Phase 7 is structured to introduce the dog to older tracks in the 30 to 75 minute range while giving the dog and handler to become more familiar with TD and TDU tracks.
One quarter of the sessions have two U-shaped tracks which are run in the opposite order that they are laid. They are run at progressively older ages and the corners are marked so the handler knows exactly where the track is located in case the dog has problems as the tracks ages.
Other tracks are TD-like, TDU-like, and tracks with intentional contamination at the start and near the corners.
One quarter of the sessions have two U-shaped tracks which are run in the opposite order that they are laid. They are run at progressively older ages and the corners are marked so the handler knows exactly where the track is located in case the dog has problems as the tracks ages.
Other tracks are TD-like, TDU-like, and tracks with intentional contamination at the start and near the corners.
Session 7.1 Two U-Tracks Aged 20 & 35 minutes.
Gretzky was wild on the 7.1.1 start and first leg as the wind was quartering in his face and he seemed to want to track 10-15' downwind of it. I used tension and raising my arm to try to keep him closer to the track, and he settled down nicely as he got to the corner and stayed closer for the remainder of the legs. He tracked confidently and made both corners easily. The last leg went onto and then off of a cow path and he handled it nicely.
On the older 7.1.2 track, he was a little less confident. On the first upwind leg, he stayed close to the track. At the first corner, he notices a coyote pee post, over-marks it, but then stays focused on the scents in the area. He spite of that distraction, he knows right where the next leg is and commits to it easily. The next corner is near a down log which provides him a visual distraction for a moment.
7.1.1 (20 minutes) 7.1.2 (35 minutes)
Gretzky was wild on the 7.1.1 start and first leg as the wind was quartering in his face and he seemed to want to track 10-15' downwind of it. I used tension and raising my arm to try to keep him closer to the track, and he settled down nicely as he got to the corner and stayed closer for the remainder of the legs. He tracked confidently and made both corners easily. The last leg went onto and then off of a cow path and he handled it nicely.
On the older 7.1.2 track, he was a little less confident. On the first upwind leg, he stayed close to the track. At the first corner, he notices a coyote pee post, over-marks it, but then stays focused on the scents in the area. He spite of that distraction, he knows right where the next leg is and commits to it easily. The next corner is near a down log which provides him a visual distraction for a moment.
7.1.1 (20 minutes) 7.1.2 (35 minutes)
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Session 7.2 Natural Field Full TD Complexity
It was late afternoon when I finally got to the field to lay this track and the sun would set while I aged it the required 30 minutes. It had rained heavily that day and just recently turned into a mist, so the field was wet, even wetter than I had expected when I started to lay the track. I used street and house-lights as landmarks because I knew it would be dusky when we ran it. As I laid the second leg, I could see a broad puddle on my left some 30 yards away so I made the corner so I could just skim the puddle. It turned out the 6" deep puddle was much broader than I could see from the second leg and so the third leg was very wet. I knew Gretzky would need to learn to track through water up to his belly or so, and so I did not abandon the track - but I did expect to have to help him.
Because of the heavy clouds, it was a dark twilight when we ran the track. Gretzky started out confidently and tracked right up to the start of the puddle on the third leg. He found his way the first 20+ yards in the wet by hopping from grass hump to grass hump near the track. When he came to the broad 10-yards of deeper water, the only grass humps were too far to the side of the track and he lost confidence. I helped him walk through the puddle until there were more grass humps and he started to pick it up again. The corner in this wet area with grass humps was challenging but he got the general direction but not a good line on the next leg. By now it was pretty dark, and the house light I had thought was unique 30 minutes ago was hidden in amongst numerous additional neighbors who now had their lights on. But we stumbled in the general direction until he cut the corner and intersected the last leg - at last he was back in confidence tracking mode and easily found the glove.
Gretzky will need more experience with wet underwater tracks -- I am sure there will more opportunities in the coming days and weeks.
It was late afternoon when I finally got to the field to lay this track and the sun would set while I aged it the required 30 minutes. It had rained heavily that day and just recently turned into a mist, so the field was wet, even wetter than I had expected when I started to lay the track. I used street and house-lights as landmarks because I knew it would be dusky when we ran it. As I laid the second leg, I could see a broad puddle on my left some 30 yards away so I made the corner so I could just skim the puddle. It turned out the 6" deep puddle was much broader than I could see from the second leg and so the third leg was very wet. I knew Gretzky would need to learn to track through water up to his belly or so, and so I did not abandon the track - but I did expect to have to help him.
