Phase 6 is structured to allow the dog to continue to learn about handling corners by removing the flags from the corners, having three corners per track, and making a few of the corners acute while others become obtuse. The acute turn is design to allow the dog and handler to get past the corner so the dog has to circle and search behind the handler. These downwind-downhill acutes are an important learning tool for the dog and should be emphasized so the dog gains a full understanding of how to handle and solve corners.
But most importantly, by removing the flags the handler will need to read her dog and recognize when her dog is on the track, changing behavior because of a corner, searching for the new leg, finding the new leg, and committing to the new leg. Becoming an expert reader and handler does not come instantly, there will be plenty of practice. You always have the tracklayer who can let you know where the track actually goes if the dog and you become confused.
But most importantly, by removing the flags the handler will need to read her dog and recognize when her dog is on the track, changing behavior because of a corner, searching for the new leg, finding the new leg, and committing to the new leg. Becoming an expert reader and handler does not come instantly, there will be plenty of practice. You always have the tracklayer who can let you know where the track actually goes if the dog and you become confused.
Sessions 6.1 & 6.2 - Natural Field Three Corner Tracks.
Session 6.1 is a straight-forward three-corner track which is essentially a short mini-TD track. There is no flags at the corners but the tracklayer can use clippies or haystacks there if she is unsure that she can find the corner herself when following the dog. I laid the track in an open-flat field with good cover and without any marks at the corners; but I did triangulate them well. Gretzky stayed on the track nicely, finding some old contamination interesting in one place but giving up on it easily. At each corner, he noticed loss of scent quickly, searched nearby, and found the new leg quickly.
Session 6.2 is another three-corner track, but this one has one open turn and one 45 degree acute turn. The leg approaching the acute is downwind and downhill to encourage the dog to overshoot the corner. The cover is good but short. Gretzky at 8 months is doing a lot of marking along the track - I did not correct him about it until the last leg.
Gretzky gets a good start and stays close to the track until he misses a tiny treat and has to come back and search for it. After finding it, he is distracted until I remind him to go back to the track. Later on the first leg he is distracted by his house mates barking at him from their runs but does get back to work. A the first corner, he makes a very small circle and then finds and commits to the new leg. This leg is fairly short. As we come over the crest of the hill, he loops to the right and finds the new leg which is downwind. He is tracking nicely on this leg although he does mark when he passes a tuft or two of taller grass. The acute corner is on a short length of steeper slope. He stops when he is 10 feet past the corner which means I am still 10 feet upwind of the corner. After searching optimistically for a little while, he starts to circle right until he comes to the new leg and quickly commits to it. Longer-term, this will help him learn to fully circle at corners. About 25 yards before the glove, he goes off track to mark a tall tuft of grass and I "Ick!" him. He fools around a little before getting back to work and follows the track to the glove.
Session 6.1 is a straight-forward three-corner track which is essentially a short mini-TD track. There is no flags at the corners but the tracklayer can use clippies or haystacks there if she is unsure that she can find the corner herself when following the dog. I laid the track in an open-flat field with good cover and without any marks at the corners; but I did triangulate them well. Gretzky stayed on the track nicely, finding some old contamination interesting in one place but giving up on it easily. At each corner, he noticed loss of scent quickly, searched nearby, and found the new leg quickly.
Session 6.2 is another three-corner track, but this one has one open turn and one 45 degree acute turn. The leg approaching the acute is downwind and downhill to encourage the dog to overshoot the corner. The cover is good but short. Gretzky at 8 months is doing a lot of marking along the track - I did not correct him about it until the last leg.
Gretzky gets a good start and stays close to the track until he misses a tiny treat and has to come back and search for it. After finding it, he is distracted until I remind him to go back to the track. Later on the first leg he is distracted by his house mates barking at him from their runs but does get back to work. A the first corner, he makes a very small circle and then finds and commits to the new leg. This leg is fairly short. As we come over the crest of the hill, he loops to the right and finds the new leg which is downwind. He is tracking nicely on this leg although he does mark when he passes a tuft or two of taller grass. The acute corner is on a short length of steeper slope. He stops when he is 10 feet past the corner which means I am still 10 feet upwind of the corner. After searching optimistically for a little while, he starts to circle right until he comes to the new leg and quickly commits to it. Longer-term, this will help him learn to fully circle at corners. About 25 yards before the glove, he goes off track to mark a tall tuft of grass and I "Ick!" him. He fools around a little before getting back to work and follows the track to the glove.
