Troubled Pursuit by D. L. Keur

Author:D. L. Keur [Keur, D. L.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-07-11T23:00:00+00:00

22 – Trial Run

WILDLAND EVALUATING Grant’s new dogs together to calculate where the dogs were in their individual skills and if they would, in fact, get along out in the field though not yet packed up was the game today. Volunteers, the intended target and some decoys, had sequestered themselves on a mid-elevation slope on the third bench of Lorn Mountain, the expanse and lay of the land sporting good terrain for the dogs to work—water, an area of rocky outcroppings, and variations in types of cover spanning everything from meadow to brushy to treed.

They’d given the volunteers an hour to hide themselves, made sure everyone could communicate, then handed Grant the target’s scent for his dogs.

“Now, I’m nervous,” Grant muttered, eyeballing his new charges.

“They’ll do fine,” Jessie said.

He didn’t buy Jessie’s optimism, though. His face showed it as he just trudged off to squat down and give them their assignments. That he had agreed to allow the dogs to work off lead, not work on leash, was, to Jessie, a big step forward. What Grant didn’t know was that, if the dogs proved out the way she thought they would, she figured they’d be ready to certify in a couple of months. These dogs had two years of consistent training on them. Their problem was confidence in their handler. Left alone to do their jobs, Jessie thought they would do fine.

Downing her own dogs, Jessie watched Grant’s four new dogs cluster around him, each dog attentive, every dog happy. “So good,” Jessie muttered.

Standing next to her, Nelson grunted agreement. “Seems like they’ve definitely decided he’s their fur dad.”

“Yeah. Now to see if they’re stable in their work assignment.”

“You know which one is which among the two black labs?”

Jessie laughed. “I’m not that good, Nelson,” she answered, and heard him chuckle. “Grant can tell them apart.”

“Yeah, I know. I keep studyin’ them, but, no matter how I squint, I’d swear they’re identical.

“I think black is the hardest to see differences because the subtleties of curve and fur shifts are lost to the human eye.”

“Well, now, if we could maybe see like a bee or a fly, maybe we’d do better.”

“Bees see weird,” Jessie said. “It’s like looking through a kaleidoscope.”

A chuckle answered that. “You musta seen the same documentary I did.”

“Probably.”

“PBS® a few weeks back?”

“That’d be the one.”

“Oh, there they go!” Nelson said.

And there they did go, Grant trotting off behind them.

Jessie hit her timer and moved to watch Nelson’s laptop.

“If they do this, you gonna help me train them up so we can certify them?”

“I’ll set up for their individual certification trials as soon as Grant’s willing.”

“What about as a pack?”

“I think that’s going to be a spring thing, but, when they’re ready, yeah, I’ll see if Callen Parker can do it. I’ll ask him when he comes for Dad’s birthday.”

“He’s coming here?”

“Yeah. I’ve got some rescues worked up as SAR and HRD dogs for him to come get, and Dad’s got some bribe material, too. Callen’s bringing his big dog trailer.

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