6-7-25
Atlee High School. Seren did a short, two turn track. Challenges included sloping ground which had been recently walked all over by dogs & people, very warm weather, & a little more age than we have done recently (90min)
I thought things went quite well, but now we have video so can get other opinions.
link to video: https://youtu.be/QcYDHd3tcMs?feature=shared
Dylan also had a 2 turn track. 1st 2 legs ended up longer than planned. Planned challenges included passing thru line of trees, & heat. Unplanned challenges were extensive dog/human traffic over area, before track was laid, & a ditch right after 2nd tree line crossing.
The tree line did require some problem solving skills for an adolescent male, but he handled it. I’m very pleased that he is happy to drink water on the track
link to video: https://youtu.be/G6yJmKUiUAc?
feature=shared
Seren: Nice start, nice LOS at first turn. At 1:38 (after first turn) she investigates to the right, which is fine. I think in a test that might confuse you, so perhaps either allow a little (!) line out, or ask for a little tug/pressure so she clearly tells you which way the track goes. At 2:08, she clearly looks right, but goes on ahead. What would happen if you applied a little pressure there? I’m fairly certain that was her indicating the track…and I’d like to see her investigate it a bit more. And then, she has a significant crisis of confidence—she kinda checks left (but not really), stares, returns to where she initially showed you the turn…takes it—with less confidence that prior to that turn. Rather than scuffing in and out of the turn, maybe try scuffing in, walk 3 paces out, and then scuff—perhaps that will allow the track to tell her “yes, it’s here!”
ReplyDeleteYou’re right, her checking right (1:38)would have confused me on a blind track. At a test I would have let out more line, & would have had more out to begin with, but today I just had a 10’ line. I did take the looking right (2:08) as a turn indication, since I knew the turn was there. I like the idea of scuffing 3 steps after turn - will try that next time.
DeleteI have on occasion played with more pressure on the line, but it’s an extremely delicate balance with her
Dylan: Nice first leg; at the first turn, it feels like you kept walking after he gave LOS. He’s arrow straight when on track, so I think you might want to respond when he breaks off that straight path. At three minutes, he’s clearly finding it hard. Great decision to water him! After the water, he’s still struggling, so I might think about shortening way up, and take him a couple of steps past the hard spot (short grass, probably contaminated), so he can find the track and learn it’s there. Any sort of quitting (sitting and staring, scratching, lying down etc) makes me move up and push a little to get them to a point of success—and I’m probably finding the start article in my pocket and thinking about using it.
ReplyDeleteI like what you did with the tree line, interesting, the hard crossing was first, and the easy one second. An argument can be made for either approach. I would say (as you admitted) the track was too long. If you want to work the tree line, I’d tend to put in 2 Ls, and since he’s a boy, I’d probably scuff and drop food through/past the vertical surfaces! Then, he can eat his way through, find the article, and feel powerful—he solved the problem—and then he gets to learn the same thing a second time (laid the same way).
FWIW, even now, I put a lot of thought into tracks around scent posts, and tend to scuff past them with food drops, and an article or jackpot on the far side. They don’t seem to outgrow that….although setting a rule of no marking when in harness seems to help.
He’s a nice tracking dog!
I did scuff & food thru the tree line, tho that didn’t show up well on the photo of the track map. Also, I moved forward a bit before he did to kind of ‘push’ him when he got stuck. Hard to see that in video as camera was on my head & looking forward rather than at my feet. OK, no marking allowed from now on when dressed for tracking, which in my case means line on harness.
DeleteOk, as to Seren. Not sure, think about this and please share your thoughts. If you had given her more line at 1:38, at this point in her training would that make the decision harder for her? Would she ‘think’ I got more line, this must be it. I’m struggling here….im wondering if giving her line makes her commit, or does she keep searching. Because if she assumes line equals go/correct….that would (over time) destroy her confidence, cuz now she’s not following the scent.
DeleteUgg. I’m not able to verbalize this. I’m wondering if the pressure of making that decision is why she runs out of confidence. If you can figure out what I’m thinking, let me know your thoughts.
I think I know what you are saying, but I don’t know the answer to the question. Also don’t know how to set up the scenario. Will only use 40’ line for her from now on so I have the option of letting out line to see what happens. Maybe some ‘recovering the track’ exercises would be useful - AND they are fun to do
DeleteI’m not crazy about the 40’ line UNLESS you can be very disciplined about staying at 6-10 feet. The goal when she makes a false turn, or shows you the next turn without casting (like in this video), would be to give her 1-2 dog body length of line. If she takes it, stop her, shorten up as she comes back, and silently wait for the correct choice. If it IS the turn, again, just 1-2 dog body lengths, if she’s still on, go with her. This has to be a lot of teamwork and communication, a lot of prior thought as to what ifs etc.
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