Kyle Warren Dogs

Well, it’s the day after our amazing 40-acre night certification.  There’s was a tester that was available to test Quax for his 100-acre test today so I figured that it was worth a shot, despite never having done a 100-acre problem with him.  

The 100-acre test has two hidden subjects and you have 4-6 hours to locate them, up to the discretion of the tester.  What started out to be a good scent condition day turned into a bad one for a novice handler.  I explained to my tester, what my strategy was going to be and pretty much from the time I finished my explanation, I had to do something different because of what my dog was giving me in the field.  After we made a pass to cut through the first 30-acres, Quax had a lot of animation with lofting scent….. now keep in mind that this was all new to me.  The sun had come out and the thermals were taking the scent straight up and blowing them a ways and then dropping them down where we were and Quax was convinced that a debris pile was holding his subject hostage… he indicated on the pile because that’s where the scent was collecting and that was where the greatest concentration of scent was.  So I got back onto my bearing line; started to continue along that line for about 30 feet, then stopped… I have to trust my dog, despite being in the same area for an entire hour!  ….. well, obviously the subject isn’t right here but I decided to change my plan again, and cut up the perimeter areas far beyond where he had scent…. 20 minutes later, we found the subject!  Thank God!  Ok. That was 2 hours and 30 minutes in the bag …. better get moving.  Well, we moved and moved and moved …. I came to these yellow blaze marks on the trees that are markings for state land property lines but it was in total conflict with the map and where I believe I was….. so of course I had to fuss over that for 20 minutes and I decide to trust my compass and it was the right decision.  Always trust your dog and compass when you’re in the woods. Always.  We got back to the northeast corner the search area near a swamp.  Quax exhibited scent pool behavior for a bit and came back and gave another bark alert.  Now, at this point I am at a loss because I have never seen him give his indication before and not have found the subject.  It turns out that this is a very common thing that search dogs will do when they get frustrated and Quax had never been so in this way before.  The subject was in the middle of a swamp and the sun, again, was taking the scent up and away to the perimeter of the swamp where it was collecting… I didn’t think that the subject would be ankle or more deep in a swamp on this test but I guessed wrong, so Quax and I went around him and our long 6 hours passed and the test had to be called.  The tester was very happy with the dog’s constant hard work and indications and my navigation skills and reading my dog.  However, it was clear that I had more learning to do on scent theory transport for large area search before I could pass a test with these weather conditions.  I learned more in one day on this test then I had in the 5 months of working Quax.

Tonight, we’re up outside of Saratoga on state land doing our “40-acre night” test.  This is one of two off-team tests that an area search team must take.  The night test is to really test the handler’s navigation and to read their dog at night.

I sized up the wind for the night based on what it was doing at my first corner and we went to work.  Quax ranged beautifully….. this area was fairly marshy but very flat with some rolling areas.  We did one and half passes and just walked past the subject myself by about 15 feet curled up in a sleeping bag that I didn’t see and as Quax circled on by, he caught scent of the subject and roared into his indication and guided me by a hop, skip, and jump right on the subject.  I got out my map and grid reader and double, triple….. quadrople checked it, then my coordinates …. right on the money.  45 minutes for 40-acres.

Can't hide from Quax

The third test that an area search dog must take is their “30-acre heavy brush” test.  This test is to demonstrate that the handler can navigate with map and compass in thick vegetative terrain and that the dog will go into and through heavy brush if necessary.

We started our search by walking down a back country road.  Once I got to my bumpline I head into my search area and cut back the other direction on my back-azimuth.   On our third pass through the area Quax had a head-pop about halfway down our line that I noted.  On our fourth pass he pulled off our line a good ways about where we had covered and back.  I couldn’t make sense of it given the wind at my location but I told my tester that I had to trust my dog and follow up…… Quax was right and he located the subject in a large brush pile of branches.  Two more tests to go and Team Quax is operational!