracks is like starting over tracking with your dog.  Good thing I had the warning.   He also states that if your dog doesn’t pay attention to the cross tracks, then it is a wasted lesson because your dog isn’t paying attention to the track.  Needless to say, it was not a wasted lesson for Magnum.   

First time out, Magnum tried to follow almost every cross track.  The handler knows where the track is and sees the flags for the cross tracks.  So the job of the handler is to refocus the dog, in a positive way, back on the track.  Each day it has been a little easier with him getting back on the track himself without my encouragement for some of the tracks.  I am trying to figure out if he is cueing the cross track differently from following a track and making a turn.  I think his behavior is a little more excited with the cross track.  He looks more serious and focused on the track.  Or as serious as a dog can look who is quite excited to be tracking.

The first time out the track was in higher grass just hitting mid calf.  Second time out on mowed grass.  Third time we went back to higher grass and our 4^th time were in a plowed field.  The plowed field was muddy, so Magnum was a mess.  We’ll try the plowed field on Friday again.  I believe from here on out we’ll be doing cross tracks on all tracks we practice on, but not 16 cross tracks, just the standard 2 cross tracks.

At the Tracking test in September in St. Louis where Magnum passed his Tracking Dog test, 3 of the 4 dogs attempting Tracking Dog Excellent messed up on the cross tracks.  So, it is clear that cross tracks are a major challenge for dogs.  

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.