Devon's adventures in the rally ring

This winter I decided to pursue Devon's Rally Advanced title. I was chairman of a local obedience and rally trial, and I didn't want to be 'bored.' Devon is a very environmentally-aware dog. She tested this way in her puppy test, and Gayle warned me I'd love it for field work and tracking, but it would be difficult for obedience.

As wonderful as Devon is in training, she is very distracted in new environments. She sees the smallest things I never notice, and that nose has gotten her in trouble! At a show and go this fall, she was obsessed with the high jump during and open run thru. She was so obsessed, I could not get her to heel at all even on leash. I decided to try a retrieve and go back to heeling later. As soon as the leash was off, she took off across the ring to the far standard of the high jump - there was a black wheel on the metal jump! I had not even SEEN the wheel, but she did from outside the ring. She had to go see it.

And as I mentioned, that nose gets the best of her, too. Here is her first attempt at Rally Advanced. The off-set figure 8 was 30 feet across the ring, and she had not been in that area at all, but she spied it off the startline and took off to have lunch!


Needless to say when your first run ends in being excused from the ring you have no where else to go but up! And this run became legendary during the weekend, with the judge even telling the utility B competitors about it the next day!

Devon's second trip in the ring earned her first leg with a 92 and a second place. She was better, but I think she was still trying to see if she would get lunch in the ring. She was also very distracted by the chalk in the ring mats. I'm not planning to "fix" this until she earns her VST, because sniffing chalk is something we've encouraged in that sport. But after the disaster of the day before, I was pleased she was with me and tried.



Devon's third trip into the ring came at a local Sibe specialty. It was a very small trial (19 total entries in all 6 classes). I had taken the girls to a show and go in Dayton the night before and got home at midnight, but it was worth it to continue taking Devon to new places.

I tried a new strategy at this trial to take her up to the ring and show her where she would be working. This was a great idea, because when she walked into the ring, she was more focused than I'd seen her in the past. She had a really nice run, with some sniffs and wide turns in the beginning. But she finished strong, showing what a nice working dog she is. Devon earned a 94 and first place for this run.


On May 8, we went to Ft. Wayne for Devon's forth time in the Rally ring. it had been 6 weeks since she'd been in the ring, and we'd done less training in those 6 weeks. I was concerned about how she'd do. I shouldn't have been.

I used the same philosophy of showing her the ring before we went in, and I worked her in that area. This was clearly her best run yet, with only a couple of sniffs. Darn that sniff before the jump causing her 3 points, because she ended up with a nice score of 96 and 3rd place to finish her RA!


I'm really proud of Devon earning her RA. She progressed well with each time in the ring. I feel like we learned a lot about each other, and it gives me good insight into what she'll be like preparing for obedience (which is a long way off).

Devon's first VST test

I think Devon deserves her own post about her first VST test. It was also on Oct. 3 at DeKalb, IL. Devon drew track 7. Devon's track was 686 yards long, with 389 yards of non-veg, or 57%. It was aged 4 hours and 22 minutes. It was warmer when she ran. Her track was in the heart of campus, and there was much more activity from people on her track. Devon was foiled by an evil squirrel at the start of the track. He not only sat directly on the track and teased her from the ground. But then he also jump on a nearby tree about 4 ft. off the ground and chattered at her. He was tormenting and taunting her to come get him. Since this was a university campus, the squirrels were quite bold. Had the squirrel just run up the tree, I'm sure Devon would have gotten back to work. However, the taunting really fried her brain. After much rescenting and the squirrel finally going up the tree, Devon moved on. Unfortunately, she got a double whammy on the distractions. While she was dealing with the evil squirrel, about 10-12 people walked across her first turn. The building on the right is the library and we started the track at 1:37 p.m. on a Sunday; lots of traffic to the library! Devon did search left and I could tell by the lay of the land the track went that way, but Devon was all for the trees where she could do more squirrel hunting. She went forward into the grass and got wrapped around a tree so I had to step into the area after her. Once I was in the grass, it was impossible to work her back and she committed to squirrel hunting under the trees to the right. The purple line is Devon's path and the blue line is the track.

Once back on track, Devon got her brain back after turn 2 when she got into the grass. There she finally committed to a strong track. The orange line indicates a sunken courtyard with gravel and picnic tables and the track when through this area (about 4 steps down). Devon handled this beautifully. After the courtyard, the track went into the grass along this well traveled sidewalk and Devon did a great job picking out her article among the trash littering the area.

The pink line indicates a concrete bridge over the creek, and the track when up across that. Devon once again handled this like a charm. She investigated the base of the stairs and below the bridge before popping right back up and across the bridge. I'm sure both the courtyard and bridge would have scared most folks, but Devon has done these things in practice tracks. I'm sure once she realized the scent was drifting down off the bridge, she went, "hey I know this one!"

