wilderness tracking

[zeddogs]

Anyone know what might have been happening to scent under the following conditions:
temp was 58 degrees, humidity was 98% and the wind was 2 mph.
The dog had an extremely hard time commiting to and remaining on the track.  It had been aged for 2 hours and the ground was quite wet although no puddles or swamp.
Thanks!
Zeddogs

[Supernova]

Maybe wild animals around and left their track? Sometimes it can make it tough for dogs to stay on track if there has been a lot of "wild" going around the place.
Also if the ground is quite wet it makes it harder for the dog while becoming older, especially if it's raining after you done the track. If very wet ground, I would not leave the track to get 2 hours old if I don't want to increase the difficulty level to max, instead track it sooner 1hour or less. Maybe there is someone else here with even better ideas?

Then there is this thing... dogs have their bad days too... maybe this was one for your dog? 

[jdecker]

58 degrees, humidity was 98% and the wind was 2 mph

Here's a thought...headlights in fog. The water droplets scatter the light, making it harder to see rather than easier. At 98% humidity the scent may be diffused, rather than concentrated. Add a light, intermittent wind, especially with topography, and you may have scents heavy in the air, eddying and swaying over the terrain making the track more amorphous than concentrated. For some dogs this can be pretty confusing. Especially those that don't have airscenting as well as footstep tracking in their "toolbox."

I would think that two hours would be ample time for the scent to settle...but sometimes conditions just aren't what they appear to us.? Short of using smoke to test the air currents, it's often hard to get a real feel for what is going on with scent.

Some of my best tracking has been in light rain (for obvious reasons...it keeps everything together and at ground level), and some of my worst has been in muggy conditions (although usually warmer than you had).? I always carry an extra article with me...if the dog is struggling and I'm getting frustrated, the article is tossed down and the track ends on a positive. I'll put the dog up and walk the track alone to pickup my articles.