The AKC Champion Tracker title: My journey

Me tracking on a non-vegetation surface

Spencer’s diary: I started tracking when I was very little. Mom took me out to the field and play games with me. We play in water puddles and we go through bushes and forests. Mom first entered me in a Variable Surface Test (VST) the year I passed the Tracking Dog Excellent (TDX). I don’t think I was totally prepared but I got a lot of experience. VST is very different, there are lots of people around, I do not even know if they are watching me. I find it very hard to perform under pressure, so I had a hard time picking up the scent at the start. I have stage-fright.

I went to University of Houston twice and I had a hard time with people looking at me, then mom took me to Tulsa and I made the wrong turn. So a year had now passed. Mom took me back to Houston again, and I panicked when all the people were looking at me.

Mom started taking me to the college close to our house, and there are usually people and students walking around. I usually stop and look at them and mom told me it is ok to work. Mom also take me to the parking lot of a cafeteria style restaurant. The traffic was crazy, there were kids screaming and tons of people look at me and I was very scared in the beginning, but eventually I just look at them and mom said it is ok to keep working.

Three months have gone by, and mom took me back to Tulsa. We stopped by Dad’s parents in Oklahoma City and stayed the night, and mom drove up to Tulsa in the morning. We parked at a McDonald’s parking lot and that caught my attention. When it was our turn to track, mom told me today is the day.

The start of my VST track was difficult. I had to go towards the direction of a neighborhood with chainlink fence and multiple dogs barking at me. Mom kept telling me it was ok. So I was able to get started. After the second article, a stork flying over the “moment of truth” turn (MOT: a turn on non-vegetative surface), a rabbit jumped out before the third article, and then I had difficulty with the last turn, I got to my final article and then everybody cheered. Mom cried and hugged me.

Me finding the final article

I got 2 hard boiled eggs, my favorite, and of course McDonald’s. Mom was so happy she called Aunt Deb (a tracking judge who certified me before I got my TD- tracking dog novice title). I think Aunt Deb is proud of me, and I do not have to sit for my night night cookie anymore, just like Sophie.

My champion tracker picture with the judges and tracklayer