I was really thrilled with Devon's MOT and the article right before it was great. Devon shot past it but only by 15 ft. or less. The map doesn't show it, but they've added in a concrete sidewalk through this parking lot and reconfigured the parking, and that's what Devon was on when she made her turn and went into the parking lot toward the building. Devon was dead on the track at this point, because my tracklayer told me her landmark when we turned. This was nice because it proved to me Devon could handle a test MOT.

Once on the grass, she easily found her last article. I felt really good about how Devon ran this test and where she is. She nailed this track once she got committed. Normally Devon has fantastic starts, but the squirrel was just too much for her. There is doubt in my mind that if Devon gets a good start, we'll pass a test soon.

This week's VST tracks

It's after June 1, so it's time to hit tracking a little harder if we want to meet our goal of fall tests. Both girls track well, but we need work. I've had a few people tell me they think it would be hard to prepare both girls to do VST at the same time. Actually, it's much easier to lay two similar types of tracks, versus one VST and one TD or TDX track. It's also lots easier to find good VST tracking areas then TDX grounds. I am again very thankful Page passed her TDX last fall. She did me a lot of favors when she did that!

And as I've said so many times, Devon and Page are so different, it's easy to treat them as individuals. Devon's strengths are the experience she has in tracking and her article indications. She also tends to track "typically" of must dogs. Devon's weakness is confidence. Page's strengths are her nose-down footstep tracking style. She is atypical in that she works until she solves her problem; she doesn't lack confidence. Page's weaknesses are article indications and her lack of "mileage" or experience under her tracking harness.

We've tracked twice this week. Page usually runs first, so I'll start with her tracks. Unfortunately the places I used for both girls on Sunday were too "new" to be on Google Maps or Google Earth, so no images. Page's track was very good; it was aged about 2 hours and 20 minutes. I did a very short track with grass, sidewalk, grass, curb, grass. I'm also trying to "wean" chalk with both girls. I'm making my chalk marks smaller (only 1-2 inches long) and placed on cracks or on paint lines where it's easy to get scent anyway. I'm hoping to teach the girls to look to these "scent holding" places for clues on their tracks.

Page worked her track well, and she worked her turns meticulously until she found the correct new leg. She shows no favoritism to vegetation versus non-veg. either on straight legs or when working turns. She tracks nose down no matter what the surface. Unfortunately she tracked right by a plastic article hidden just off the track under a bush even though it had kibble in it. More work on articles!

Tuesday's track was even better than Sunday's track. This is a track Devon ran a few weeks ago. It was aged 3 hours and 15 minutes; the track was 334 yards long with 37% non-veg. Page started strong and continued strong. She tracked nose down on the sidewalk, only getting distracted when a worker rolled a wheelbarrow within a few hundred feet to unload mulch. She wagged and barked at him as I explained what we were doing. He shrugged his shoulders and went about his work; and as soon as I told Page to do the same, she did.

The orange lines on the map show his various paths during his work related to Page's track. I was simply amazed how Page worked as if he hadn't been there. The only sign she was distracted by his scent was when she worked the turn and tracked toward the distant pile indicating she did check out his path once.

The nicest thing Page did on this track was the non-veg turn off the sidewalk into the curb. She worked this like she was working a vegetative turn; it was beautiful to watch. As soon as she found the new leg, she was off nose down in a straight line.

The worker did pick up her metal article (which I retrieved later). She did not give any indication it had been there, but then again I had to hold her to get her to acknowledge the bright white plastic article in the grass she wanted to track by, too.

The only part of this track that gave Page any problem was the angle across the last leg of parking lot. Angles are hard for dogs to work in field or in tracking; they want to square up. Page worked hard to adjust herself along this line and did a fairly good job.

I must carry high value treats and hold Page until she finds her article, indicates it and reward her. She will indicate the articles if I make her. I now have to convince her how valuable it is. I think Page is ready for me to introduce MOTs on her next track. I'll be interested if her turns in curbs help her transition to MOTs.

Devon worked well on Sunday. Her track was similar to Page's: short and only 2+ hours old with grass, parking lot under a roof (bank drive thru lane), grass, parking lot, grass. Devon struggled a little at the start. She also worked hard in the parking lot under the roof. She also overshot the veg turn before the second parking lot run. Her article indications were lovely, and once she was solidly on the non-veg legs she tracked confidently.

Devon's track on Tuesday awas 3.5 hours old. It was 423 yards long with 53% non-veg and two MOT turns. This track was much tougher than the one she had earlier in the week.

Devon really struggled to start in the short, sparser grass which was dry. Her first turn was also a real struggle. However, once she got into the curb, she worked the long non-veg section well.

