Just A Bit Of Bragging

Reyna’s been going to search and rescue practice sessions Sunday mornings for the last few weeks. She’s been having an absolutely wonderful time, which is what makes getting up at 5:00am worthwhile. The trainer, Donny, has been giving us difficult searches, making Reyna really work for her finds. The other dogs get to follow relatively fresh tracks directly to the “victim.” Reyna, though, gets sent to the far end of a patch of woods and has to search several acres with nothing more than a scent article. She’s been doing really well, and always finds the right person.

This past Sunday, Donny saw Reyna coming out of the woods after a long, successful search and said that it was very obvious that she truly loves SAR work. It must have been the combination of the big doggy grin and the smug expression on her face that gave it away. I told Donny that Dad was planning to come to this Sunday’s session, and so I wanted him to give Reyna something really good so she could show off. Donny laughed and said that Reyna is so good at SAR that everything she does is showing off. Then he said he wished we could have taped her session from the previous Sunday (a wind-scenting practice with no trail), because she was text-book perfect. Let me tell you, that just gives me a warm fuzzy, knowing that my girl not only loves what she’s doing, but that she’s also very good at it.

With luck, I’ll finally get some pictures of her working. This coming Sunday is another wind-scenting exercise. We’ll be in a huge field with tall grass, so the victim will be able to hide easily. Reyna will have to work the field to find the person, using nothing but the scent cone to lead her to the right place. Donny said he’d put Dad on a hill beside the field so he’ll have a good view (and hopefully take some good pictures!).