| As 2008 was coming to a close I started training Damien for his SchH I tracking. We had been training in protection for a few months but it was time to get him started in tracking. So every morning we went to Zellwood for tracking. It was a little bit slow in the beginning but Damien is such a fast learner it didn't take long for him to figure out what he is suppose to do. A few times Amanda met me in Zellwood which helps when you have somebody to train with. As 2008 was ending the winter was really starting to kick in as 2009 came in with a blast of arctic air! Most mornings were frigid but we had to stick to our game plan with tracking. By now it's early March & time for the trial. The first day of the trial we got our obedience and protection finished. The next morning was tracking. The judge commented that he knew for the VPG I and II's there could possibly be cross tracks which there is not suppose to be. As luck would have it there was a cross track in ours. Since we hadn't practiced cross tracks needless to say we did not pass. So we regrouped went back 2 weeks later and Damien passed his Sch I. While I was training Damien for tracking we went to the Seminole Rottweiler Club's Rally trial in Feb 2009. This was our first attempt in Rally Excellent. At the excellent level there is a moving stand. Since we hadn't practiced that before Damien learned it 5 minutes before we went in the ring for our 1st place finish with a qualifying score of 97/100. |