K9 Windseekers Tracking & Trailing

K9 Windseekers Tracking & Trailing Spiritdance Tracking & Coaching helping trackers succeed since 1995. Judging field and urban since 2009, Professional Coaching since 2014.

Trailing added in 2023 with exciting plans for the future! Info, Bio and credentials: donnabrinkworthcoaching.ca

Video links below! ⬇️⬇️⬇️. Today we laid three trails for three dogs, on a cool morning when we could go a bit further t...
08/12/2024

Video links below! ⬇️⬇️⬇️. Today we laid three trails for three dogs, on a cool morning when we could go a bit further than usual to see where they are at (after a horrible long heat wave). All three nailed their tracks! Nice flow and l small, medium and big challenges. A Rottie, GSD and Coonhound! Links to the videos:

Rottie Deacon and Kelly https://youtu.be/eBZgFQzx-pg?si=E5k3PlPlND7GfqyC

GSD Ammo and Lisa https://youtu.be/7_YBmgP0DUY?si=S3ZSHvaeiUSCVnay

Coonhound Sugar and Joanne with a cool open car parkade ending! https://youtu.be/rrainXS7a9U?si=TMghrrc2joU0gft6

Train! And train more! Train well. Train with a plan. Train your dog with kindness and motivation. Tracking and Trailing...
08/06/2024

Train! And train more! Train well. Train with a plan. Train your dog with kindness and motivation. Tracking and Trailing are disciplines that takes time and miles.

Today's quote is inspired by all the sportsmen and women taking part in this year's Paris Olympics. Our wins are often not determined on D-day with everyone cheering.

08/05/2024

Are you coachable?

We talk and look for good coaches to get better results in training. Sometimes it is good to think, what are those qualities what makes someone to be very coachable, because those are essential for good results.

I’m listing some of those qualities here what makes dog handlers easy to coach and get results.

1. Hard worker.

In our sport you need to work hard to get good results. Coach’s job is NOT to try to motivate the handler to work harder. When a handler works too much, coach’s job is to give the direction where the work needs to be done. Sometimes this means analyzing your training, focusing your dog’s physical abilities or go to learn something new.

2. Open mind.

Keeping yourself always available for new information and educating yourself.

3. Analyzing your training sessions.

Remembering what happened in previous sessions and making notes of needed. Taking responsibility of your own learning progress.

Your coach should remember your sessions as well but you need to remember even better. Personally I’m helping and coaching numerous handlers and it is part of my job to remember all those dogs even after longer break. Handler needs to remember their own training sessions.

4. Commitment for the team work.

Not only focusing yourself, help others when you have a chance. Team work makes successful dog-handler-teams and you give opportunity to learn something new by helping others.

5. Love your dog first.

Make sure that the training style is fit for you and your dog. You are your dogs advocate and the training needs to make sense for you and your dog.

Let’s train!

Canemo Coach Marko Koskensalo

Our pass of the day for the Aug 3 mock trailing evaluations was 1 year old Magnum, ACD who started with us at 12 weeks! ...
08/04/2024

Our pass of the day for the Aug 3 mock trailing evaluations was 1 year old Magnum, ACD who started with us at 12 weeks! We had an 80 acres field lined up but due to the fire close by and potential evacuation we chose this nature area instead. Map and certificate are in the comments.

Winds were strong at 10 am. Track was 50 min aged and 410 m. Temp was 18C. Magnum ran it in 16 minutes. It had open spaces with lots of tree cover and natural grass beside a river and passed around a gazebo and outhouse.

Magnum paralleled the last leg and I thought he’d head over a ridge straight to where Leah was hiding. If he’d got higher up he would have, I’m sure. The wind from the east (at their backs) facilitated this by pushing scent that way.

He solved it by reconnecting with the trail at the busy outhouse as people were showing up to canoe and bike. It was not as “rural” as we planned with extra obstacle and people challenges - way to go!

I didn’t know where Leah walked exactly but knew the rough end area. As we have learned, a big scent cone spreads when a person sits for that long which is why I think Magnum picked it up from the east side, then investigated all the way to the water edge before finding her behind a tree!

Thanks to Leah McBride for being the runner. Congratulations to Leona Michael and Magnum! Thanks also to Lynda Caughlin for being a runner in the morning.

I have edited audio where I made comments only meant for the team as I recorded. Video edited where I lost sight and ran to catch up! At 3 min I knew they were heading “out of the perimeter” so wanted to give space for them to sort it out. That trail is gated so they couldn’t progress far.

