Lilly of Windstone XFP OAP XJP SCN TD owned by Amy and Alex Nathanson of Palm City, FL
Lily earned her TD on March 21, in Orlando, FL. “This is a huge accomplishment for a dog who wouldn’t even move forward without whimpering and crying when she first started learning about two years ago,” Amy said. Unlike their other dog, a Beagle named Jack, Lilly needed some coaxing and patience to get her to follow her nose, and to even put her nose on the ground with regularity. Their tracking coaches, Fran Smith and Jane Craig (and some help from Luci Seeley) employed various techniques and Lilly eventually got the idea.
Practices were sometimes few and far between, especially last year because of COVID. At first, Amy didn’t foresee a tracking test in Lilly’s future, but once she got the game, she progressed nicely. Getting the tracking certification took quite a bit longer than anticipated — it took five or six attempts, one of which was during a tropical storm! Fran and Jane even made a special trip on the way back from a very long tracking test weekend to try to get her certified, but she missed it by a nose. They nicknamed her “So Close Lilly.”
She got her certification in late February, just in time to enter one of the last 2021 Tracking Dog tests in Florida. After two days of Agility on March 19th and 20th, they loaded up at 4:30 a.m. for the trek to Orlando for her first attempt at a tracking test. “Lilly has a tendency to be a little wary of new routines, and the early wake-up call, eating her breakfast in a Sonny’s parking lot, and new tracking grounds and track-layer were sure to throw a wrench in the works. Not so. Lilly earned her TD at the Orlando test on March 21,2021. She handled it like a seasoned pro and her tracking was unwavering,” Amy said.
“For several years Lilly’s primary dog sport has been agility but her nose has opened up new horizons. She also picked up the sport of Scent Work while I was working with Jack and earned the Novice Containers title at her first trial in January. I am looking forward to our continued adventure in the tracking world.”