Last lesson of Tracking 1

For our last lesson, we all set two tracks for our partner's dog. There were two new aspects: (1) This was the first time that someone else set the track for our dog; and (2) this was the first time for a track with two turns.

The first track was aged about 20 minutes. Walter did pretty well with the first two legs, but the second right turn was a challenge. Eventually he did find it. Even though we had some difficulties, I was amazed that the fact of someone else laying the track wasn't an issue for any of the dogs.

The second track was again set by someone else, but this one was fresh and with only one turn. He did fine with the first leg, but the turn was really hard. The wind may have been a factor there.

We finished off with a short straight "track" with four of the instructor's articles. Walter really flunked out on this one! He was going for the track and not even noticing (or at least, not even caring about) the articles. Big contrast from the last time we did this when he stopped to sniff the articles. The grass was much longer this time which might have played a role?

Anyway, it was a really fun course and the instructor was excellent. Our next tracking class opportunity won't be until the fall and I'm not sure if it will fit in my schedule. (Can be hard to fit flyball practice, flyball tournaments, agility practice, agility trials, and now tracking, all into one schedule. Yikes :-) But, I plan to keep up with it a bit by doing the occasional practice track, probably more in the fall though when it's cool enough to leave the dog in the car while setting the track.

Ciao :-)

Practice

Location: field next to other agility field
Weather: dry, a not-too-warm ~20 degrees

Hmm, might not be a great idea to do a track at the end of a long day.

After a longish Sunday, right after an agility practice, did a track with a right turn aged 20 minutes. Didn't go so great; he had trouble picking up the turn. Darn; it was so convenient, setting the track and letting it age while we did agility. Oh well!

Lesson #4

1st: track with left turn, aged 20 minutes. (previously all tacks have been very fresh.) Pretty messy! Once again I got lost out there, and Walter wasn't totally on so this combination left something to be desired! The instructor said not to worry, that it's actually fairly common for newbie handlers to get lost on the track. Yes, the very same track that they themselves set. Common or not, how embarrassing! ;-)

2nd: After we spent a few minutes playing with our dogs and our articles, the instructor laid four of her articles (3 gloves and a hat) on a straight track. One by one, we walked our dogs down the track and when they showed any interest in the article, big play/treat time. I was amazed at how well all of the dogs did with this! Walter overshot a few of the articles by a few steps but turned right back around to sniff them. Played a gentle game of tug with them; he was a bit hesitant about tugging with them which was just as well since I wouldn't want to break someone else's stuff!

3rd: track with right turn, fresh (~5 minutes). This time I paid special attention to the turn! Much better.

Homework: Tracks with a turn (possibly 2 if you're feeling good) and aged. A few straight and fresh tracks too.

Practice and a video

Location: field next to soccer field
Weather: dry and moderately warm

First track: 50 metres straight. Walter overshoots the tug and goes to the flag. I wait for him to come back to find the tug.

Second track: With a right turn. He nails the turn and I can't help but wonder if I'm inadvertently cueing him to it... He finds the toy but doesn't pick it up. To liven up this blog a bit, here's a video! Ok, not the most thrilling video, but it's better than nothing, I hope. :-)

Practice: right turns

Didn't get out for many practices lately due to my elderly cat being quite ill, but thankfully he has amazingly turned a corner and is almost back to normal.

Speaking of turning corners...

Location: Field next to soccer field
Weather: Cool with showers

1st track: 50 steps straight track. Good dog!

2nd track: track with a right turn. Bad human! I only had one flag and I used it to mark the approach to the turn. He nailed the turn but then lost the track a bit. Then, I realized I didn't know exactly where the reward (tug) was. Uh oh. Big mistake on my part! Big no-no! One of the first things we learned was that in the inital stages, it's crucial for the handler to know where the track is. I didn't realize how hard it is to keep your eyes on your dog and your horizon markers all at the same time. Whoops. Sorry Walter. I tried in vain to locate my horizon markers but we had overshot them and, well, it was a great big mess, but just when I was about to pull him off, he found the tug.

3rd track: Determined to not let that happen again, I used a pylon (which was conveniently hanging around the parking lot) to mark the approach to the turn, and used the flag for the end of the track. Much better! He seemed to cast himself around counterclockwise a couple of times at the turn and picked up the track again.

In summary, jeez I seem to make every mistake in the book! On the bright side, learning firsthand from these mistakes I am determined to not make them a second time. :-)

Lesson; right turns

The first track was a 50 metre straight track.

Then, the dogs did their first turns!

90 degrees to the right, two tracks. I'm not too sure how Walter did. It all happens so fast; hard to keep track of everything. Both times however he did eventually find the reward (tug).

Lesson for those who tend to klutziness like me: Before releasing the dog to the track, no matter how excited he is, or, actually, especially if he's really excited, straighten your line first. Otherwise there's a very good chance that you'll end up with the line wrapped around your ankle and your butt on the ground, nevermind possibly startling the heck out of your dog. Fortunately Walter is quite used to me falling behind him thanks to skijoring. :-)

Walter's waiting-for-me-with-partner-while-I-set-his-track manners: today he girly barked a bunch as usual, but at least he's sitting politely while he's barking. By the third track there wasn't much if any barking. Good boy!

Homework: practice tracks with a turn but also keep doing a few straight tracks. Bring an article (e.g. leather, wool, or cotton glove) next week and keep it on person for an hour before the class to get it good and smelly.

Practice: longer track, single laid

Location: Field next to soccer field
Reward: Tug
Weather: Warm, sunny, dry

Single laid two 50-step tracks.

The first one he was totally "on track". :^D

The second one, he couldn't pick it up at all at the start, then the whole way he looked unsure a lot of the time. Eventually he found the tug.

I have no explanation for the difference between the two tracks!

Tracking lesson #2

Weather: 11 degrees, light rain

We did two tracks today. The first was double laid, about 30 steps, but contrary to previous tracks, the dog was held out of sight so couldn't watch it being set. Walter was not quite the calm, mature guy he was last week; instead, today he yapped his fool head off in protest while I was setting the track. Then he went right to business and found his reward, the ball tug.

The second track was set in view of the dogs, about 40 steps but was only single laid. He overshot his toy and went to the flag a couple of metres past it. Once he noticed the toy we had another rousing game of tug.

Definitely he gets a lot more excited by a game of tug than by eating treats, no matter how delicious. Today was the first time he was rewarded with play instead of food so hopefully after a few more tracks he'll get more excited about the actual finding of the toy rather than waiting for me to pick it up and initiate the game.

We did a step counting exercise. For me, 100 metres = about 120 single steps.

Homework: Set longer, single laid tracks, out of sight of the dog.

Practice; new harness

Today Walter bought a harness to be used only for tracking instead of using his seat belt vest harness thing.

Did two 30-pace tracks at different locations in the nearby business park, rewarding with dried liver treats. Nothing new to report.

Practice

Location: field next to agility field
Treats: dried meat

Set two 35-step tracks. He seems to quite like this game as he gets really excited when I take him out of the car and bring him to the start of the track. Then again, he's always in hyper-excited mode when he gets out of the car at any interesting or new destination so who knows.

I'm finding that after he finds and eats his reward, he's all calm and flat, not excited and high like if we had just played tug. Wonder if I should try play as a reward?

Practice

Location: empty field near soccer field

Set a couple of 30-ish step tracks. He was wavering side to side the whole way; could it be because it was very windy? I have no idea. :-)