Because of the heavy clouds, it was a dark twilight when we ran the track. Gretzky started out confidently and tracked right up to the start of the puddle on the third leg. He found his way the first 20+ yards in the wet by hopping from grass hump to grass hump near the track. When he came to the broad 10-yards of deeper water, the only grass humps were too far to the side of the track and he lost confidence. I helped him walk through the puddle until there were more grass humps and he started to pick it up again. The corner in this wet area with grass humps was challenging but he got the general direction but not a good line on the next leg. By now it was pretty dark, and the house light I had thought was unique 30 minutes ago was hidden in amongst numerous additional neighbors who now had their lights on. But we stumbled in the general direction until he cut the corner and intersected the last leg - at last he was back in confidence tracking mode and easily found the glove.
Gretzky will need more experience with wet underwater tracks -- I am sure there will more opportunities in the coming days and weeks.
7.3 Urban Lawn Intentional Contamination
A friend laid a simple 4-corner track in a soccer field with the last turn an open turn. Since this would be Gretzky's first official start & corner with intentional contamination (I had done one earlier by mistake), I contaminated 5 yards past the start and then sliced the first and third corners and bisected the second and fourth. I also crossed each leg in the middle. It was aged about 20 minutes.
Gretzky was distracted by some natural dog contamination right at the start and then tried to commit to my contamination. After restraining him twice and with a little encouragement from me, he agreed to follow the track. A school bus dislodged lots of screaming kids at the far side of the field which distracted him on the first leg. And then shortly before reaching the first corner, he saw a small dog being walked on lead ahead of him and wanted to go play with some considerable and mindless enthusiasm. Restraining him on a short lead until the dog walkers disappeared, he needed help starting at the corner and choosing the good track. He became distracted on the second corner when the dog walker reappeared but after a minute or two to let them go on, he was able to get back to work. The third corner went well - he noticed the contamination but choose the good track. And the last corner was easy as he did not pay attention to the contamination.
A friend laid a simple 4-corner track in a soccer field with the last turn an open turn. Since this would be Gretzky's first official start & corner with intentional contamination (I had done one earlier by mistake), I contaminated 5 yards past the start and then sliced the first and third corners and bisected the second and fourth. I also crossed each leg in the middle. It was aged about 20 minutes.
Gretzky was distracted by some natural dog contamination right at the start and then tried to commit to my contamination. After restraining him twice and with a little encouragement from me, he agreed to follow the track. A school bus dislodged lots of screaming kids at the far side of the field which distracted him on the first leg. And then shortly before reaching the first corner, he saw a small dog being walked on lead ahead of him and wanted to go play with some considerable and mindless enthusiasm. Restraining him on a short lead until the dog walkers disappeared, he needed help starting at the corner and choosing the good track. He became distracted on the second corner when the dog walker reappeared but after a minute or two to let them go on, he was able to get back to work. The third corner went well - he noticed the contamination but choose the good track. And the last corner was easy as he did not pay attention to the contamination.
Session 7.4 Urban Lawn TDU-Like Track
A Saturday afternoon track so the campus was pretty quiet but there had been numerous dog walkers crisscrossing everywhere so there was plenty of natural contamination. The track had three "right-angle" corners and three bends to stay on the grass.
Gretzky started nicely, searched in the area of the first sidewalk crossing but went on and found the article. Restarting, he diagonal crossed the sidewalk and ended up cutting the first corner by intercepting the second leg. He was true to the track with numerous excursions to investigate doggie contamination as it wrapped around the building. When he reached the wide driveway of the parking lot, he searched on the hard surface quite a bit so I made it easy for him to find the far side and the track beyond.
A Saturday afternoon track so the campus was pretty quiet but there had been numerous dog walkers crisscrossing everywhere so there was plenty of natural contamination. The track had three "right-angle" corners and three bends to stay on the grass.
Gretzky started nicely, searched in the area of the first sidewalk crossing but went on and found the article. Restarting, he diagonal crossed the sidewalk and ended up cutting the first corner by intercepting the second leg. He was true to the track with numerous excursions to investigate doggie contamination as it wrapped around the building. When he reached the wide driveway of the parking lot, he searched on the hard surface quite a bit so I made it easy for him to find the far side and the track beyond.
