TCoW - The Tracking Club of Wisconsin

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The Tracking Club of Wisconsin is a Licensed Club of the American Kennel Club

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November 2003
Governor Nelson State Park
Waunakee, WI

TCoW Track Laying Seminar
by Ruth Bruskiewitz

On Saturday, November 29th, the Tracking Club of Wisconsin (TCoW) hosted a track laying seminar at Governor Nelson State Park, in Waunakee, Wisconsin. The workshop objectives included:

Tracking terminology
Protocol and etiquette
Length of your stride
How to walk a straight line
Designing your track
Lining up two sight points
Use of corner markers
Map making materials
Drawing your map
Map reading
Team track plotting
Team map reading/following

The day provided all the participants with an excuse to escape the feasting and shopping that traditionally follows Thanksgiving. The weather was cold but dry, ensuring that the participants appreciated moving about in the fields to keep warm. Twelve novice and experienced participants alike gathered from Wisconsin and Illinois to learn and hone, respectively, their track laying skills.

The workshop, led by Ed Presnall, multi CT earner, AKC judge and TCoW member, began with basic tracking terminology and etiquette. Soon after, each participant walked along a 100 yard path, counting their steps. Steps were converted to yardage giving each participant the basis upon which to determine the length of a plotted track in yards, based on the number of their individual steps taken. A spiral bound notebook was provided to each participant containing AKC tracking test requirements, and a wealth of track laying pearls. Track plotting as a group followed, with emphasis placed on the sighting and lining of two landmarks to help the tracklayer walk a straight line, and using landmarks to identify the location of starts, turns and articles while plotting, and necessarily useful in the event of a missing flag on test day.

Discussion of tracking continued at a local restaurant, where participants had the opportunity to warm up over lunch. Following lunch, three teams of participants were formed to practice track laying and map-making skills. A track was plotted by each team, and a map was created by team consensus. Maps were rotated among the teams. All the teams were ultimately successful in finding their final articles: in one case, not just an ordinary glove but a dollar bill! At the conclusion of the seminar, 3-dog and handler teams were selected to run their dogs on the tracks plotted earlier in the afternoon.

All the participants present, from the novice to the most experienced, went home having learned new track laying skills. Whether the intent was to learn to lay training tracks for oneself or a friend, or to serve as a track layer in a test, this seminar succeeded in meeting those needs. And last but not least, it provided an opportunity for old and new TCoW members from around the State of Wisconsin to get to know each other better.