Monday, March 9, 2009

Ahhh, that was a better track!

My goal this week was to track with Devon three times. I wanted to make them motivational tracks to build her confidence after our difficult track on Saturday. 

I'm very grateful for Daylight Savings Time. I started working and didn't realize how late it was getting until it was 4:45 p.m., and we still needed to do our second 2x2 session and I needed to get that track in. I started the track at 5:15 p.m., and I decided to run it at 7:45 p.m. There would still be enough light at that point and the track was in a lit parking lot.

The track was 358 yards long with 236 yards (66%) non-veg. All but 10 yards of the non-veg was in two large sections separated by 20 yards of grass. I was glad for this expanse of non-veg, because it simulated what Devon struggled with on Saturday. However, I did reward her with veg at the end of the track.

Devon again started very strong. I again brought her up at a 90 degree angle, and she turned immediately into the start. I let her give me a solid pull before I turned and followed. Off the start, she did circle to verify herself, and she wanted to shake but couldn't do it. On the first leg before her first transition onto a concrete sidewalk, she circled a total of three times and finally gave herself a good shake. I'm not really sure what this was about, but it's worth noting.

At the transition, I put some finger touches. Instead of a full hand print, I'm just lightly touching three fingers to the ground in water. Devon put her nose right on this spot and sniffed. She knew where the transition was. However, she continued to work it, double checking other places on the sidewalk where there were cracks that held more scent. I could really hear her snuffling and she was nose down working. 

She transitioned nicely and dropped into the curb along the driveway working a long section of non-veg. She went up onto the sidewalk exactly where I had stepped up and moved into the grass. This was the short 20 yard section that included a turn. She had to check out the drain (she and Zoe love looking down drains), then she moved back to the next transition onto the sidewalk from the grass.

Devon worked this transition very hard, even though she again put her nose right down on the transition spot I had marked with my fingers and chalk. She's definitely not reading the chalk; I know that from Saturday. She is truly finding my finger scent in the water. And just like she showed me on Saturday, she is initially indicating the correct direction but then double checking herself. I need to remember this as I begin to read her for blind tracks.

Finally we went out into the parking lot. This 147 yard long section made angles between islands and went around islands. Devon found her plastic and metal articles very well. I had to re-scent her twice when she got overly engrossed in sniffing the dirt and bushes on the islands. After the re-scent she got right back to work nose down on the pavement.

She worked very well and was quite happy to go into the grass as her reward. She spent just a little time on the transition across the last 10 yards of driveway before finding her glove in the grass 30 yards beyond. As she had before, she put her nose right on the transition spot but worked it to make sure she was right.

This was a very good track. I liked how she worked her transitions and especially how she really snuffled the pavement. She knows to check cracks and curbs to find the best scenting conditions. I believe I accomplished my goal of giving her a confidence building track. In our next session, I will likely increase the total yardage while still maintaining at least a 66% non-veg ratio. I will also try to put a few less spots of extra scent to see how she continues to work transitions and non-veg turns.

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