Session 7.5 Aging with two U-shaped tracks.
Natural field with two U-shaped tracks with the tracks run in the opposite order to when they were laid. The first-run track had two right turns was run at 30 minutes and the second-run track has two left turns and was run at 45 minutes.
The first-run track had some water on the second leg and is pictured below. Gretzky had a good confident start (upper left photo) and stayed close to the track the whole leg. When he curled off shortly after the first corner, he searched widely to the right, then left and then back to the right where he circled enough to intercept leg 2 and stick his nose on a footprint (picture on upper right). Halfway along the second leg he ran into the water 2-3" deep and was reluctant to enter it. I helped him (lower left picture) and he got a much appreciated hotdog on the other side. He search on the second corner and committed nicely to the last leg and stayed with it until the glove (lower right photo).
The second-run track was about 45 minutes old when he ran it. He was confident on each leg, circled out at 20-30' and committed to the new leg as soon as he intercepted it.
Natural field with two U-shaped tracks with the tracks run in the opposite order to when they were laid. The first-run track had two right turns was run at 30 minutes and the second-run track has two left turns and was run at 45 minutes.
The first-run track had some water on the second leg and is pictured below. Gretzky had a good confident start (upper left photo) and stayed close to the track the whole leg. When he curled off shortly after the first corner, he searched widely to the right, then left and then back to the right where he circled enough to intercept leg 2 and stick his nose on a footprint (picture on upper right). Halfway along the second leg he ran into the water 2-3" deep and was reluctant to enter it. I helped him (lower left picture) and he got a much appreciated hotdog on the other side. He search on the second corner and committed nicely to the last leg and stayed with it until the glove (lower right photo).
The second-run track was about 45 minutes old when he ran it. He was confident on each leg, circled out at 20-30' and committed to the new leg as soon as he intercepted it.
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Session 7.6 Natural Field TD-like
I utilized a fairly narrow pasture field to put in a TD-like track for Gretzky which we aged about 40 minutes in cool sunny weather with 5-10 mph winds. Because of the field shape and its access points, the track had 5 turns and several legs were fairly short (60 yards) but the total was right about 440.
Gretzky started fine, lost scent at the first corner and circled right into a puddle (he might be thinking I always go through puddles) which he skirted and came around to the second leg and committed. Second corner was quite similar. Shortly before the third corner, he became quite distracted by coyote pee-posts as well as some of their howling coming from a distant woods. I encouraged him forward and he overshot the corner without being fully focused on the track, searched in that area until I backed up near the fourth leg. He remained largely focused on coyote smells as I encouraged him along that leg. Once he got to the fifth leg, he was able to refocus on the track and finished the last two legs nicely.
Gretzky will be taking the week off to show in the conformation ring - handsome dude that he is.
I utilized a fairly narrow pasture field to put in a TD-like track for Gretzky which we aged about 40 minutes in cool sunny weather with 5-10 mph winds. Because of the field shape and its access points, the track had 5 turns and several legs were fairly short (60 yards) but the total was right about 440.
Gretzky started fine, lost scent at the first corner and circled right into a puddle (he might be thinking I always go through puddles) which he skirted and came around to the second leg and committed. Second corner was quite similar. Shortly before the third corner, he became quite distracted by coyote pee-posts as well as some of their howling coming from a distant woods. I encouraged him forward and he overshot the corner without being fully focused on the track, searched in that area until I backed up near the fourth leg. He remained largely focused on coyote smells as I encouraged him along that leg. Once he got to the fifth leg, he was able to refocus on the track and finished the last two legs nicely.
Gretzky will be taking the week off to show in the conformation ring - handsome dude that he is.
Session 7.8 Simple TDU track 35 minutes old.
There is plenty of natural contamination on our urban tracks and Gretzky's big issue for urban is distractions like dog's walking within sight, so I skipped 7.7. So while I am focused on field tracks, I don't want to put Gretzky's urban tracking on hold; the compromise is to skip the intentional contamination tracks for a while and work on the urban distractions.
Gretzky started nicely but immediately veered off to visit a pee-post so got a "Eck!" and was restrained from fully visiting the post. He went back to work (good) but was soon pulling off to the next tree in the long row of trees to the left of the first leg. He got back to work when restrained. That pattern continued along most of the first leg but it required less and less from me to dissuade him from visiting the pee-post trees.