Our pass of the day Aug 3 was Magnum, ACD who started with us at 12 weeks! We had an 80 acres field lined up but due to the fire close by and potential evacu...

This is why last weekend I just let Quill do little Novice shapes for sheep herding rather than keep drilling her on the...
08/01/2024

This is why last weekend I just let Quill do little Novice shapes for sheep herding rather than keep drilling her on the drive component of a trial. And you know what? When she was allowed to see things in context her drive was good! It was a minute of driving as opposed 10 minutes of it in some of our practice. I thought about how I teach tracking and let dogs see the end goal and applied it. Great post below worth the read. Tracking and herding are very similar as natural drives in the dog.

Trainers sometimes get frustrated when they don’t see the progress in their dog they expect or desire.
They often respond by pressing harder, hyper focusing on the specific area in which their dog is not advancing….the exact opposite of what many dogs need.

They have a vision of how they want their dog to develop; a preconceived timeline of what a dog should be doing and when. If these expectations aren’t met they mistakenly convince themselves if they could improve “X”
(ie a wider outrun, squarer flank, better pace, stronger shedder etc)
all the pieces would come together.

But the key to helping dogs realize their full potential isn’t found by achieving the perceived next step,
improving a single aspect, employing a more sophisticated technique or trying a new gimmick.
Rather it’s found in the standard, understanding and totality of all the bits of training that comprise “the body of work”.
More specifically, it’s dependent upon the quality of the fundamentals, coupled with the right mindset.

Foundational skills are paramount and there is no embarrassment in going back to improve them; once mastered, they provide the springboard for future breakthroughs.
Focusing on these and staying in one place a bit longer gives your dog a mental break. Moreover, you reap the benefits found in the power of habits.
The repetition and routine inherent to core fundamentals develop confidence and cultivate mental fortitude.

It is a better and much less detrimental approach than pushing a young dog too hard to take the next step if he’s not ready.
While some dogs learn very quickly others need time to plateau, get a bit more experience, confidence and maturity before they’re ready for the next step.
Dogs that are slower to develop are very different from precocious dogs when they are young, however, if nurtured correctly, the two dogs can appear indistinguishable as trained dogs.

Instant results or training epiphanies are not common and the majority of the time, sudden improvement is actually a reflection of the cumulative body of work. The little nudge from a different approach that achieves quick and marked progress, probably wouldn’t have had a fraction of the effect without the supporting body of work.

One of the best gifts you can give your dog is letting go of the expectations of what you want him to become, and accept him for who he is—
As you help him through what he finds difficult, keep in mind
every dog learns at a different speed, requiring it to take the time it takes, for your dog to understand and enjoy a new concept.
Being patient in your training empowers learning, fosters partnership and strengthens your bond.


08/01/2024

Truths to contemplate.

Now registering for September! Online group coaching calls for experienced trainers to up your game; September 7-8 trail...
07/31/2024

Now registering for September! Online group coaching calls for experienced trainers to up your game; September 7-8 trailing evaluations. Don’t miss these unique opportunities to take your tracking to the next level. Work with an experienced coach and accomplished tracker with 30 years of experience. https://donnabrinkworthcoaching.ca/fall-2024-tracking/

Sugar being a Coonhound! We put a leather article on a picnic table and she sensed that sent cone lifted so was looking ...
07/28/2024

Sugar being a Coonhound! We put a leather article on a picnic table and she sensed that sent cone lifted so was looking up a barrier and up trees to see where “that varmint” went! I love to see dog’s genetic wiring show up this way! VIDEO - https://youtu.be/otC0O4EePv0?si=zg8sWQedDfx_E6Kg

Lisa and young GSD Ammo ran a 370 m track 20 minutes ages through trails into a big field. Ammo was dead on and she was ...
07/28/2024

Lisa and young GSD Ammo ran a 370 m track 20 minutes ages through trails into a big field. Ammo was dead on and she was very happy to find her ball after the end of the track! Nice work! That turn into the field was a tricky one and she nailed it!

Here is 1.5 year old Rottie Deacon, lesson 3, running a 340 m fresh (20 min) trail - lesson  #3 for this boy! He did a g...
07/28/2024

Here is 1.5 year old Rottie Deacon, lesson 3, running a 340 m fresh (20 min) trail - lesson #3 for this boy! He did a great job.

