A few weeks ago we ran a trail 21 hours old that involved working around the lake.


My runner and a friend walked around the lake and into the woods about 1/4 mile then came out of the woods on the opposite side of the lake from where they began.. From there they both hopped into a canoe and crossed the lake, got out, and proceded on foot once again entering the woods thru the woods, and returned to base camp. The following day, both runners went canoeing once again, but did not cross the lake. Just stayed on the water.




About 2 hours after the boys returned to camp, I decided to run my dog on that previous trail 20 hours earlier, and collected a scent article from one of the boys, then told both boys to take the canoe and cross the lake to the opposite side and climb the fire tower to wait us out.




I scented my dog from the road where previously the boys had started walking, and he took to the trail immediately without any difficulity, crossing and zig zagging the gravel road for about 250 yards. Several trucks/cars/ passed along side of us, then we came to the lake. I noticed that he wanted to get in the lake, which I let him do, figuring he was hot and needed to cool off, but also acknowledged that the runners just one hour previously had been canoeing as well. He trailed the shore line going into the water and out again, about 200 yeards, then entered the woods, when it was clear to him I was NOT going swimming with him to get to the other side, he started really trailing hard and exited the woods on the opposite side of the lake, found the boys by indicating High find where they both laid on the top platform of the fire tower.. He wanted to climb the ladder up, but I held him back, and the boys came down.


It was a flawless run, find, and ID.




Now I know that the runners scent was drifting ontop the water, and since he had just been canoeing, the scent was probably strong. Given no lead on my dog, I am sure he would have crossed that lake to get to the other side, but I was NOT a willing partner to go swimming at the time. Once Patton was at the end of the lead going nowhere in the water, he turned on his own, got back onto dry land, and proceded to run trail, almost exactly in line with where the boys had run the day before.


Good BOY!


I do have a question:


When you run trails around water and your dog indicates that the trail continues "thru" the water, do you enter the water? Get a boat, and launch your dog and you to cross it? or do you find an alternative way around the body of water on foot?


Margie