FoxTal Training Center

05/29/2026

Tantoo has enjoyed life on the road so far with a million walks in different places, new smells and new tracks to run.
Traveled May 20-22
May 23 we got a pasture grass track in after the trial day. Cold and raining. Very nice work with a "follow your nose track" including arcs and soft corners.
May 24 off. I tracked Bird while the trial folks were at lunch but didnt have time for Tantoo 😢
May 25 crazy dirt track on to***co field. Was just 2 legs with an acute angle and 3 articles; one on flat road crossing, one perched on top of mound and one at end. I had a M track sketched but climbing the mounds wasnt fun and I didnt want the new experience to become an episode of "Survivor" so I set up the track with reward in the downside of mounds and in trough to keep her working the hill and valley. As it was, the angled legs with wind pulling her to the right in the trough created its own challenge. It was a positive learning experience.
May 26- day off
May 27- tracked in a tall grass field. My little doggie disappeared in the grass! The wind was in her face on the first leg and she downed short on the two articles there. That is not customary for her so will file "tall grass-- articles upwind" in our to-do list for the future. Other than that she was spot on with turns and did well at working to source. A little more speed than usual or what I prefer. There were multiple sets of tire tracks, I think 8 sets total on this track so lots of opportunity to reward working through it and those proved to be a non-issue. Another new experience in the books.
May 28- day off

At home I try to be more consistent with 3-4 days in a row but we are working on a different schedule for the road trip.

05/29/2026

05/28/2026

I had the opportunity to track both dogs in this crazy dirt field where to***co will be planted soon. Deep moguls with a wind from right to left across the furrows. It was an interesting challenge and I set it up for nose-down success, with a couple article indication games in the reel. The remainder of the track continued to a right acute angle and included an article with Tantoo perched on top of the mound and then on to the end. I was very happy with it.

https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1fznK4AE7N/

05/17/2026

Good points

I ran this post through ChatGPT and asked about the complexity phenomenon and its incentives. It’s something that occurs in countless industries, and is a highly documented phenomenon.

Here’s a short list to peruse—for the trainer interested in honestly assessing themselves, and for owners looking to honestly assess their trainers.

* Financial incentive — Dependency creates repeat clients, courses, consultations, certifications, and long-term revenue.
* Status signaling — Complexity makes the practitioner appear more intelligent, specialized, and elite.
* Identity protection — When someone’s self-worth is tied to being “the expert,” simplicity can feel threatening.
* Ego reinforcement — Being the interpreter of something mysterious creates importance and validation.
* Gatekeeping — Complexity discourages outsiders from entering the field or questioning authority.
* Authority preservation — The more unknowable and nuanced the field appears, the more deference experts receive.
* Accountability camouflage — Endless nuance and invisible variables make failures harder to evaluate clearly.
* Market differentiation — In saturated industries, complexity helps people appear unique and advanced.
* Institutional self-preservation — Certifications, jargon, methodologies, and frameworks help sustain entire professional ecosystems.
* Fear of simplification — If the public realizes many problems are more straightforward than presented, perceived expert value shrinks.
* Social/media incentives — Sophisticated language and complexity often perform better socially than simple practical truths.
* Insecurity compensation — Some people overcomplicate because simplicity exposes how little they actually understand.
* Need to feel indispensable — Complexity creates psychological importance and job security.
* Cultural association with intelligence — Modern culture often mistakes complicated language and nuance for depth and wisdom.

“Not all complexity is fake. But industries often inflate complexity because complexity serves financial, psychological, social, and institutional incentives.”

05/16/2026

I would loved to have recorded this track 🐾 because she did a super job. The length (850 paces) and age (1 hour) was the combined challenge today, in addition to early heat. I just didnt have enough hands for the line, the map, food AND recording. 🤪. She has seen things such as arcs, angles and serpentine and has also seen longer aged tracks but we're just checking in on the trial picture and lengthening/changing areas without bait. The turns that could have been problematic with wind direction were demonstrated perfectly, even the one I layed right in tire tracks!
After the track I checked out the branch. Hunters will sometimes place a stick in a field to attract predators to mark it and set traps around it so I wanted to see what was up. Its just a big branch stuck in the ground wearing a glove. I have questions!

05/16/2026

Laid a nice, straight forward FH1 track for Tantoo this morning. Looking over the field I saw this odd branch stuck in the middle.

05/14/2026

Today's track with Tantoo. I usually don't video a full track in one piece but here it is, with my chatter and all, 8:03 minutes of learning.
In the video I said this was her first "no-pay" article series but I'm sure I would have done it before she trialed last year. First for 2026, though, so important to add.
Enjoy!

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05/14/2026

Just have to shout out how happy I am today after watching Jessi Nerenhausen and Obie track today. Jessi has the tools to plan and implement her tracks and the track today showed me that her practice has put the pieces in place. I am so proud of her hard work!! Getting those steps in for the Dutch Shepherd World IGP Championship!

05/12/2026

Awesome photos of Tantoo working with Kody Knowlton. Thank you Jessica Probelski of JW Photos!!