Sessions 6.3 Urban Lawn Contamination Tracks with Path Crossings.
I laid 6.3 in a somewhat tight area of Everett Community College. It was 305 yards long, had four rather than three corners, natural contamination and included a total of eight transitions crossing six cement sidewalks, a gravel path, and a dirt and plant landscaped area. Cool, damp and windy.
Gretzky had an easy time of the first two legs including two cement sidewalks, a gravel path and landscaped area. He had trouble committing to the third leg since just where he would have committed to it was a sidewalk and that was enough to cause him to continue to circle and search until I took a few steps to make it easier for him. Then halfway down the fourth leg he saw a woman walking a dog about 30 yards to the side and became completely focused on that until the completely disappeared. Then I was able to get him to refocus on the track and he finished it nicely. No Video today.
I laid 6.3 in a somewhat tight area of Everett Community College. It was 305 yards long, had four rather than three corners, natural contamination and included a total of eight transitions crossing six cement sidewalks, a gravel path, and a dirt and plant landscaped area. Cool, damp and windy.
Gretzky had an easy time of the first two legs including two cement sidewalks, a gravel path and landscaped area. He had trouble committing to the third leg since just where he would have committed to it was a sidewalk and that was enough to cause him to continue to circle and search until I took a few steps to make it easier for him. Then halfway down the fourth leg he saw a woman walking a dog about 30 yards to the side and became completely focused on that until the completely disappeared. Then I was able to get him to refocus on the track and he finished it nicely. No Video today.
Session 6.5 & 6.5 Natural Field 3-Turn Tracks.
Session 6.5 Natural Field 3-Turn Track. This silage field was mowed short in the late fall and fertilized with dairy cow manure slurry so was fairly sparse. The ground had frozen overnight and was just beginning to thaw slightly when the tracklayer laid the track. The puddles were still well frozen. The track was laid by Susen who put flags at the corners so I would know where the track was located. Gretzky had no experience on frozen solid ground but had been in frost a time or two. So it took him a minute to explore the track at the start before getting comfortable and following the track. He tracks confidently up until timestamp 3:51 where a slight change of cover causes him to go back and forth - but he works his way across the frozen mud nicely finding some treats along the way. He is wild on the second corner but quickly settles down and commits to the new leg. He makes quick work of the last corner. When he comes to the puddle ice, I encourage him quickly so it becomes a good experience for him.
Session 6.6 Natural Field Track with an Acute Turn. This pasture has a nice slope which is used to make the incoming leg to the acute downhill. There is a very slight breeze making it downwind as well. Thanks for Matt for laying this track without flags on the corners. The cover is quite a bit nicer than the one for 6.5. Gretzky tracks this with impressive confidence. He does notice a coyote contamination track on the first leg (timestamp 1:00) but gives it up on his own. Good change of behavior and quick search on the first corner to a good commitment onto the next leg. The second turn is open which he handles easily. Now he is on the downhill-downwind leg approaching the acute. Two little rocks mark the acute turn which Gretzky sniffs and then finds the new leg. So while I hope he will overshoot the turn, I am of course impressed and happy he stays so close to the track.
Session 6.5 Natural Field 3-Turn Track. This silage field was mowed short in the late fall and fertilized with dairy cow manure slurry so was fairly sparse. The ground had frozen overnight and was just beginning to thaw slightly when the tracklayer laid the track. The puddles were still well frozen. The track was laid by Susen who put flags at the corners so I would know where the track was located. Gretzky had no experience on frozen solid ground but had been in frost a time or two. So it took him a minute to explore the track at the start before getting comfortable and following the track. He tracks confidently up until timestamp 3:51 where a slight change of cover causes him to go back and forth - but he works his way across the frozen mud nicely finding some treats along the way. He is wild on the second corner but quickly settles down and commits to the new leg. He makes quick work of the last corner. When he comes to the puddle ice, I encourage him quickly so it becomes a good experience for him.
Session 6.6 Natural Field Track with an Acute Turn. This pasture has a nice slope which is used to make the incoming leg to the acute downhill. There is a very slight breeze making it downwind as well. Thanks for Matt for laying this track without flags on the corners. The cover is quite a bit nicer than the one for 6.5. Gretzky tracks this with impressive confidence. He does notice a coyote contamination track on the first leg (timestamp 1:00) but gives it up on his own. Good change of behavior and quick search on the first corner to a good commitment onto the next leg. The second turn is open which he handles easily. Now he is on the downhill-downwind leg approaching the acute. Two little rocks mark the acute turn which Gretzky sniffs and then finds the new leg. So while I hope he will overshoot the turn, I am of course impressed and happy he stays so close to the track.
