3-13-24

 Pole Green Park. Short grass, partly cloudy, minimal wind. 65 degrees when track run

Track 1 - double checking Seren’s handling of more aged track, since no wind today. Track laid @8:15 & aged 2.5hr. When track was ~1.5 hours old, a man & dog walked across 1st leg very close to the start. There may have been other instances, but I didn’t see any other track fouling - didn’t watch the whole time, tho, as watching a track age is rather like watching paint dry. I just like to know what has happened as best I can at this stage of her training. First leg 165yd, with food at 50&125. Then open angle right turn to 80yd 2nd leg, food @ 50. 2nd leg ended in a left turn between woods edge & sand volleyball court. 3rd leg 75yd, food @ 30, ending at glove.

Seren had a good start, but got muddled where track had been walked across. Re-scenting her got her back on track very quickly. Similar behavior at a suspected cross track ~100 yards further on, but this one she dealt with nicely on her own. Smooth sailing from then on. Stellar turns, even the 2nd one in a tough spot. Articles not as nice as I would like - still need to work on that.

Conclusions: I think it is safe to continue to gradually increase age. Cross tracks are harder for this dog on older than on younger tracks. Re-scenting is a valuable handling tool for Seren. Brush up article indication!

Track 2 - Did this while waiting for Track 1 to age. 3 turn track mostly on asphalt. Laid @9:50, aged 20 minutes. All non-vegetated surfaces were sprayed & had a food drop every 5 yards. 1st leg started on short grass & was 77yd total. Food @35. At 67yd crossed over onto asphalt, right turn after 10 more yds. 2nd leg 55yd, totally asphalt, to open angle left turn. 3rd leg 85yd on asphalt, then left turn. 4th leg 12yd on asphalt, then crossed onto gravel, then 35 more yds to glove.

Results - nice article indication & start. No issues with crossing onto asphalt. She overshot all 3 turns by 3-5 feet, perhaps because they were all close to grass at the edge of the asphalt, but regained track easily. Crossing onto gravel was easy, down at last article was not. She continues to remind me to work on articles😂.


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