Back to the PawMark Article Menu© 2001-1997 by Ed Presnall
Guest Columnist for Canine Classified
All Rights Reserved
AKC defines the Variable Surface Tracking Test as a test of credibility, verifying the dog's ability to recognize and follow human scent while adapting to changing scenting conditions. VST or "urban tracking" as it is referred to is a relatively new AKC sport. Unlike traditional TD or TDX tracking, VST utilizes a minimum of three different surfaces, which includes grass and two areas such as concrete, asphalt, gravel, sand, hard pan or mulch. The hard surface areas comprises at least one-third to one-half of the total length of the track.
To emphasize the "urban" setting, tracks are typically laid along the sides of buildings and fences, through buildings with two or more openings or open sided, such as breezeways, shelters or roofed parking garages. The tests themselves are held in business parks, colleges and government complexes.
But to local trackers Christy Bergeon and Ed Presnall VST is more than that. It started as a method to allow us to learn about scent and to push our dogs to another level in tracking. It is a fun procedure which allows us to utilize innovative and creative methods to train and motivate dogs. It is a challenging sequence of events to bring your dog up to the level of being competitive in VST tracking. Until Christy and I teamed up, the previous dogs who had earned this title had all been in training for three or more years.
In March we decided to bypass TDX and work together with our dogs on VST. In June, a short three months, later we entered a test. I passed with my English Springer Spaniel, "JJ", becoming the sixth dog to pass and the first Spaniel in any breed. [Dog Days July 1997] I watched with pride as Christy and her GSD "Ariel" worked the first half of the track magnificently before being distracted in a large parking lot. The long drive home was a frustrating time for me. I had passed and was very happy, but Christy had failed. We promised each other that we would work even harder and try again. In June, I switched my Clumber Spaniel, "Merlin", from TDX to VST training.
We cussed and discussed the months of practice tracks in the sauna we call Houston. Heat indexes during much of the summer exceeded 100 degrees as we laid the tracks, and sometimes dipped down into the 90's as we ran them. Smiling, I recalled the tracks late at night, carefully planned to time our running with the automatic sprinkler systems. A reward for our hard work and an opportunity to let both the handlers and the dogs cool off.
The thousands of yards of track we laid each week had paid off in a very short time frame. The dogs were steady and sure of the track and had become confident and somewhat exhilarated by the numerous challenges and scent obstacles we'd put them through. During this period, we had learned that the dogs could track on asphalt, concrete and rocks almost as easily as they crossed the manicured lawns surrounding the buildings of our training sites.
We tracked at night using flashlights in areas where there were no street lights. Learning to blindly follow our dogs in and around the scent cone which moved and swirled around buildings. Heaping praise on our dogs when they were right and motivating them when they faced seemingly insurmountable problems. Each night we learned a little more and we came up with new questions and problems to challenge both us and the dogs.
We planned tracking around our real jobs during the week and around our home life on weekends. At times, I'm sure, our families thought we had run off to be tracking gypsies, but we trained on -- through the heat, rain and dark of night. When we felt we were ready, we entered another test.
It was late September when Christy was notified that she had made the draw and would run. I was told I would be an alternate and therefore most likely not participate. We decided to make the long drive together as a team so that I could be there to offer support. A few days before we left, I received a message that one of the entrants had withdrawn to attend another test and I would be allowed to run. The team was again heading north, to prove that variable surface tracking was an attainable goal.
Christy had drawn track one. As we waited on the judges we looked at the cloudy sky, felt the cool breeze and saw the lingering dew on the ground. We stood and talked of all the preparations we had made. We instilled confidence in each other and promised that we would do our best and let our young dogs do the work of proving they were ready.
As she walked across the street with her harness in her hand and Ariel by her side, I was proud. She had come a long way from that first day at class to being my partner in a training program. In seven short months, we had taken three young TD dogs and turned them into confident trackers on variable surfaces. One had already passed and these two were ready for their trial by fire. I held my breath as they started. Thirty minutes later, I watched my partner and her dog locate the final article on their track and triumphantly hold it up, for the world to see, thus becoming Jendhi Shepherds' Jigger TD, VST, the youngest dog to ever attain the Variable Surface Tracker title!
As we waited for my turn to run, we watched the clouds disappear, the sun come out and the ground and air temperature rise. I remembered that it was only ten months ago to the day that our vet had said that Merlin was going to die from Canine Leptospiras. Referred to as canine malaria due to its symptoms, Leptospiras is a deadly viral which causes almost immediate renal failure. Prognosis for dogs contracting the serovars without prompt diagnosis and medical treatment within the first 12 to 24 hours is unfortunately terminal.
Merlin has contracted this nasty virus in January, while training for TDX, in a field used by local clubs to hold tests. Now, a short 10 months later he quietly stood at my side, ready to conquer yet another challenge. We approached the start of our track, attempting to do the impossible. No Clumber had ever earned this title and no handler had ever earned it with two different breeds. Our friends and supporters were in the crowd watching as the judges nodded that they were ready. As I snapped on his harness and laid out the long line, I quietly reassured Merlin and myself that we could do it!
Merlin started down the track and worked intently. Thirty two minutes later, he stepped out of a parking lot, he downed to indicate his final article. As I raised the article over my head, he jumped into my lap. I held him for a moment before Merlin, Ch. Andchelle Lord Raglan, TD, VST, now the first Clumber Spaniel to earn this title, turned his attention to the gathering crowd.
As I shook the judges' hands and Merlin received praise from the crowd, I watched as my tracking partner quietly approached. We congratulated each other and silently walked together back towards the van. With smiles of satisfaction on our faces and two good dogs at our side, we knew that we had done the seemingly impossible.
Christy and Ed are currently working with several other dogs in pursuit of their VST titles and are planning to offer structured VST training classes to interested local trackers later in the year and are working on a book on training for VST. Ed is a member of the Dog Writers Association of America with his articles and stories being published as a guest columnist various publications and on the internet.
Ed and Merlin & Christy and Ariel
with Judges Darlene Ceretto and Wally O'Brien
October 5, 1997
Glenbard All Breed Obedience Club, Wheaton, Illinois
© 2003-1996 - Ed Presnall - All Rights Reserved