Mosquito Creek 'Houlas

06/14/2025

Went for a little hike today, really wish I took my camera this time. It was amazing out today.

06/09/2025

https://youtu.be/J4PrYX7Xi0A

Laid 2 tracks, first was 200 yards, second was 250 yards. Both were aged about 8.5 hours, hoof only, a racc**n was used as the distraction scent.0:00 Introdu...

06/06/2025

*Distraction Training*

So I had been talking with Marlee Malmborg off and on about some things I had been seeing with Luna recently that we have been working through, and she had brought up trying some distraction training with her to see if that could be a factor. Last year I had a chance to attend the Northern Michigan Trackers meetup, and Gary Blessing had led a great discussion covering just that. Since then this was something that I was really wanting to do with our dogs, and it just so happened that the dogs had got a racc**n that had snuck into our chicken coop that i can use.

The lines I laid out were nothing crazy, they were hoof only, aged about 8.5 hours, and only 200, and 250 yards long. The distraction scent came from off the line, followed the line for about 25 yards, then left the line.

I took both Luna and Archer out to run these, and to be completely honest I was very happy with how they both handled them. We ran the one on the right first, Archer was the blue line. I screwed up and dropped Archers lead to get around some brush and he blew right past the distraction, so I called him back to restart before it. After trying to get him restarted a couple times, and him and I both getting frustrated. He was finally able to get refocused and back to work. Even through all that he barely paid any attention to the distraction scent and was set on working the hoof scent which I was very happy to see.

Luna was fired up after sitting waiting for Archer to run it, and I really had to slow her down, but she only stopped to lick a spot where the scent left the line briefly with a quick "Leave it" and on we went. The second line I ran her on first this time, and she worked the line great, worked past the distraction line, then caught wind of the c**n and turned and worked back to where it was laying. I gave her a firm "Leave it" and she turned right back around and headed right back down the line. I am very happy with how she did, I didn't expect her to ignore it completely, and I figured she would check it out, but she handled it great.

Archer worked the second line wonderfully, and didn't even care about the distraction scent. Very pleased with his focus on his target scent on these, and how he worked them.

I plan on doing this more in the near future, and am very happy with how both of them did. I think I will do the next ones on longer lines, and wait times as well to up the difficulty. I will link the video below for those of you who wanna watch.

Video: https://youtu.be/J4PrYX7Xi0A

06/04/2025

This was too good of a short film NOT to share again 💪

In the rugged wilderness, where every scent tells a story, humans have an extraordinary partner—the K9. With noses attuned to even the faintest trace of bloo...

05/25/2025

Well as luck would have it, Luna is having to take it easy again for a little bit. She somehow got a nasty cut on one of her toes after our last practice track. So today we have just been doing a little socialization, and distraction work. Luckily she has done sooo good with leaving her shoe alone so she don't have to have her cone on. Poor girl.....

05/22/2025

Archer striking a pose, almost forgot about this one from our trip to Hocking Hills. I've really been itching to make the trip back down there.

05/22/2025

05/20/2025

**Long Post Warning**

So I was gonna get Luna out and we were just go for a hike and let her free run for a while just so she could get some time away fro the boys. Then I thought, you know what I could prob just put her on Archers track from the day before and just let her work that, BUT.... I'm gonna do it completely off lead.

I have been noticing her doing a couple things that she hadn't been doing before, and have been trying to get to the bottom of it. My thought process was, maybe I'm causing some of it, so let's just eliminate that part and see if it continues.

So we get to the hit site at around the 48 hour mark, and no sooner we get there we bump a deer and it runs right past us at not even 25 yards. Thankfully she stops dead in her tracks and was like what the heck was that, and didn't pursue it. But now we have hot scent going right through our old cold scent trail to contend with.

I give her the command and away she went. She starts off on a good pace then we get to an area not too far in that has a ton of deer tracks and trails in, plus Archer spend some time working the area as well so she has to work through that also. After not really hitting on the line for a couple minutes I call her back over to the line and restart her and she works the line out of the area.

We eventually work out to a really tall grassy path and she starts to weave back and forth trying to work through it, then she comes across where our hot deer had ran out of the area when we bumped it. I can see her body language change and she cuts off on that trail behind it. I let her work it shortly before asking "Is that right?" In which she turns right around and comes back to the line. I have her sit for a brief time then give her the find it command and back to work she goes.

We get to the next turn in the grass, and she spends a good deal of time working circles and hitting on the trail in the same couple spots, and twice at the exit. After I see her hit the exit then back out and start to "Trash" as I call it (Rubbing her head on all the grass and shrubs etc) I then tell her to work it out and encourage her to get to work, in which she heads right over to the exit and heads out. This leaves me wondering if this is her knowing it's a practice track.

Next up was a simulated backtrack that was about 25 yards. I couldn't have asked her to work it out any better than she did. She caught where the turn was, but followed the backtrack till she got to the end, made a small circle then made her way back and made the turn.

We then worked to the turn right before the find, where she had to work out a scent pool. She worked back and forth finding the edges then eventually finding the line to the hoof.

Pretty happy with how she worked this one out, didn't really see the issues I have been, so I very well could be causing them. Will be reviewing the footage and seeing if I can pinpoint what I may or may not be doing. Either way I think deciding to run her on it was the thing to do.

Video: https://youtu.be/izofMVNeWhM

05/16/2025

Just out enjoying the evening after running a practice track, was a hot one today.

04/30/2025

Had our struggles on this one, had a few scent gaps that she had to work out. She did struggle on one of the left turns, she had actually put her nose on the line a couple times, but for some reason didn't want to commit to it. I brought her back to before the turn and restarted her and she ended up figuring it out. It wasn't pretty, but I don't want them to be a perfect run from start to finish. Practice has been going well so far this off season, have a few things I am trying to get addressed that I noticed during the season last year, I think we are making progress. Love to see that smile of hers, she was definitely proud of this one.