One evening, I get a call from my grandmother. "Hello?" I asked. "Hey, Jill!" she said. "So, I heard that there's a tracking test at your elementary school, this Saturday." Even though I knew she couldn't see me, I nodded excitedly. 'What kind of test is it?" I asked. "It's a certification test," she answered. I frowned. "Rudi is already certified," I pointed out. "I know," she said. "But, it could really add to your experience if you title two dogs. It's really a great accomplishment. I was wondering if you wanted to title Cork this weekend." My eyes lit up. "I would love to!" I squealed. "Okay. Ask your mom if you can come this Saturday." "Okay! I love you!" "I love you too! Bye!" "Bye!" I raced to my mom's bedroom. She agreed with my grandma on the fact that it would be good for me to title two dogs. So she let me go. The week flew by and soon Saturday was finally here." I spent the night with my grandmother the night before. We discussed the terrain and what might happen on the track. We went to bed early because we had to get an early start the next morning. When I got up, Cork was already dressed in his red harness and in the car. I got ready quickly. We drove to Wendy's for breakfast so we could both get oatmeal bars. We drove to my elementary school then. We were the only ones at the test, so we went ahead and got started soon after we got there. Cork is really different to read than Rudi. He's a small beagle, so that affected the speed and weight that I worked with. He also doesn't hesitate and works really fast. He's a real power house for such a small dog. The first two legs went great. Very few mistakes, and the ones we made were not very large and couldn't prevent us from passing. Then we got to the end of the second leg. I saw some poop from what looked like a rabbit and pulled cork away from it. He kept pulling me toward it, and I kept resisting. After a little while, the judge stopped me and told me that I had failed the test; the only and first test I had ever failed. The leg apparently went that way, and I didn't trust Cork. He was trying to pull me in the right direction all along. I was so disappointed in myself. It wasn't even my dog. I had ruined this for my grandmother and Cork. I went home and carried on with my day. My mom kept telling me, "You can't win 'em all," went I got upset. Then, later that night, I got a call from my grandmother, that fixed everything. Apparently, since we were two different people, they let Cork go again, with my grandmother tracking him. They had passed! I didn't get to title two dogs that day, but I didn't care. Cork and my grandmother got Cork certified, and I couldn't be happier. He could now start entering tracking tests, and become the great tracking dog he was today.
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Jillian M.I am Jillian. I've been tracking since I was eight and I love what I do. Archives
May 2017
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