My five-year-old boy, Anzac, is a
tracking dog. He began tracking
at six months and then went on to
get his AKC Tracking Dog (TD) and
Tracking Dog Excellent (TDX) ti-
tles; we are now entering Variable
Surface Tracking (VST) tests.
Three years ago it occurred to me
that I might be able to use his tal-
ents for more than just this fun
stuff. We might actually be able
to do something useful!
At that time I had started monitor-
ing the Eastern box turtle
(Terrapene carolina carolina)
population on our land. This is a
particularly beautiful turtle, on the
endangered list of special concern
in New York state. I have discov-
ered that we have a veritable hot-
bed of box turtle activity here! I
began working with a biologist to
catalog my findings, photograph-
ing each turtle, (the carapace de-
sign of each one is as different as a fingerprint) determining its sex, taking GPS read-
ings, etc. The next step is to determine what their range is. I cannot afford the monitor-
ing equipment that professionals use, but guess what- I have a dog! Heck, if he can find
a glove at the end of a tracking test, why not a turtle?
I confined one turtle for a day in an exercise pen and repeatedly visited it with Anzac,
saying "where's the turtle?", and then asking him to do a sit, as he would do for article
indication in a tracking test. I wanted to be sure that he would not hurt the turtle. Sit,
you get a treat for finding that turtle, smart boy! He knows the word now so we're off
and running. If only the season weren't so short I could tell you that he is well trained by
(Continued on page 18)
SPOTLIGHT on Dogs with Jobs
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126