Three trees before the first corner, a woman and her off-leash but well-behaved dog emerged into view near the building on leg 2. Gretzky wildly wanted to visit the dog trying to gallop even though I kept him from moving with a taut line. As the couple moved on, Gretzky was able to get back to work, sorted out the corner, and was just committing to leg 2 when the woman and dog reappeared to pick-up some poop they had left behind. So we waited with Gretzky galloping in place until they left and Gretzky could get back to work. Good article.
The track went onto the concrete sidewalk along the wide of the building and Gretzky tracked along the side of the sidewalk. Good loss-of-scent at the next corner, some searching but not systematic, and then committed to leg 3 on the sidewalk about 3' to the side of the lawn track. The article did not attract Gretzky until I restrained him near it but we had a good party anyways. The roadway crossing was done well. In the narrow gap between the trees he got distracted by pee-posts nearby but then settled into the track nicely. After loosing the scent at the last corner, he got distracted by another dog walker about 50 yards beyond that leg. But he was able to go back to work with just verbal encouragement and worked his way the last 50 yards to the glove.
There is plenty of natural contamination on our urban tracks and Gretzky's big issue for urban is distractions like dog's walking within sight, so I skipped 7.7. So while I am focused on field tracks, I don't want to put Gretzky's urban tracking on hold; the compromise is to skip the intentional contamination tracks for a while and work on the urban distractions.
Gretzky started nicely but immediately veered off to visit a pee-post so got a "Eck!" and was restrained from fully visiting the post. He went back to work (good) but was soon pulling off to the next tree in the long row of trees to the left of the first leg. He got back to work when restrained. That pattern continued along most of the first leg but it required less and less from me to dissuade him from visiting the pee-post trees.
Three trees before the first corner, a woman and her off-leash but well-behaved dog emerged into view near the building on leg 2. Gretzky wildly wanted to visit the dog trying to gallop even though I kept him from moving with a taut line. As the couple moved on, Gretzky was able to get back to work, sorted out the corner, and was just committing to leg 2 when the woman and dog reappeared to pick-up some poop they had left behind. So we waited with Gretzky galloping in place until they left and Gretzky could get back to work. Good article.
The track went onto the concrete sidewalk along the wide of the building and Gretzky tracked along the side of the sidewalk. Good loss-of-scent at the next corner, some searching but not systematic, and then committed to leg 3 on the sidewalk about 3' to the side of the lawn track. The article did not attract Gretzky until I restrained him near it but we had a good party anyways. The roadway crossing was done well. In the narrow gap between the trees he got distracted by pee-posts nearby but then settled into the track nicely. After loosing the scent at the last corner, he got distracted by another dog walker about 50 yards beyond that leg. But he was able to go back to work with just verbal encouragement and worked his way the last 50 yards to the glove.
Session 7.9 Natural Field Two U-Shaped Tracks Aged 40 & 55 minutes.
Very windy (20-30 mph), 42, raining. The cover was silage which had been cut at the end of the fall growing season and then manured, so it was still pretty muddy between the low sparse clumps of grass. No treats on the first leg, then 1 on the second and two on the third. Wind was from left to right. In this cool wet weather, the track scent does not get as faint as quickly as in warmer-dryer seasons. So he will need ongoing aging work later this spring.
7.9.1. (40 minutes) Gretzky started nicely although he was looking around at something upwind in the distance. In spite of this multitasking, he detected loss-of-scent shortly after the corner and circled around and committed to the new leg confidentiality. This was a downwind leg, and he marched right past the corner with no obvious change of behavior; I followed him even though I knew we were past it. I was 35-40 yards beyond the corner before he broke off and started to search. He was quick to circle back to me and a little behind (closer to the corner) but wasn’t able to keep going before he found something (coyote tracks?) that he committed to. Once restrained, I encouraged him back as he circled and he committed on the last leg but 5-15’ downwind of it; he came up to the glove nicely. So he needs more work on corners at the end of downwind legs and staying close to crosswind legs.
