Training with Harley

Harley is the World's Greatest Cat Detection Dog, besides being an all around wonderful dog.

Yesterday, Kelsy found him in a training exercise.  The trail was about four hours old, and about one mile long.  The weather was cool and cloudy, about 47 degrees, with light winds, no rain, and damp ground from recent rains.  Kelsy used a scent article that had been stored in the freezer for 6 months.  For the first quarter mile, which was mostly paved, Kelsy had trouble staying on the scent trail.  She was frequently distracted, and she needed to be guided onto the correct trail.  Once we got through the apartment complex and onto the trail through the woods, Kelsy stayed on the correct trail most of the rest of the way.  At one dead end, she went down the short street where Harley had not gone, and then came back to the trail.  At a point about two blocks from Harley's house, after we stopped and allowed Amy to call ahead, Kelsy sprinted the rest of the way, as fast as she could drag me along.  During this training exercise, I made several stops for Kelsy to rest her nose, so she could smell the scent better.  She is still not staying on the right trail 100%.  I am having trouble coordinating with volunteers to arrange training sessions, but I will have to increase her training frequency in order to get over this problem of following the wrong trail.