K9 Leadership

06/18/2026

Summer is just about here! While school may be out for the humans, dog school is still in session!

This time of year is busy- we get it! That’s why we’re hosting drop in Dog Leadership days throughout the summer. Join us for one, a few, or all of them- up to you!

Each week will be different- a new theme, new exercises or a new instructor. There’s something for everyone and we’re sure you and your pup will learn something new!

Drop-ins are open to any of our returning students with foundations. This includes Target Ready! Dog Leadership 1 or 2, Rally-O or Trail Manners.

We hope to see you there!

06/16/2026

Maureen and Kenya Tracking Trial Adventure #2
The next tracking adventure happened to be an Urban Test over on the island for Kenya’s Urban Tracking Dog Excellent title which would be her championship title in Canada with the CKC.
It was not to be our Day!
Saturday April 18, 2026, was a good tracking day in Courtenay, cloudy and 12 degrees and my track was at Bill Moore Park, where I had a very near success in our UTD last fall. We were starting close to where we had our UTD start, so it all looked very familiar to me, a quiet park entrance at a side road with grass and lots of trees between us and the park.
Beyond the trees, an active baseball game was in play, and we could hear people cheering, and baseball bats cracking over and over again. I remember that I did not feel particularly nervous, as Steve Shepherdson and Catherine Preece had stepped in for the judge from back east who could not make it due to flight delays, and they were both familiar to me. I got Kenya out as normal, asked her to ‘pee first’ and headed over to the start flag.
She refused to start. She didn’t particularly spook or anything, but just clearly said ‘no thanks’ and eventually headed ears back, towards the truck, or anybody she could take comfort in. I spoke with the judges, who were very patient and understanding, and they let me try a few times to see if she would start.
It was a flat ‘no’ each time, even after putting her back up, and trying to start fresh. Those cracking bats beyond the trees, the startling sound that she could not see, was just too much for her.
Now the question was ‘Why?’ Was it our home renovations that were unsettling for her and making her more sound sensitive? I had some warning signs building up to this incident that came flooding back to me, and I realized that I had some work to do with my dog.
We ended the experience on a good note, with Kenya laying happily in the grass as I chatted with Steve and Catherine. We were discussing the challenge of having her phobias start to bleed into tracking, and what might be the best solution for the short term. It was very difficult to think about shelving tracking for some months…it is a huge part of our lives.
Another opportunity was lost that day, as when I looked at our map, she had practically already done the first half of the track as her failed UTD, and this UTDX Track had been thoughtfully plotted, a linear track made for Kenya on another quieter day, but not that day.

My Lessons:
It was impressed upon me how important it is to look at each dog wholistically, that any behavior issue may at some point or another show up in tracking.
This was a call for help from Kenya, who had NEVER refused a track in her life prior to this day. I could no longer stuff the issue under the carpet and had to get to work on it with her.
I also considered how I may be presenting differently to her in a test situation that she may be more aware of now that she is older and more bonded with me. Even when I think I am more relaxed, what is my body saying, what energy am I presenting? We know that dogs can read the most subtle of chemicals changes in a body, certainly they can sense our mental and physical changes at test time! Whew! Lots to think about.

Lastly, how did I feel walking away from that trial?
Did my love and compassion for my dog override the disappointment of this kind of failure? Absolutely, yes.
Was I afraid that this may be seen as a weakness in my dog? Was I afraid of judgement? Yes, I have a fear of ‘what people may think’, and generally expect perfection in myself, and my dog!
Asking myself these questions, I checked that I must accept the imperfection of dog work and training, and the journey of the lessons it brings to us and our egos. I am fortunate to be surrounded by wonderful dog folks, and for those who trial, we know that these are our dogs, not robots, and they are beyond anything else, sentient beings from the animal world, and fear is a built-in safety net for survival that overrides all.
Wish me luck and love in training, xx
Maureen

Thanks to FPOTC for a wonderful test weekend, Steve and Catherine and all the volunteers that made it happen. 🙂

06/13/2026

What has Maureen been up to? Her Tracking Classes have been more sporadic and some cancelled, some taught by Matilda or Shelley as she has been slipping out of town!

She will share a series of stories of tracking trial adventures this spring!
So here is the first one!

