Starry and I (plus Capella) headed up to Montana for the Big Sky Tracking Dog Club of Montana’s annual VST/TDU test.
Starry
It is held in the wee hours of the morning at the University of Montana.
The bears took the day off but there were so many deer!
Starry drew the first track, which meant her track was off campus at the family student housing complex. Not the option I would have chosen as it is a tough place to track. Starry said, “Hold my Egg McMuffin” and went to work on this track.
Four articles, three hours old, four different surfaces, six deer, one giant red ball.
She did it. At 14 months. On her first attempt.
The pass rate for AKC VST tests is less than 10% 🤯
Starry’s great-great aunt Asia was my first VST dog (and Champion Tracker) so I have trained to this level before — but the value of experience is knowing there is always so much to learn. Being unteachable is where and why people hit failure — and stay there.
Early in Starry’s training I reached out to Phil Atkinson to pick his brain for new ideas to add to my training toolkit. He has been generous and supportive in Starry’s tracking journey, and I am so grateful for his contributions to her success and skills. Much credit goes to Phil for Starry’s early start on non-vegetative surfaces. Thanks to him, and to Starry’s dedicated tracking friends — you know who you are ❤️
And then the dogs and I floated home.
Wow.
⭐️