All you need for tracking is a dog, a harness, a lead, a couple of articles (gloves) and someplace to track, right?

Not so right. Last weekend I went to a tracking seminar in Bertram, Texas, where the presenter was Vince Ramirez, an AKC tracking judge from Kansas. I loaded up my vehicle on Thursday afternoon after work. It took me about 3 hours.

I loaded the wire crate for transportation (Dusty would try to help me drive if he was loose in the vehicle), a mesh crate and pad for when we were inside during the lecture portion of the seminar, a fold-up chair, two first aid kits (one human, one canine), a beach towel, two fleece blankets (silly, I thought, as the temperature was in the 80s at the time, but come Sunday morning when it was 37 degrees with a 30-mph wind, not so silly), a gallon of water for Dusty, two water bottles for me, two canine water bowls (one fold-up, one plastic and non-spillable), dog treats, four leashes, two collars, two bumpers (training items: one white, one orange), a paper towel roll, a box of facial tissues, two Texas maps, my GPS, a portable jump starter, a vehicle sun visor/reflector, and three flashlights.

In “dog mode,” already somewhat unpacked.

I haven’t even started listing the tracking gear yet. That includes two tracking harnesses, three 40-foot tracking lines, four equipment bags (two wearable when tracking, two larger ones for storing the tracking gear in the vehicle), two 2-gallon bags of articles (gloves, socks, leather pieces, potholders, dishrags, wallets, etc.), a spray bottle for a spritz immediately before starting the track, poop bags (always clean up after your dog!), and surveyor flags.

There was hardly any room left for my stuff: gloves for me to wear when on the track, a vest, three hats, a sweatshirt hoodie, two jackets and one knee-length coat, an extra pair of hiking boots, extra socks, running shoes, my Frogg Togg rain gear, two golf-sized umbrellas, knee-high wading boots, snake-proof gaiters, two pencils, three pens, my camera, and a clipboard with lined paper, blank paper and waterproof paper. Oh, and snacks and lunch.

I need a smaller dog or a bigger vehicle.