VST at Cosumnes River College, Sacramento CA.  Judges Meg Azevedo & Marian Stone
TDU at Elk Grove Park, Elk Grove CA.  Judges Marian Stone & Paul Brink
Secretary Karey Krauter
Chief Tracklayer Sue Larson
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THANKS to Colton Meyer for taking such great photos!

Debriefing:

I’ll just start out this debriefing with a spoiler right up top: seeing a TDU and/or VST pass at one of these tests is one of the most rewarding things ever for me hosting these tests.  The tests this time were all incredible to watch: the start flag skills, the patience, and yes a couple passes!

The weather both plotting day and test day was FREEZING fog, wet slippery grass, and frankly a little bit scary to be out driving in it!  And it didn’t lift or burn off all day.  Our judges and tracklayers and competitors coming in from above the central valley (Placerville, Truckee) noted that the fog was definitely socked into only the valley, not above 500ft elevation.  I felt bad hearing the locals talking about how they hadn’t seen the sun in weeks.  However – isn’t that absolutely perfect tracking weather!  Plus no rain (which is bad in the greater sense) meaning no puddles, no raincoats. 

Plotting day went figuratively swimmingly with everyone showing up like clockwork, thanks to our sainted Chief Tracklayer Sue Larson’s recruiting and briefing and scheduling and jockeying and directing.  Our judges were dialed into the schedule, right on time – our own Meg Azevedo, Marian Stone from IL, and our own Paul Brink doing his first provisional assignment.  They had a busy day: 7 tracks to plot in two locations!  Our tracklayers, including two first timers, were flawlessly professional, sweet to see in action.  Our driver Rita Crawford was SO on the spot both days, making sure the judges never had to walk an extra step (did I mention the 7 tracks over every hill and dale we could find?).

Test day started with TDU tracks getting laid at Elk Grove Park and VST tracks getting laid at Cosumnes College at the same time (7-o’dark-thirty!), with the timing being that TDU tracks would be run starting at 8am and then we’d all trek up to the VST site and run the VST tracks at 10:30am.  I tell you, a well-oiled machine.

The TDU test offered three tracks and we had three competitors for the tracks (no alternate).  Marian and Paul were the judges.

The first TDU track was drawn by an Azawakh (pronounced exactly as it looks) dog from El Dorado Hills, what a sweetie, and super glad he had a winter coat he could wear, brrrr!  Solid start across the lawn, solid first turn, and then a stop to poop.  That must have made the handler feel relieved to get that out of the way because I think she was holding her breath waiting for it.  Some uncertainty on the non-veg, but then solid to the intermediate article and a strong confident finish to their first TDU title in 14 minutes!  Pass!  Congratulations to Jodi Jordan and In Stride’s Everything’s Alright, TDU!  Thanks to tracklayer Terry Southard!  This is how we like to start the day!

The second TDU track went to a golden retriever dog from Truckee.  This track started with an initial leg forever 190 yards long – that’s a test of trusting your dog!  They made it past the first turn and intermediate article, but failed at the second turn.  I may have heard that geese were involved?  Job well done as far as he could go, we’ll see this dog succeed next time!  Thanks to tracklayer Sandy Zajkowski.

The third TDU track went to an English Springer Spaniel dog from Oregon, who ended up succumbing to the siren call of the geese in the nearby lake.  The handler put in some intensive valiant efforts, managing to keep the dog’s brain in gear almost to the second turn, but never quite found that second turn and never found the intermediate article after the turn.  Sorry about the geese, everyone….  Thanks to tracklayer Ann McQuillen.

The VST test offered three tracks plus they were able to lay an alternate track, and we had four competitors for these four tracks.  It amazes me how much we use Cosumnes college for every blessed VST test, and yet our sainted judges are able to not only plot 4 excellent VST tracks on this small little campus (that no longer has grass berms in the parking lots that we can use), but they plot such a variety of tracks across all the tests held here!  Year after year!  Marian and Meg were the judges.

The first VST track was drawn by a flat-coated retriever bitch from Placerville, and she took off from the start headed down the first leg like a rocket.  She also turned off the track like a rocket after 150yds, possibly in exactly the place the wind was blowing laterally across the track like a wind tunnel between the buildings, but 50yds before the actual turn in the opposite direction. Nevertheless, it was a beautiful start to see.  Thank you to tracklayer Cindy Hult (more than paying her dues after getting her VST last year!).

The second VST track went to a Belgian sheepdog bitch from Oregon.  She had a little bit of a wobbly start but did figure out the direction to go, and figured out the first turn (the MOT turn, I believe! good dog!).  Then she was down that second leg like a shot, beautifully confident, nothing was going to stop her – the wind was a wind tunnel down the mallway, and she was off. Sadly she shot right past the metal article, and past the second turn, it all happened so fast that the judges and gallery had to run to get a peek around the first corner to see it happen.  I’m sad about the whistle but I love to watch a confident turn.  Thank you to tracklayer Jim Aitken (who does so much tracklaying but we haven’t talked into doing this sport yet!).

The third VST track was a dachshund bitch from Somerset, and this track gave the judges an unusual “I’ve never seen that before” moment.  They arrived at the start flag to find that the start article had been taken away, and in its place a bicycle had been laid down on top of the start flag!  No, the bicycle is NOT the start article that you have to carry with you.  After getting the already/equally-scented replacement start article (oh yeh that’s why we have those!), and dragging the bicycle off to the side ten feet, the dog tried her best to figure out which way the track started.  The handler displayed textbook patience, encouragement, watering, re-scenting, waiting her out.  But it just wasn’t her day for tracking, and the handler called it.  Kudos to the handler for handling with grace.  Thank you to tracklayer Sharon Prassa!

The fourth/alternate VST track went to a belgian tervuren bitch from Oregon.  Great, solid start, hit the first corner and made the turn at speed but then clearly said “wait not so fast” and had a bit of settling down to do at that corner.  Loved watching the handler wait out the dog.  Nailed the second turn, had interesting moments at the third turn where it really looked like the dog switched into nosework mode around a car parked near the corner.  Scary moment but she got over it. SOLID fast 385yd fourth leg, wow!  Nailed the fourth turn onto the grass, had an interesting time on the grass following the various mower ruts on the lawn parallel to the actual track but saved the day coming back to the actual track where the final article lay: PASS, in 21 minutes!  Cheering and tears and jumping up and down, did I mention how incredible and special it is to watch a VST pass like this?  You GO, Kyla Smay and CT Jamaica Valiant Spirit VST TDX2 TDU SWN TKA, CONGRATULATIONS!  Thank you to tracklayer Cathy Beam!

Then we all stood around excitedly talking about how excited we were about the exciting skillz we got to watch, over a hot lunch of tomato soup and clam chowder (thanks to the kitchen stovetop in Sandy Zajkowski’s RV).  It was all very soul-warming, this is why I come to these things.  Thank you to everyone for supporting us, and for even being interested in the stories!  We are so proud of these dogs, and of our people!

Respectfully submitted 12/17/25, /karey, secretary.