Could have been worse
This morning I took the dogs up to Raccoon for some trail running goodness. The air is fairly cool after the rains last night, so I figured we could get some good running in. All was going well, till about halfway when my SPOT fell out of it's pocket. I picked it up, grumbled and stuck it back in, and then turned back. I had X amount of time I planned to run, and had half that time covered anyway. Partway back, the SPOT must have fallen out again, only this time I did not note it's disappearance. When I realized it was gone, I was back at the car and had a different problem to solve that took enough time I couldn't head back out on the trail seeing the wayward technology before my workday started in the form of a missing Connor.
Connor, just before the trail ended, had flushed something too exciting for him to ignore and he'd rushed off with his signature yelping bark. I called, he was too busy chasing. I kept calling. Churchill joined me at the car quickly and enjoyed a nice drink from the camelback and I put him on leash. I kept calling. Finally, Churchill and I headed back out on the trail, me still calling and he sniffing. I turned us down a spur I thought Connor had headed in the direction of and after a short bit, Churchill stopped and started to try bounding into the woods, stopped again and looked down the trail, then back down the game trail he'd stopped at before trying to plow into the woods on the game trail. I... followed. He was on leash, and I decided to give him the benefit of the doubt. Once or twice he stopped and sniffed, nose in the air, before plowing on, sometimes nose down, more often midway between the ground and the air. I followed him till we came back out on the trail I'd been running so soon before, where Churchill stopped and looked around. I called twice more while Churchill looked like he wasn't sure what to do and there came Connor back the way we'd just come. Churchill had found and followed his back trail. Not bad for no training whatsoever. Makes me want to work on that skill a bit and help him learn how to tell the back trail from the forward one.
Connor, just before the trail ended, had flushed something too exciting for him to ignore and he'd rushed off with his signature yelping bark. I called, he was too busy chasing. I kept calling. Churchill joined me at the car quickly and enjoyed a nice drink from the camelback and I put him on leash. I kept calling. Finally, Churchill and I headed back out on the trail, me still calling and he sniffing. I turned us down a spur I thought Connor had headed in the direction of and after a short bit, Churchill stopped and started to try bounding into the woods, stopped again and looked down the trail, then back down the game trail he'd stopped at before trying to plow into the woods on the game trail. I... followed. He was on leash, and I decided to give him the benefit of the doubt. Once or twice he stopped and sniffed, nose in the air, before plowing on, sometimes nose down, more often midway between the ground and the air. I followed him till we came back out on the trail I'd been running so soon before, where Churchill stopped and looked around. I called twice more while Churchill looked like he wasn't sure what to do and there came Connor back the way we'd just come. Churchill had found and followed his back trail. Not bad for no training whatsoever. Makes me want to work on that skill a bit and help him learn how to tell the back trail from the forward one.