Denise Whitfield is a marvelous dog trainer who I have long admired and who I have been fortunate enough to train with. Dasher is CT OTCH-H Fireside's A Dash Of This, UD, RN, UDX-H.
Here is Denise's and Dasher's Champion Tracker Story in Denise's own words:
I decided to share the LONG story of Dasher & I's passing VST/CT track with my friends. Obviously it's a topic I'm passionate about, so I held nothing back. I'm not even sorry it's so long. This was a once in a lifetime kind of experience and I know I experienced it because I have an absolutely amazing dog and a wonderful network of friends and family helping us to be our best.
Our "Moment of Truth" turn, aka the "MOT" turn is turn #2. Dash doesn't get to the exact corner because there was a little sports utility vehicle sitting there! Now here's the rest of the story:
Dasher and I were fortunate enough to have our name drawn first in the lottery draw to participate in the Tracking Club of Wisconsin's (aka TCOW) July 5th 2009 VST held on the lovely campus of University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. I had entered this test because I knew the test draw would be at 5 a.m. putting the first dog on the track at daybreak. This is my kind of test. I am a morning person and I don't function well in heat. I came up last year and loved the upbeat attitude of the club. These people totally love to track and impart confidence that the VST is attainable. Since I know attitude is everything, I loved the atmosphere here. Last year, we drew the last track, #8, and ran at 11:30 a.m. in 88 degree heat with a lot of folks milling around the campus. This year, we drew track #1 and dealt more with a.m. dog activity, LOTS squirrels (gasp), usual parking lot contamination from a work place and bicyclists lining up for a race.
We went to our start flag at 5:20 a.m. Dash and I have been trying to improve our start routine by spending more time at the start flag and Dash picking up the start article. Maybe I should say I have been trying to improve the start. Dash wasn't buying into it this particular morning and gave me a look as he sat just behind the start flag that I knew meant "I'm not picking that up.....now get out of the way...." The start article was a cute little red, white and blue bandanna making the first article cloth. It was tied to the start flag - something a lot of clubs are doing now to keep the start article from being taken by passerbys. When I said "Go to the flag", Dash leaped forward, put his nose down to the flag. sniffed the start article, and as I suspected he would, took off tracking without it! Not the quality time at the start flag I hoped for, but obviously the dog knew what he was doing. I was left trying to yank the article off the start flag with one hand and hanging on for dear life to the tracking line attached to the "Dashing" dog with the other. Down the long first leg we went, confidently tracking in grass, through the morning fog. For those of you not familiar with VST work, the dog must be able to track a combination of vegetation and non-vegetation through an urban setting. The combinations usually include asphalt,concrete, dirt, sidewalks, streets, parking lots etc. There is a significant point in the track lovingly referred to as the "Moment of Truth", or MOT. The MOT consists of a turn on pavement that occurs at least 30 yards in from vegetation, demonstrating the dog's ability to track on non-vegetation. On our passing track, I felt the real moment of truth for ME and my dog was the first turn, on grass. I'm told this is where 50% of VST failure occurs- on grass! So I am proud of the fact that I worked the corner as well as I did in this test because a year ago, I think I would have been the cause of failure in this same situation and given up. Dasher showed loss of scent right as he passed four large boulder type of rocks. Probably our first turn? Timing is everything. I (and DASH) noticed a flurry of squirrel activity in the trees ahead, slightly to our right and MANY squirrels leaping around the base of the trees just off to our left. Dash has HIGH prey drive and this was a real dilemma for him. He was now well past the rocks and as I approached that area, I noticed multiple piles of dog poop and lots of fresh marking on those rocks. I didn't know it at the time, but this was exactly where our 1st turn was - only to the right. Dash and I spent probably 20 minutes working that corner doing the VST dance.....forward, backward, "leave it", "track".....is he searching or tracking? Searching...but for what? The track? The squirrels? Being a dog? He would start to right and get distracted again by the squirrels that seemed to have a condominium right where we were. The track in this area last year went straight ahead. I felt Dash wanted to go to the right, but struggled against the leaping squirrels everytime we started to track that way. Finally, Dash came back behind the rocks. I was able to back up and off to the right we went. The rest of the track would be a piece of cake for us.
The 2nd leg took us across a combination of concrete and asphalt, going along a drive, crossing a sidewalk, parking lot and then up a flight of stairs. Dash was so sure of himself through this whole stretch. Just past the stairs, plastic article #2! Ahead was another sea of asphalt, concrete, several buildings, cars and a little utility vehicle. Dash worked a straight line through all of it, ignored a truck loading dock, and tracked up to ANOTHER little flight of stairs. He checked out a doorway entrance, looked over the railing to the parking lot below, came back down the stairs, checked to the left of the stairs, right of the stairs and then right back up the stairs to the landing and down a concrete ramp on the other side. Full steam ahead. He worked around the little utility vehicle and turned to the right. Now we're on leg #3 and Dash is very determined and tracking with confidence, on all that pavement no less! All the way out the parking lot to a small strip of vegetation, another little parking lot with a few cars, straight across it and to vegetation again! No time to kill in his mind. Through the vegetation, down a grassy hill, to a sidewalk and a street where there were bicyclists starting to gather for a race. Dash hung a left through turn #3 and tracked straight ahead to the #3 metal article!!!! This is now the furthest we've gotten in a VST and I needed to stay focused. I started to get out the start article to re-scent Dash in case this wasn't our track layer's article and Dash gave me one of "those looks" - ya know, like "are kidding me? Have you watched me tracking? Do I look confused? Do I look like I need your help???? Did YOU get us here, or did I??" Point well taken. I put the start article back in my pouch, said "track" and tried to stay out of his way. lol. Up ahead, he would cross another street, onto grass and now actually casted at this corner, hung a determined left and tracked the next 110 yards without hesitation. Of course, the judges and gallery knew this was our last leg and I have to say, I knew it about halfway down the leg. The gallery was dead quiet. I could FEEL the electricity behind us, like what you feel at a tournament or something. I began really keeping my eyes open, scanning for the last article in the unlikely event my dog didn't see it or smell it. That wouldn't happen. Dash pulled hard until he stopped dead in his tracks and turned to face me with the beloved #4 article in his mouth. There are no words to describe that moment. I was in awe of my dog. I was tearful, grateful, ecstatic, euphoric. I have told Dash a thousand times he is MY Champion Tracker. Nice to have the two little letters from AKC with a passing track like this one!
As many of you know, I had foot surgery February 2nd and Dash and I just got back tracking about a month ago. We actually hadn't done more than a 350 yard track since surgery until July 5th! Our passing VST track was 642 yards, 240 non-vegetation. Although the first turn was a lot of work, I was pleased to be able to stay calm and believe in my dog. I know Dash loves to track and is very skilled at it, so all I had to do was stay focused and believe in myself and my dog to work it out.
Since the passing track, many kind folks have e-mailed me interesting statistics such as Dasher became the 201st dog to pass the VST since AKC began awarding the title in 1995. He is the 30th Golden Retriever to do so and the 4th dog in our state to be a Champion Tracker. I am still on Cloud 9 and wanted to share the details with those interested. Thanks for letting me go on.
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