Good training day

Our tracking field was freshly fertilized with compost today. I got a whiff and suddenly I was back at my grandparents' farm in the Midwest. Thank goodness it prompted a flood of good memories otherwise it would have just been stinky.

Tristan did pretty well considering the fresh compost. It's hard to compete with only the scent of my footsteps and whatever treats I leave on the track. As always Tristan did better than me with tracking. I have such a hard time recalling the turns. When laying the track, I think I've used good reference points that I will remember but inevitably when we go back to track, one good turn looks like another. (Is there an adage in there somewhere?) I end up thinking Tristan has gotten off the track when he's on it and I'm the one who's trying to mess him up.

When we did obedience work, Tristan was much more settled today compared to last week. The trainer helped me by working him on the dumbbell. It's really amazing to see how he builds interest in the dumbbell by making it a big game for Tristan, while at the same time, getting Tristan to hold the dumbbell without mouthing it. He makes it look easy and I think, 'Ah, I can do that' until reality sets in one nanosecond later. I'm really hesitant to work on my own with the dumbbell since it only took me one time to get Tristan messed up about taking it in his mouth.

Tristan is still blowing his coat and he looked more and more like a mature dandelion as the day progressed. He started out pretty tidy but by the end of the day he was one tuft guy.