Here are Joanne and Redbone Coonhound Sugar today running a 370 m trail, aged 20 minutes, through a picnic area and play...
07/28/2024

Here are Joanne and Redbone Coonhound Sugar today running a 370 m trail, aged 20 minutes, through a picnic area and playground! Great work! Video follows stillshots at the start…

Here is a young Bouvier named Edge with Jacquie Afterglow Bouviers giving him a thought provoking (for Edge!) intro to t...
07/27/2024

Here is a young Bouvier named Edge with Jacquie Afterglow Bouviers giving him a thought provoking (for Edge!) intro to trailing and tracking. https://youtu.be/PG7vqqVhjHI?si=VHz_goaLqdedyaBE

It was just the two of us so I was the runner and tried to record some at first. Jacquie already has her tracking machine Tove and Edge is joining in on the training. We kept it fun and light for this big boy today. He really worked hard and I heard he was exhausted from all that mental work. Tracking is a great grounded activity that tired dogs out.

Is fall really around the corner? See what's coming up!
07/25/2024

Is fall really around the corner? See what's coming up!

New! Online Tracking Coach Registration Deadline: August 23, 2024 ONLINE TRACKING COACH SEPTEMBER – NOVEMBER REGISTRATION September Trailing Evaluations – Scroll down to read more infor…

07/21/2024

Lesson #2

07/21/2024

July 20

07/21/2024

Redbone Coonhound, born to track! Nice work.

Lynda and Max first scent pool exercise aged 30 minutes. Map in the comments. Max makes short work of it!  The upper par...
07/20/2024

Lynda and Max first scent pool exercise aged 30 minutes. Map in the comments.

Max makes short work of it! The upper part of this little field was laid as a very squiggly wiggly cross cross to create a big scent pool.

Max went right to the trees and shade where he was methodical and intentional and found his way out quickly! The field slopes and he went to the bushline then down to the edge of the scent pool and was back on - made it look easy!

Aged 30 minutes, Max makes short work of it! The upper part of this little field was laid as a very squiggly wiggly cross cross to create a big scent pool.M...

Video of Lynda and Max’s second scent pool track today. Separate post below on this page describes it with maps!
07/20/2024

Video of Lynda and Max’s second scent pool track today. Separate post below on this page describes it with maps!

Here is my 7 year old Micah (Gem von Wendelin TD UTDX) running a 740 m 2 hour aged track today. We alternate between tra...
07/14/2024

Here is my 7 year old Micah (Gem von Wendelin TD UTDX) running a 740 m 2 hour aged track today. We alternate between tracking and trailing so much that her work is becoming a beautiful blend. I love to follow and watch her. She is a great tracker and loves to do it!

Today it was tracking for articles and I gave her line to make choices as I laid it early in the morning. We have one more title for her CKC tracking championship and articles have to be important. Hoping to pass that this fall, advanced field. She already has her advanced urban.

Today I wanted to work on tighter turns and so headed out really early. We are working on TDX; advanced field for her CK...
07/12/2024

Today I wanted to work on tighter turns and so headed out really early. We are working on TDX; advanced field for her CKC tracking championship. Her last track was very aged and hot so this was shorter and less aged.

She read my mind as her turns were beautiful! I just loved following her! At one spot there was a couple that walked along the fence then over my track the opposite way. Then then turned up to the rec centre. Micah sorted it all out, hit her article then nailed her right turn away from all that. I love mornings like this. Love my partner!

Today I wanted to work on tighter turns and so headed out really early. She read my mind as her turns were beautiful! I just loved following her! At one spot...

07/12/2024

🎙️ Je pense que toute personne passionnée par le mantrailing connait ou a entendu parler de Alis Dobler K-9 Manhunters. Instructeur mantrailing, fondatrice de K9-Manhunters en Suisse, responsable GAK9 en Europe, elle fait sans aucun doute partie des personnes qui ont participé au développement de cette activité ces 10 dernières années.
Alis a eu la gentillesse de m'accorder un peu de son temps pour cette interview. Elle nous raconte son parcours, la découverte du mantrailing, et nous partage sa vision du chien.

https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/chien-zen/episodes/53---Interview-avec-Alis-Dobler-de-K9-Manhunters-e2ls0ho

07/10/2024

Growth mindset …

Address

Calgary, AB

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when K9 Windseekers Tracking & Trailing posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Videos

Share

Category