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| Video for 6.5 | Video for 6.6 |
Sessions 6.4 & 6.7 & 6.8 Urban Lawns with Paths & Contamination
Session 6.4 was at Skagit River Park utilizing the south baseball fields with their gravel access walkway. Gretzky was focused and stayed near the track even when crossing the gravel path. He recognized loss of scent (change of scent) shortly after each corner, circled with purpose, and found the new legs with confidence. See left track picture below.
Session 6.7 was a Bakerview Park and crossed the incoming roadway twice. Gretzky sniffed around the start briefly and then found the leg with confidence. As he approached the roadway, he went back and forth on the grass edge before proceeding across. He found one of the tiny treats I left on the road but not the other. He transitioned back to the grass and crossed the berm easily. The corner was at the base of the far side of the berm and 10' from the building. He went all the way to the building before searching and finding the new leg. With the berm on one side and the building on the other, he was in a channel so he overshot the corner by perhaps 20 feet before breaking off. He did a nice job circling up onto the berm, finding the new leg at the crest, and proceeding down the other side and out across the roadway. He crossed the roadway at a small angle but searched on the other side to find the leg and committed a short way to the article. He proceeded along the leg and overshoot the third corner to investigate the tree pee-post about 10' beyond. I eck'ed him, and he circled nicely but around the tree to the right so I moved up to the tree so I could manage the line. When he got to the next leg, he committed and stayed close until he reached the final article. See the middle track picture below.
Session 6.8 was at Shorecrest High School in Seattle utilizing the grass strips in amongst the parking lots. Gretzky was wild at the start I think because three boys were noisily using the skateboards about 50 yards away. But he settled down and stayed fairly close to the track with some small diversions to pee posts. He crossed the sidewalk and the roadway with confidence. The corner was midway between two rows of small trees about 10 yards apart - each of them was apparently an important pee post. He wanted to visit and overmark each but I restrained him before he could get within 5' of each tree. After a while of struggle, he settled down and found the second leg and started to track it. But in a few yards, he started to head to the next trees only to be restrained about 5' away from each in turn. "Back to the track", and when he did a quiet gentle "Good Boy". This repeated for the whole length of the second leg. He lost scent while I stood on the corner, circled around, and found the third leg nicely which was less eventful than the second. Once on the last leg, and right after he crossed the first roadway, a woman and her small dog approached from their walk to a nearby car. Gretzky wanted to visit the dog and so I had to hold him until she had put the dog in her car. Once back on the track, he finished nicely. See the right track picture below.
6.4 6.7 6.8
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Session 6.10 Natural Field Acute. This track was at BP Land (Cherry Point) on a blustery day just above freezing with the wind 20-30 mph. Since the land is hilly, it was a good time and place to put in an downhill-downwind acute. The field had tall grass that was not cut last summer and which was mostly bend over and lying flat or him humps. Since Gretzky had not gotten much past the acute in previous session, I used the acute extension described on MET page 105. Gretzky started out nicely, did a small circle at the first corner and started to pick up speed on the downwind leg. When he got to the acute, he kept going for perhaps 30' so I got all the way past the end of the extension of the acute. He search out there and circled to both sides but not behind me. He then wanted to keep going downwind until I had to restrain him about 40-50' past the corner. He was miffed at me but continued to search and this time did get behind me to the right and circled across the third leg which he noticed but did not commit to. So more circling 360 until he found the third leg again and committed to up slightly downwind of it. He found the rest of the track easy. See picture below.
Session 6.9 Natural Field Minimal TD
This was in a nice silage field with foot-tall green grass mostly bent over and laying on its side. Sunny cold conditions just above freezing with only a very gentle breeze. Gretzky committed nicely and stayed right on the track except for 5-10' diversions to follow two of the deeper ruts in the field. At the first corner, he recognized a change of scent within a body length, bent to the right and followed the next leg 1-2' to the downwind side. The next corner was similar. At the third corner, he overshoot a whole body length, circled to the right and then back to the left about 10' from the corner and committed to that leg with confidence. He picked up speed so I jogged behind him. That allowed him to overshoot the last corner another body length where he head bobbed to the left and then bent to the right and picked up the last leg which he tracked at a fast pace.