7.9.2 (55 minutes). Gretzky was very distracted by a smelly manure pile about 10' from his start; it took some verbal encouragement and patience to work the first 30 yards of the track; but then he settled down and focused mostly on the track. He did get distracted by a hawk who was perched in the bushes near the second corner but once it flew away, he was able to work. When finding the upwind leg 2, he was reluctant to commit to it but finally did settle on it. He did work both leg 1 and 3 to the downwind side of the track but stayed close enough.
Very windy (20-30 mph), 42, raining. The cover was silage which had been cut at the end of the fall growing season and then manured, so it was still pretty muddy between the low sparse clumps of grass. No treats on the first leg, then 1 on the second and two on the third. Wind was from left to right. In this cool wet weather, the track scent does not get as faint as quickly as in warmer-dryer seasons. So he will need ongoing aging work later this spring.
7.9.1. (40 minutes) Gretzky started nicely although he was looking around at something upwind in the distance. In spite of this multitasking, he detected loss-of-scent shortly after the corner and circled around and committed to the new leg confidentiality. This was a downwind leg, and he marched right past the corner with no obvious change of behavior; I followed him even though I knew we were past it. I was 35-40 yards beyond the corner before he broke off and started to search. He was quick to circle back to me and a little behind (closer to the corner) but wasn’t able to keep going before he found something (coyote tracks?) that he committed to. Once restrained, I encouraged him back as he circled and he committed on the last leg but 5-15’ downwind of it; he came up to the glove nicely. So he needs more work on corners at the end of downwind legs and staying close to crosswind legs.
7.9.2 (55 minutes). Gretzky was very distracted by a smelly manure pile about 10' from his start; it took some verbal encouragement and patience to work the first 30 yards of the track; but then he settled down and focused mostly on the track. He did get distracted by a hawk who was perched in the bushes near the second corner but once it flew away, he was able to work. When finding the upwind leg 2, he was reluctant to commit to it but finally did settle on it. He did work both leg 1 and 3 to the downwind side of the track but stayed close enough.
Session 7.10 Natural Field TD-Like Track
Some wind, cloudy, cold. Silage grass had a little spring to it because of the warmer days we had last week but was still basically dormant. Wind was straight down the first and third legs to allow us to practice downwind corners. Gretzky got a good start and stayed close to the track ignoring the barking dog in the distance. Showed loss of scent right after the corner, circled and committed about 10' downwind of the second leg and tended to allow himself to get pushed further downwind - so he missed the hotdog treat in the middle of the leg and crossed the third leg about 25' to the side of the corner. He circled up to the right and then back to the left and then tracked close to the bank next to the road so he was diverging from the track but still had some fringe to work with there. I restrained him which made him search again and he found the third leg angle this time and stayed close to the track finding the two hotdog treats along that leg. He showed loss of scent at the third corner, circled quickly to the left and picked up leg 4 but again downwind. So I used tension to keep him closer to the leg. He found the last corner and headed upwind nicely on the last leg. The two barking dogs were straight ahead but across the street; he noticed them but stayed focused on the track all the way to the glove.
During the track he coughed several times and did so more on the ride home. He picked up kennel cough at the Portland shows where he earned his first major in conformation. He is now restricted to home for a while until he is no longer contagious. His coughing got worse for a couple of days and has mostly reduced to just a slight cough now so I am sure he will be fine.
Some wind, cloudy, cold. Silage grass had a little spring to it because of the warmer days we had last week but was still basically dormant. Wind was straight down the first and third legs to allow us to practice downwind corners. Gretzky got a good start and stayed close to the track ignoring the barking dog in the distance. Showed loss of scent right after the corner, circled and committed about 10' downwind of the second leg and tended to allow himself to get pushed further downwind - so he missed the hotdog treat in the middle of the leg and crossed the third leg about 25' to the side of the corner. He circled up to the right and then back to the left and then tracked close to the bank next to the road so he was diverging from the track but still had some fringe to work with there. I restrained him which made him search again and he found the third leg angle this time and stayed close to the track finding the two hotdog treats along that leg. He showed loss of scent at the third corner, circled quickly to the left and picked up leg 4 but again downwind. So I used tension to keep him closer to the leg. He found the last corner and headed upwind nicely on the last leg. The two barking dogs were straight ahead but across the street; he noticed them but stayed focused on the track all the way to the glove.
During the track he coughed several times and did so more on the ride home. He picked up kennel cough at the Portland shows where he earned his first major in conformation. He is now restricted to home for a while until he is no longer contagious. His coughing got worse for a couple of days and has mostly reduced to just a slight cough now so I am sure he will be fine.
