On March 26th Aiden passed his Tracking Certification Test with judge from the Tracking Dog Club of Massachusetts.
We tried to get into a tracking tests in VT and NH but were placed on the Alternate lists for both tests and did not get in. Finally we were drawn 3rd out of 3 for the Dog Tracking Club of Maine Test on Sunday May 8th.
(Obviously someone forgot how to spell Shepherd!)
We took the day off work on Friday and drove up to Maine. We took the scenic route and saw the beautiful rocky coast. 
We stopped at the Ferry Beach State Park in Saco, Maine and took Aiden for a nice walk. At this park you get to walk through the woods and on the beach.
On Saturday as we were in Maine and we drove up to Freeport to do a little shopping at LL Bean.
After shopping we took a hike in Wolf’s Neck State Park on Casco Bay.
On Sunday morning….The Main Event!
We met at the tracking club house for the draw at 7:45am
The temperature was 48 degrees with dense fog…..a perfect morning to track. One TD dog had withdrawn from the test so there were now 2 TD dogs and 5 TDX dogs. Aiden and I drew TD Track 1. We all convoyed to the site of our track. Aiden got off to a nice start, he nailed the first 2 turns, had a some difficulty on the 3rd turn but got himself back on track, was very good on the 4th turn and went right to the glove and indicated with a down! Good Boy….What a great Mother’s Day present for me.
These are the score sheets from the 2 judges
We stayed for the rest of the day to watch the other TD track and all 5 TDX tracks. We had a great time, learned a lot and met some really nice people. Of the 7 dogs tested only Aiden and 1 TDX dog (a Corgi) passed. Aiden and me with the two judges, and Aiden’s ribbon, tracking flag and tote bag.
With Aiden earning his TD Title and having a CDX Title plus Advanced Agility Titles Jack and I are very proud that Aiden now becomes a Versatile Companion Dog 2 (VCD2)
Congratulations! Lucky you, dew and the 1st track B4 the dew burns off-perfect conditions! It did not look like he had much trouble on the 3rd corner according to the judges sheets. I had to look really close to see he made a small search. Very different from IPO tracking. Did Phil bring his dalmatian puppy (not so much a puppy anymore)? He was getting ready to certify him at our Club trail in October. We are entering their VST in June and hope to get a slot.
Congratulations! Thank you for the wonderful post — I almost feel like I was along for the ride.
Congrats to you and Aiden!! Love all your photos.