Kell is insanely active dog. Always busy and looking for things to get into. Whether it is rounding up all the shoes not guarded by doors and baby gates, running down marks a 100 yards out in the field, following the horse on trail rides or hunting down my team mate that always seems to get lost (I always wonder what she thinks every time she finds Dan).
And this evening was scheduled for SAR training at a friend's farm. I wanted to try something different with her. Teach her to use her nose every way she can, whether it be air scenting or tracking. The hay field hadn't been mowed yet but there were paths knocked down that were only a third as high as the grass that was going to go to hay.
My plan was to have her find the article the subject left then see if she would track the subject along the mowed path or air scent through the unmowed grass.
She took the hard way. Air scenting through the waist high grass.
That's were I was fooled.
It was only a 20 minute problem, with a fit dog on a cool spring evening.
She over heated. To the point that she wouldn't give me her indication. She had the classic "I'm too hot grimace", lips pulled back as far they could go, eyes squinting, thick tongue, the works.
It took almost 15 minutes under the cedar trees with judicious amounts of water poured on the pads of her feet and turning the dirt under chest into mud.
Kell needs to learn to pace herself. But, I, as her handler, need to know how to keep her safe from herself while she learns that pace.
Lesson learned? Tall grass is hard to work through and carry twice as much water as you think you need. Even if it is only a 20 minute task, it could be the difference between life and death.
No comments:
Post a Comment