Today we got up bright and early and headed over to the Sheriff’s substation, by Millennium Park – only 2.8 miles from our house. Eric decided to come along with Mason and I for our first meeting with K-9 One. We skipped the MISAR every-3-week training to come to this one. I had heard great things about this group, they have strong ties to the Kent County SAR group and they were fine with me using a harness on Mason. Bonus that it was so close to home 
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We got there early to see what we could help set up. Eric and I set up two EZ-Up canopies and I helped apply the official stickers to the group’s new boat (they have a boat!).
Then we got a talk about boater safety and unique aspects of this particular boat:
Then some plans were made using a map of the lake:
I was in the first group to go out because I would be laying a trail across the lake and around it for the bloodhounds to track later.
The path I was supposed to take ended up being split by a small river that was not on the map so there was a slight change in plans and I was picked up at a different point. Eric and I were split up at this point, he was the victim and I started to follow behind some of the air scent handlers so that I could get a feel for how they worked. It was fun.
After we did that a couple of times there was a meeting inside the building and then Mason got a chance to ride in the boat (his first time being in a boat) and I got a short driving lesson.
At the end of the day, Mason got to do some training. It was awesome! We were on a dirt road and my “victim” let Mason watch her run away and hide in some grass. He now knows what this game is about so he was straining, lunging and choking on the lead.
I revved him up a little more and released him with his search command and he rocketed down the path straight to her.
I made some noise until he was paying attention to me and then ran backward a couple of steps, encouraging him to follow me – which he did! He came bolting back toward me and I started asking for the indication “Speak”. He slid to a stop, sat, and it took a couple of tries but he finally barked and when I said “Show me!” he actually ran right back down the path – he was slower and he kept glancing back to make sure I was following but he did it right! I ran after him so that I would be there to praise him while he got some treats from our victim.
We had a discussion about the bark indication slowing down Mason’s momentum and that perhaps a Bump cue would be better.
It was resolved that I would try that this time. While the victim went to hide a second time, Mason was hid behind a giant tractor tire so he couldn’t see where she went. He still set out at full speed when I released him with his command though.
When he came careening back, I started to ask for the Bump and patting my chest – he wasn’t sure what I was asking so the jumps were a little…all over the place lol.
He did it though and when I gave the “Show Me!” command he ran full-tilt back to our victim, much more sure of himself this time around.
I raced after him and there were more treats and praises:
This was his last search of the day so he got his toy (the ball, now in a sock so that there could be more interaction) and got to carry it back to the van where he then received his very special treats. 
It was awesome!!! He’s catching on so fast!
Eric took some photos while he was hiding as well, so the whole set is HERE.
It was a long but awesome day!