12-14-2025

Saber

Location: Hanover Courthouse

Weather: 32 degrees, sunny, NNW wind 10-16 mph

Age: none

Goal: practice transitions

I put in two tracks and then ran them.

Track 1: Started on grass, turned on grass, entered a paved parking lot that transitioned into gravel dust/gravel. We turned on the gravel dust crossed grass, a curb, road, curb and back to grass.

I loved Saber's start. She got straight to business, made a nice turn, and confidently entered the parking lot. There was a metal article which she indicated nicely. When she got to the turn their was a clear loss of scent. She actually ignored the nearby dumpsters, but checked pretty far ahead before deciding that wasn't the right way. I made a scuff mark when I turned for my own visual guide. She spent a good amount of time sniffing it. When she did finally go the correct direction she really committed which I liked. She had confidence in her decision. She crossed the road nicely and finished after sticking her nose in a drainage gate.

I was happy with what I saw on this track.

Track 2: Started and turned on grass/dirt. After the turn it entered the parking lot, crossed an island before going back into the parking lot.

Again she had a great start. She went well past her first turn but came back and made it easily. Apparently something else smelled good enough to get a glance. She indicated an article on the grass. She skipped her restart cookies (!) and plunged ahead across the road. She crossed the island easy peasy and finished strong.

I was very happy with most of what I saw today. Most importantly Saber is happy tracking, even on the hard surface and showing much more confidence. I did not let the tracks age today partially because of the time I had available and because I wanted it to be easy for Saber, especially tracking two days in a row. She transitioned across multiple surfaces, with zero hesitation.