It has been quite some time since I did some serious trialing in tracking. It was 2015 when Griffin got his AKC Championship, and 2017 when he earned his CKC Championship. How time has flown by! Since then I have done some trials here and there with Hugo and started my journey with Kenya in 2023. After her earning 3 TD’s with CKC, AKC, and ASCA, a UTD, and TDU with ASCA, and a CKC TDX, it was finally time for trialing her for an AKC TDX!
Our first attempt: WSOTC Trial, Bow Washington, February 22, 2026
We worked hard and trained hard leading up to our first attempt with the Washington State Obedience & Tracking Club on February 22, 2026. Prior to that, I had been making trips down to Bow to proof her in the fields, practicing the double cross tracks and working on obstacles and problem solving in the most challenging fields.
The day turned out to be a stormy one in Bow, the kind of weather that only Bow can produce when the sun was shining with calm breeze a few miles away earlier that morning. The wind was so strong and the intermittent rain so intense that the track layers came back to the Wesen Farm training center looking like they had been fighting the sea on a boat in a storm, bedraggled and exhausted, carrying their flags with them.
As I drove up to my track, I was surprised to see that we had a track laid for us in a field rarely used for TDX, as it is such a nice field, with simpler obstacles. I had my best opportunity to pass! Judges were Lisa Klein and Kyla Smay, and I was excited to get at it with Kenya!
Kenya was hauling into the harness to get to the start, and as she set off, I knew we were in for a struggle. First leg was directly into the wind, which was so strong that 3 hours later, every grass blade had been blown in the totally opposite direction of the footsteps, burying the scent beneath the layer of grass blades. Kenya plucked her way for about 10 yards at a time, before being swept off to scent rafts off to the sides of the track, then we would work our was back for another 10 yards of nose tapping in the buried footsteps. Eventually it became harder and harder for me to read whether she was being blown off her line, or whether she was trying to work into the next leg. We drifted too far off the first leg and were whistled off the track.
I was so disappointed in myself as this lesson is in my own lecture in the Scent Theory Seminar, the ‘connecting the dots’ example. If I had held my ground she would have continued to come back and show me those dots and we may have been successful, as the second leg was a whole different picture for her once back on track, and she sped through the track at top speed. The second turn was tricky, however, as she had to search out a turn before the asphalt driveway, U’ing back parallel to the first leg. An unexpected surprise! Now on the downwind leg, she was to be pushed past her third turn, which turned over the asphalt driveway into the next field. Not a problem for Kenya who quickly circled back over the driveway using the wind to catch the fourth crosswind leg. Cross tracks were on the fifth and sixth legs, the cross track layers no doubt had to come in from the upper driveway for those, and she had no problem crossing the first set to her first article. The next cross tracks came in before the track crossed the driveway yet one more time, and now Kenya was in high gear to the second article. The last turn went headlong back into the wind, on a more open angle, but she had now learned how to sail in these winds and hit it perfectly to the end glove.

It was not to be a titling day, but it was a very successful lesson for us in weather we just don’t see up here. I marvel at how fast she learns, and can’t wait to have another chance to trial with her. Thanks to my track layer Dan Douglas, Judges and all the helpers and the WSOTC Club

Lessons Learned:
Working more extreme winds
Holding my ground- patience!
Connecting the dots

Thanks for reading!
Maureen

04/15/2026

A recap from the recent Western Great Dane Club Urban Trial!

What a great weekend! The weather was beautiful but proved to be a challenge for the dogs, with some of the hottest weather we’ve had so far this season.

On Saturday we had 2/4 UTD passes and 1/3 UTDX passes. By the end of the day it was quite warm! On Sunday we had 1 pass for the day, our first UTD run.

Congratulations to all the teams who showed awesome teamwork and put in some great effort. Whether they passed or not, everyone worked hard and was fun to watch.

A special shoutout to our newest TCh, (tracking champion!) Annie, who was SO fun to watch on her UTDX. So proud of you both!

As always, a huge thank you to Barb Rose for putting on such a great test, as well as Astrid for organizing all of our many track layers. And to our track layers, thank you for coming out and volunteering your time.

It takes an enormous amount of work to put on a test, especially a two day test, so thank you!! We couldn’t do it without you!

02/28/2026

A huge congrats to team Piper for their recent successes! Here’s what they had to say about the experience:

“I was worried about the exterior search due (what felt like) hurricane winds. Thankfully the wind died down substantially and Piper found the odour source in less than 10 seconds. Unfortunately for Piper, her handler didn’t believe her and made her go around the search area again to re-indicate the source area at just over 1 minute. Additionally, I was incredibly thankful that the club did not use cardboard boxes for containers (helping diminish Piper’s love for destruction).

An even bigger thank you to Coach Steph of K9 Leadership! Piper was part of the inaugural Thursday evening scent class where she learned to follow her nose!”

Way to go, team! 🥳

02/23/2026

Puppies!!

We LOVE working with puppies and think the early training you do is some of the most important. We have a rigorous puppy program to help you put those little ones to work 😆

We are opening up another class of Puppy Kindergarten, starting this Saturday at 12:30pm. Check out this sneak peek into some of the skills you’ll learn.

Share this with all the new puppy owners you know! We hope to see you there! 🐾

02/16/2026

How it started v.s. how it’s going 💥💥💥

Check out our Variable Surface Tracking Level 1 class! They are just getting started, but we think they’re looking pretty good already 😎

Can’t wait to see how they progress!

02/08/2026

02/07/2026

Congrats to our recent Trail Manners students!

These three teams worked so hard and made huge strides throughout the 4 weeks of class! We passed dogs, people, runners and bikes on the trails with no problem! They learned a much of new skills plus how and when to implement them for a successful trail walk.

Keep up the good work, teams!

01/14/2026

Workshops are just about here!

Check out this lineup:

Jan 20th- Small space skills
Jan 24th- “HUSTLE”
Jan 27th- Cooperative care

Join with your pup for hands-on learning, or come alone to watch, listen and take it all in! No matter your level, you’re sure to get something out of each of these three workshops 📝

Sign up through your account or send us a message. We hope to see you there! 🐾