Handler laid, in muzzle tracking for Shenzi. This is a skill that is handy to have at the ready and since Shenzi is an excellent tracker and has been muzzle conditioned and comfortable in a muzzle for a long time, it was time to put the two together. In typical Shenzi fashion, she missed the ball because she was so focused on the track itself, gave a negative, and then kept trying to find the track again.
A glimpse into some of the training currently going on at Nine Realms. With the sun out this past week the board and train dogs Logan and Yogi have been getting lots of practice in on recall on our hikes in the burned out woods behind the property. Narsil, Anduril, and Ronan come along as well and have a lot of fun.
Ronan and Logan wear muzzles for safety as both have been either dog reactive or sometimes just an a$$ (Ronan…) around other dogs. Surprisingly though both Ronan and Logan love playing with Anduril.
As always, Narsil is free to do just about whatever she likes. She is the Queen.
Night Tracking with Shenzi.
45min age, quarter mile, through the burned out portions of my property. We flushed a flock of quail as we went through the wetland grass. Right into my face and Shenzi kept on cruising, no recognition. I don’t usually track with a headlamp at night but it was overcast and with the number of holes from burnt trees, I figured it was needed and good experience for Shenzi.
Tracking with Logan, six months. Dual purpose patrol K9 in training.
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As this year comes to a close, a snapshot of some of the pictures that brought me joy throughout the year.
The year of the fire can’t compare to how difficult the year after the fire has been. The devastation to absolutely everything in my life isn’t explainable. Some of the devastation waited months, almost a year to surface, after the fire. I truly can say this has been the hardest experience of and year of my life.
But not all of it was sadness and difficulty. Here are just some of the moments of joy:
“Happiness can be found even in the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on the light.” - Dumbledore
Service Dog in Training Rogue (Narsil x Kovacs 2023 pup), showing off some of his tasks and tricks while out training for public access. He’s learned to alert to nail picking, pick up his leash and other items, roll over, and heel in between his handlers legs (for fun). His owner is doing a great job of training with him.
Anduril and I had been playing around with narcotics detection the last couple of months. Nothing formal or planned and pro only a session a week. After the handler school I started to train with him more and in the span of two weeks he has a final response to cocaine, meth, and heroin. Honestly shocked how fast he figured it out. Genetics were a huge part of this (Narsil x Kovacs) and just letting him have fun!
From my sad little dud who cried the whole temperament test to the brave little toaster that could. The first part of the video is his temperament test, the video right after is the same room with a narcotic hide. I have no expectations for him and because of that everything he does we have fun with, good or bad!
Week two of the ASCTI Basic Handler School taught by Nine Realms has wrapped. The fall colors were on full display for all of our tracking and it made every minute even more enjoyable.
Explosives and narcotics detection imprinting, cert tracks for handlers and dogs, hard surface tracking, personal protection scenarios, and car searches are just some of the many exercises the handlers worked on this paste week.
Raising a confident puppy sometimes means you leave them on the top of the stairs alone to sort their own mental break down out on their own. I’d rather he figure out how to go down the stairs on his own than with me using treats. He wasn’t coming with me coaxing and leash pressure wasn’t my first go to. So I left him. Sneaking my phone around the corner I watched him cry himself down the stairs and put his big boy pants on. The very next trip he did the stairs all by himself with Narsil and I walking with him.
Go little Logan go!
Back to prepping for the AKC TDX (half mile 3-5hr aged, 5-7 turns, unknown track) with Kovacs”- Phönix Aus Der Asche. There is a trial in October I have entered and hopefully will be selected for. Tracking is my favorite of all the disciplines.
This track was 2hrs old, half mile, 7 turns, three articles, windy/rainy, and laid in some nasty vegetation (gravel, tumbleweeds up to my chest, prickly weeds). This is the very end of the track and you can see he comes off track but gives a nice negative within a leash length, casts by himself, strikes it again, then air-scents his ball at the end.
It’s not all Service Dogs at Nine Realms. Dual purpose patrol dog in training Shenzi working with a decoy who is still learning. She came off the grip after being accidentally smashed against the table but quickly recovered and bit again. I am okay with that, some may not be and may look at this dog and call her weak. 🤷🏽♀️ For me, a dog willing to go back into the grip/fight after being smashed is just as good as a dog that stays on the grip in that situation. Resilience and recovery is what is important when building a young dog. Shenzi has always had plenty of fire. Also she only weighs 47lbs, a small ball of fury.
Anduril (Narsil x Kovacs pup) has decided that he’d like to participate in detection training as well! Every time I work his father or half siblings he makes such a fuss I finally pulled him out. Keep in mind this dude was my “dud”/pet puppy from the litter with everyone else showing much higher hunt/ball drive and confidence.
He’s really come out of his shell! I will casually be training him for narcotics detection, to follow in his mother’s footsteps. Eventually I’ll get around to tracking with him too and taking over all the jobs Narsil does for me as well, but for now he’s pretty content being a pet and dabbling in detection.
Police K9s, Service Dogs, and Private Training by a certified Instructor/Master Trainer.
