Today we headed out again in the morning for tracking with Zion. He is a great tracker and has already shown such an awesome connection with Trapper. We practiced today, outside of a school where Zion had never tracked before. Jami and Trapper walked away and moved around the back of the school, hiding in a small stairwell on the outside of the building. I stood with Zion, keeping him out of eyesight from the direction that Jami and Trapper had gone.
Once a few minutes had passed, Zion was fitted with his tacking collar and lead and, after a small pep-talk, we were off, sprinting around the building, exactly in the direction that Trapper had gone. Amazing! Within 2 minutes of starting the track, Zion pinpointed the location of Jami and Trapper and happily received his reward of hot dogs.
It is incredible to me that this dog has already grown so attached to Trapper within just a few days to already be able to track him down in a foreign area. These dogs really are incredible.
After tracking we proceeded back to 4 Paws to do some “intervention training” or “behavior disruption” This is training the dogs receive in order to intervene when Trapper has his meltdowns. They are taught to place their head in the child's lap if they become agitated or nuzzle them. 
Zion did well with these but he was
pretty tired from tracking earlier in the day. He has also been dealing with a nasty stomach bug, for which he is now on antibiotics so he is not has chipper self most of the time. Hopefully these new meds will help to get him back on course.
Tomorrow we head back to the dreaded mall to do some tracking indoors. Zion handles the mall well but Trapper is another story. Crowds are not his thing and I completely understand his feelings.Wish us luck!
~Written by Rob (Trapper's daddy)
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