This was in a nice silage field with foot-tall green grass mostly bent over and laying on its side. Sunny cold conditions just above freezing with only a very gentle breeze. Gretzky committed nicely and stayed right on the track except for 5-10' diversions to follow two of the deeper ruts in the field. At the first corner, he recognized a change of scent within a body length, bent to the right and followed the next leg 1-2' to the downwind side. The next corner was similar. At the third corner, he overshoot a whole body length, circled to the right and then back to the left about 10' from the corner and committed to that leg with confidence. He picked up speed so I jogged behind him. That allowed him to overshoot the last corner another body length where he head bobbed to the left and then bent to the right and picked up the last leg which he tracked at a fast pace.
Sessions 6.11 & 6.12 Urban Lawns with path crossings and contamination
Session 6.11 was at Twin Rivers Park on a cold late afternoon. The sports field of the park are dog walkers when there are no games on the fields. Frisbee Golfers also cross the fields. Rather than cross the gravel roadway, I choose to cross a sand infield. Gretzky started out well for perhaps 30 feet and then got quite distracted by many doggy contamination. After a few minutes, I used body language and stepping forward to encourage him on. He noticed and rejected several contamination crossings but got hung up on a second area about 20 yards before the first corner. He got past that, searched at the corner while multi-tasking the doggy contamination there but eventually chose the good second leg. About halfway down that leg, one of his treats had fallen into a narrow crack in the soil so he could smell it but not get it. I had put a second drop 5' further on, so I stepped on the crack and he went back to the track and found a treat. The next corner was easy and he was less bothered by the contamination. At the sand infield crossing, he seemed to find the track to the side of where I walked and was not as confident. Once he got to the other side, his confidence returned and he finished strong.
Session 6.12 was an all lawn track on a sports field with less than normal contamination because he had rained heavily until shortly I laid the track. The sun came out and neighborhood dog walkers emerged by the time we ran the track 25 minutes later. He was visually distracted by the distant dog walkers but went back to work fairly quickly. Then on the last leg, he noticed a dog and person walking on the tall dike and the dog was watching him. He was very distracted by that until they had completely passed.
6.11 6.12
Session 6.11 was at Twin Rivers Park on a cold late afternoon. The sports field of the park are dog walkers when there are no games on the fields. Frisbee Golfers also cross the fields. Rather than cross the gravel roadway, I choose to cross a sand infield. Gretzky started out well for perhaps 30 feet and then got quite distracted by many doggy contamination. After a few minutes, I used body language and stepping forward to encourage him on. He noticed and rejected several contamination crossings but got hung up on a second area about 20 yards before the first corner. He got past that, searched at the corner while multi-tasking the doggy contamination there but eventually chose the good second leg. About halfway down that leg, one of his treats had fallen into a narrow crack in the soil so he could smell it but not get it. I had put a second drop 5' further on, so I stepped on the crack and he went back to the track and found a treat. The next corner was easy and he was less bothered by the contamination. At the sand infield crossing, he seemed to find the track to the side of where I walked and was not as confident. Once he got to the other side, his confidence returned and he finished strong.
Session 6.12 was an all lawn track on a sports field with less than normal contamination because he had rained heavily until shortly I laid the track. The sun came out and neighborhood dog walkers emerged by the time we ran the track 25 minutes later. He was visually distracted by the distant dog walkers but went back to work fairly quickly. Then on the last leg, he noticed a dog and person walking on the tall dike and the dog was watching him. He was very distracted by that until they had completely passed.
6.11 6.12
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6.Extra Curbed Island Serpentine
Phases 5 & 6 & 7 do not have any scheduled curbed serpentines. As way of review for Gretzky, I added an extra session since he had lost confidence on the sand infield crossing during 6.11. I utilized a fairly empty park & ride in Kirkland on a Sunday afternoon (while waiting for Twizzle's VST practice track to age). Gretzky took 30 seconds at the first start to sniff around before settling into the long curb along the first leg. Other than repeatedly lifting his leg (other dogs are walked in park & rides), he handled the gaps well needing restraint to give up the wrong side of one island on the first track and one on the second.
Phases 5 & 6 & 7 do not have any scheduled curbed serpentines. As way of review for Gretzky, I added an extra session since he had lost confidence on the sand infield crossing during 6.11. I utilized a fairly empty park & ride in Kirkland on a Sunday afternoon (while waiting for Twizzle's VST practice track to age). Gretzky took 30 seconds at the first start to sniff around before settling into the long curb along the first leg. Other than repeatedly lifting his leg (other dogs are walked in park & rides), he handled the gaps well needing restraint to give up the wrong side of one island on the first track and one on the second.
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