Session 7.15 Natural Field TD-Like
It was a moderately warm day (48) with little wind, quite cloudy and the ground is very wet. The track was aged 60 minutes. I put it in myself since I want to be able to help him if there are problems - he has needed a little help on his previous 2 sessions. Also he had been resting getting over kennel cough so his antibiotics might effect his sense of smell. I also put down intermediate articles because I had forgotten to bring along treats when I laid it. Some combination of track age and antibiotic affects may have suppressed his scenting but not too much.
He started nicely but got distracted midway to the directional flag. He got back to task and continued down the track which was downhill. He seemed to notice the change in scent right after the corner but was wild searching for a while before settling down and tracking the second leg downslope of it about 10'. He overshot corner 2 so I stopped close to the corner myself. He got quite wild and playful searching and then came into me so I re-scented him. He followed the third leg nicely and found the article to earn his treats and some playtime. Then he was off down the track and immediately went into wild play-mode at the third corner. After a while when I would not let him go helter-skelter everywhere, he came in for a re-scent and worked things out. Good article indication on the fourth leg. At the last corner, he searched diligently and quickly found the last leg which he followed diligently to the final glove.
I think the playing at the corner is exuberance from not getting to do much the past week. But it was made worse because he needed to concentrate to follow the hour old scent. I should put in a 20-30 minute old track next time and see if he can focus more and commit more quickly.
It was a moderately warm day (48) with little wind, quite cloudy and the ground is very wet. The track was aged 60 minutes. I put it in myself since I want to be able to help him if there are problems - he has needed a little help on his previous 2 sessions. Also he had been resting getting over kennel cough so his antibiotics might effect his sense of smell. I also put down intermediate articles because I had forgotten to bring along treats when I laid it. Some combination of track age and antibiotic affects may have suppressed his scenting but not too much.
He started nicely but got distracted midway to the directional flag. He got back to task and continued down the track which was downhill. He seemed to notice the change in scent right after the corner but was wild searching for a while before settling down and tracking the second leg downslope of it about 10'. He overshot corner 2 so I stopped close to the corner myself. He got quite wild and playful searching and then came into me so I re-scented him. He followed the third leg nicely and found the article to earn his treats and some playtime. Then he was off down the track and immediately went into wild play-mode at the third corner. After a while when I would not let him go helter-skelter everywhere, he came in for a re-scent and worked things out. Good article indication on the fourth leg. At the last corner, he searched diligently and quickly found the last leg which he followed diligently to the final glove.
I think the playing at the corner is exuberance from not getting to do much the past week. But it was made worse because he needed to concentrate to follow the hour old scent. I should put in a 20-30 minute old track next time and see if he can focus more and commit more quickly.
Session 7.15 Extra Motivation
This is an extra session inserted in the normal progress because I was concerned that the older track on 7.15 had been stressful for him. This was in the same field, but aged only 40 minutes. I had originally laid a track like this 4 days ago, but when I went to get Gretzky who had been playing with his sister Sonya, he was favoring his left front leg (apparently his play with Sonya had been too rambunctious). So Twizzle got to run that one for fun and now he had his chance at it.
There was one hotdog mid-leg on legs 1 and 2 and two on legs 3 & 4 and three one leg 5 to help with the motivation. Gretzky started nicely and confidently although he wanted to be down-breeze of the cross-wind leg. He gave a clear change of scent indication just past the corner, circled widely and fell into the downwind leg 2 with confidence. Corner 3 was similar although he again wanted to be downwind of leg 3. While not obvious on the Google Earth picture, the third corner was sliced by a wide cow path about 15 yards from the corner. He shifted to the cow path, cut the corner, and nailed the fourth leg as he crossed it. Good circling on the last corner and a confident finish on the last leg. This was a big success as a motivational track.
This is an extra session inserted in the normal progress because I was concerned that the older track on 7.15 had been stressful for him. This was in the same field, but aged only 40 minutes. I had originally laid a track like this 4 days ago, but when I went to get Gretzky who had been playing with his sister Sonya, he was favoring his left front leg (apparently his play with Sonya had been too rambunctious). So Twizzle got to run that one for fun and now he had his chance at it.
