FEBRUARY SUN

Have you noticed that the February sun seems to give more heat--and perhaps a little more brightness?  'Astronomy types' may have scientific answers to explain that phenomenon, but for me, it's nature's announcement that spring is on its way. It's her subtle message saying, "Don't lose hope.  There's only a few more weeks to 'bare ground'." 

working out the scent

Though it's still January,  we had glorious 'February sun' today and K-Lee and I were outside practicing retrieves. (She doesn't bat an eye at a hundred-plus-yard retrieve which lets her stretch out a bit.)  We are also playing with 'yard work'--"come", "heel", "walk at heel", "walk at heel off-lead", "sit", "stay", "whoa", and "down" to name a few.  She also has the main idea for the "back" command and sign.   I can "whoa" her and send her farther on a retrieve.  This is helpful  if she's confused or floundering. We're still working on "over" which commands lateral moves.. 



Our latest 'game' is "track".  At first, I began using hot dogs to get her used to the idea of keeping her nose down and "tracking". ( I had a mushed-up hot dog in the sole of my boot for scent and left pieces of hot dog instead of bread crumbs along the way.)   A couple of runs and she got the idea.

Next, we're going to get into the snow so that she can track  a "virgin" trail in a similar manner.  After several runs in it and in what I call "the runway",  We'll think about tracking other things.  Bare ground should be showing by then...the 'February sun' said so.

On the track

 I'm not interested in tracking wild game (i.e. deer, moose) that someone else has shot and "lost".  There are plenty of guys out there doing that already.

Also, there aren't any plans on this end for K-Lee to be a specialist and track lost people--although the altruist in me thinks it would be a wonderful idea.  For now at least, we'll stick to learning how to recover a wing clipped grouse, a running wounded pheasant, a half-dead duck in a marsh, or tougher yet, a downed woodcock that is motionless..  One of the greatest conservation tools that exists is a well-trained dog and we're working on that.

Today, the  'February sun' was out.
 We drank it in like sweet nectar ... and we're looking for more.