session 10: I'm not the newest anymore

The first dog to find me (and slobber all over my face)

A beautiful early winter’s day in the Catoctin Mountains, just North West of Frederick. Sunny, but in the 40’s up on the hills.

The first thing on schedule for me and Cino was the exercise in increasing his “pushiness”.  I gave hotdog and cheese to Bob, Alan and Julie (on her second session, but the first time I had met her) and they spread out and called Cino to them. He happily ran between them all getting food – I don’t feed him on the days I go search and rescue training, so he was very enthusiastic.

Bob was in charge today and he had printed out some detailed maps showing orienteering posts in the area. The task was to find as many of them as possible within a two-hour time period. Almost all of the leaves had fallen, but there were plenty of thorny bushes which made it harder to see anything from a distance. However, it was easier to see where the hills crested, which was not possible when all the trees were in full leaf.  I was partnered with Julie: even though she was a newby she has some map and compass skills from previous orienteering.  She had with her a five month old border collie, Quiver.  I was glad I was with her, because at first I could not remember how to use the compass to get a bearing.  Since the class I took two weeks ago, I had not gone over the notes, nor tried to do any work with maps, so I needed the gentle reminder. Anyway, we worked out that we needed to go west, following the road to our north, and going up about two contour lines, so about 40 ft rise. We found our first marker after about 10 minutes, and then by looking at the distance on the map decided it should take us about another 10 to find the next, which was south of us and near a narrow track. We did not find that one, so decided to find an easier one a little further on, right near a stream, just after the track crossed the stream. That was pretty easy to find and we could then locate ourselves precisely on the map again. After that we headed directly up hill, almost due south. The marker was supposed to be on the  outer edge of a small plateau, but we did not find it. At that point we needed to head back to base, so didn’t linger too long trying to pinpoint the location. The terrain was not that easy to walk on. What you could see were bits of rock jutting up through the leaves, some large jagged boulders, and lots of trees, including many which had fallen. What you couldn’t tell was whether there were rocks/ground under the leaves, or whether the leaf pile was very deep. At some points we sunk in up to our knees in leaves.  After about an hour of walking with my pack on my back I had fully warmed up! Julie is 15-20 years younger than me, I would guess, and in better shape, and even though the terrain was rough, it was a pretty good pace we went at.  Still, I’m glad I was orienteering with a partner, I’m not sure I would have been so successful alone.

By the time we got back to base Harry had arrived.  He said that it was about time that Cino had the K9 evaluation.  This involves things like seeing how he reacts to strange people and dogs when I am out of sight, and seeing what his prey drive is like with toys, both his own favorite ones and unfamiliar ones. Problem was that I did not have any of his toys with me, so the evaluation was postponed 'till the next time. That should also give me a bit of time to look through it, and see if there is anything I can do to encourage the desired behavior. However, this test is more to do with temperament than training, so I’m not sure there’s much I can do.

Next up it was time for me to be the subject. Bob “placed” me, but not because he thought I was likely to go to the wrong place, but because he had a very specific place in mind.  I was to hide beneath a wooden bridge Back at base Harry decided that Cino needed to do some more work, so he, Julie and Alan got handfuls of hotdog and went up a path, each stopping behind a tree just off the path. I held Cino till they were all in place then told him to go find. He went straight to Julie, then headed back towards me, so I told him to go find again. He ran off up the path, right past the tree Alan was behind and up to Harry. I had run to catch up, because the owner is supposed to be at the spot where he gets the treat and praise. We did this again, and this time he found everybody. By then I think his interest had waned so it was time for him to go back in the car.

We finished early, which was good, since the drive was about 75 mins for me, and I was still feeling a bit cold. I had the heat blasting for much of the drive home.  I know it’s going to get much colder, though. Not sure how many more layers I can put on.

My View from under the bridge

 which was part of a walkway for an environmental trail. There was not much space under the bridge, about 18”, but luckily for me it was not wet (although it does cross an ephemeral stream) just rather cold.  I lay out my mat and crawled under. The wind followed me, as it seemed to be funneled through it. Well, I had five layers of clothes on my upper body, but only one on my legs, which were cold. I pulled my hat down low, a rain-jacket hood over that and started to nap.  It was a challenge for all but one of the dogs. First, Bob's dog Yelta was up. She ran over the bridge a couple of times, and clearly could smell something, but it took her some time to get off the path and come around.  

Yelta Searching with partner Bob, and newbie Julie

She was pretty happy when she found me, and I got plenty of licks right on the mouth when she came under the bridge. It was hard to avoid, I was rather jammed in!  Then Harry came along with Soho who seemed thoroughly confused and even though I was eye-level with her a couple of times when she came off the path, she did not find me.  Finally Zed rushed over the path and immediately jumped off and came straight to me, with Alan coming up shortly after. I got another licking, but luckily none of the dogs could actually jump on me since there simply was not enough room.  I was pretty glad to climb out, though.