There was one hotdog mid-leg on legs 1 and 2 and two on legs 3 & 4 and three one leg 5 to help with the motivation. Gretzky started nicely and confidently although he wanted to be down-breeze of the cross-wind leg. He gave a clear change of scent indication just past the corner, circled widely and fell into the downwind leg 2 with confidence. Corner 3 was similar although he again wanted to be downwind of leg 3. While not obvious on the Google Earth picture, the third corner was sliced by a wide cow path about 15 yards from the corner. He shifted to the cow path, cut the corner, and nailed the fourth leg as he crossed it. Good circling on the last corner and a confident finish on the last leg. This was a big success as a motivational track.
Session 7.15 Extra Session #2
I planned to try to get certified the next day and wanted Gretzky to have some experience in pasture fields like what the judge might choose to lay his certification track. The grass is taller and clumpier in the pasture field compared to the silage fields and that can cause scent pocketing and create channels for scent to flow away from the track. Also, there are loud barky dogs nearby. While his certification track (see separate post) was on a silage field, it was a good experience for him. There were treats on all legs except the first. Also there was quite a bit of water in the field, although I avoided it except for the last half of the last leg which was wet but not deep. Also I used clippies to mark 10 yards before each corner.
Gretzky was very distracted by the barking dogs as we approached the start flag. I gave him time to acclimate, but he was pretty determined to run over to the fenced dogs 50 yards behind him and have a big play. Anyways, he did start but stopped frequently on the first half of the first leg to look back at the dogs. Finally, he settled down with my ongoing reassurance that he should go back to the track and that he could find it. At the first corner, he circled in a distracted way, both by the still barking dogs and some geese who choose to fly over the field at a low altitude. But he finally got down to business, found the second leg, and was off with renewed confidence although a couple of bouts of distractions.
The secondcorner was a straightforward circle twice and commit to the new leg. When that leg converged with a well-beaten-down pathway from an old track, he recognized a change of scent and had to investigate before finally deciding it was OK to follow the beaten-down path. The third corner was overshot but he worked his way back to it and was off with the most confidence of the day. The last corner was open and he found the new leg quickly. As he tracked into the 2-3" very-cold water, he slowed way down and casted from side to side to find shallower spots and better scent, but stayed close to the track and found the glove.
Nice job for an almost 11-month-old Westie. I particularly liked that I could get him to track with the high level of distractions behind him at the start. I think he learned that it was good to believe me when I asked him to go back to the track even when the distractions would be so very much fun. There would be distractions on his first and second legs of his certification try the next day.
I planned to try to get certified the next day and wanted Gretzky to have some experience in pasture fields like what the judge might choose to lay his certification track. The grass is taller and clumpier in the pasture field compared to the silage fields and that can cause scent pocketing and create channels for scent to flow away from the track. Also, there are loud barky dogs nearby. While his certification track (see separate post) was on a silage field, it was a good experience for him. There were treats on all legs except the first. Also there was quite a bit of water in the field, although I avoided it except for the last half of the last leg which was wet but not deep. Also I used clippies to mark 10 yards before each corner.
Gretzky was very distracted by the barking dogs as we approached the start flag. I gave him time to acclimate, but he was pretty determined to run over to the fenced dogs 50 yards behind him and have a big play. Anyways, he did start but stopped frequently on the first half of the first leg to look back at the dogs. Finally, he settled down with my ongoing reassurance that he should go back to the track and that he could find it. At the first corner, he circled in a distracted way, both by the still barking dogs and some geese who choose to fly over the field at a low altitude. But he finally got down to business, found the second leg, and was off with renewed confidence although a couple of bouts of distractions.
The secondcorner was a straightforward circle twice and commit to the new leg. When that leg converged with a well-beaten-down pathway from an old track, he recognized a change of scent and had to investigate before finally deciding it was OK to follow the beaten-down path. The third corner was overshot but he worked his way back to it and was off with the most confidence of the day. The last corner was open and he found the new leg quickly. As he tracked into the 2-3" very-cold water, he slowed way down and casted from side to side to find shallower spots and better scent, but stayed close to the track and found the glove.
Nice job for an almost 11-month-old Westie. I particularly liked that I could get him to track with the high level of distractions behind him at the start. I think he learned that it was good to believe me when I asked him to go back to the track even when the distractions would be so very much fun. There would be distractions on his first and second legs of his certification try the next day.
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