As Devon works non-veg, she tends to track straight then lift her head and circle, checking out other options. I don't know if this is a confidence problem or if she's double checking herself. I've learned the rule of three with Devon. If she circles more than three times, it's time to call her in for water and a rescent.

Unfortunately the two MOTs were too much for Devon. She tracked well to the turn and indicated loss of scent but struggled to find the new leg. In addition, I had forgotten to bring water and she was thirsty. On both MOTs I finally pointed out the new leg, and once she found it she worked the new leg well.

Devon also struggled on the last vegetative turn, spending way too much time on it. I've heard this is typical of VST dogs, as well as forgetting how to start strong which Devon also exhibited. Because I want to keep Devon's confidence high, I plan to work starts the next time we track. I'll lay two to three 125 yard tracks that start, have one turn and end on non-veg.

After some work on starts, I'll next move to more transition work and build in some turns into curbs to build more confidence. As her confidence builds, I'll put the MOTs back in.

Generally both girls look very good in tracking. They love to track and get very excited to see their harnesses come out. I'm enjoying our work, so I look forward to working on this journey this summer.

Page’s training at agility trials

Devon had a whirlwind of agility trials in November and the first weekend of December, and Page came along for some fun. When Devon was Page’s age, I was working on Ian’s MACH and finishing Connor and Ian’s RAE titles. Most of our weekends were spent at agility or rally trials, and Devon learned she got “her turn” working obedience in the crating areas and near the rings.

But for Page’s early months, we’ve been working on Devon’s Senior Hunter and Page’s tracking titles. Page hasn’t spent time in the distracting environments of agility trials. So, I was looking forward to these weekends to see how Page would do at the long days of a trial.

The first surprise for me is that both girls handled mesh crates without a problem. Our first two trials were local, so I took the van and had metal crates available if the girls decided to throw fits and eat their way out of the mesh crates. Happily, the girls were contented, even Devon who has always thrown royal fits when I took Ian out for his runs. The only problem I had with her was dumping her water bucket. On day two I got creative with Velcro cable ties and fixed that problem! I’m now much happier lugging around mesh crates for the show site and hotel versus metal crates!

The next surprise was how good Page was at the agility trials. Long days in the crate, periodic trips out to potty and train, and then more long hours in the crate didn’t bother her. This girl is a trooper! Of course, after the first two 3-day weekends, she needed to burn lots of energy on Monday!

And finally, Page’s training mostly held up, which I hoped would be the case. Page went through the skills she knew well and gave me lots of attention when I had high value treats (well, pretty much any food treat is high value for Page). One thing I learned was that I couldn’t keep her out too long, or her attention would fade and she would want to “play” with every dog she could see.

Page’s first reaction when she wants to “play” with a dog is to launch herself at them front feet first. Most adult dogs aren’t amused, and many puppies are overwhelmed. Using short sessions out and getting her close to the activity when she was fresh and eager for cookies worked best. As she was out longer, I actually faded the distractions since she was getting tired of the “tricks” and the treats.

I was most pleased that she offered a nose touch on the steps at the Merrillville trial. This was a skill she hadn’t worked on much at the time, so the fact she was able to sustain it in a very distracting environment made me quite happy.

Illiana Collie Fanciers 3-day trial

We spent the 3 days after Thanksgiving at the Illiana Collie Fanciers Agility Trial in Merrillville, Ind. I've attended this trial at least twice, and I really like the location and judges. Crating never seems to be a problem, and there are good vendors.

Friday Excellent JWW

This was Devon's first attempt at Excellent JWW. There were nearly 100 dogs in the 20 inch class, and Devon was about 3 dogs from the end. Even though we were the first jump height, it was a long wait!

Due to a technical error on my part with the camera being set wrong, we don't have a video of this run. It was a really nice run. Unfortunately when Devon turned to the weave poles, there was lots to look at, including a chair sitting in the goal area, the goal area itself, the empty room behind the goal area, and the numbered cone. By the time Devon got all that looked at, she couldn't possibly make the weave poles!

I restarted her in the weaves, but she went in at pole 2 and then weaved them out. Because she did most of them well, we went on.

The other thing I found with this run is because I ran the shorter path on the inside, I could focus on Devon. I could see when she was starting to lose her focus on her run and look elsewhere and I could stop my motion and give her a name call to keep us connected.

Considering Devon nailed everything but the weave poles, I considered this run a success.

Saturday Excellent JWW

This was another fun, fast JWW course. After a long wait on the start line, Devon was a little slow off the line, but I was pleased not to see any stress in her. Except for only a little hesitation, she read the rear cross very well. Devon also had a little hesitation at the first tunnel. These two tunnel entrances were actually very straight forward, and I wondered if Devon thought they should be harder than they were.

I thought I had Devon lined up for the weaves pretty well, but she blew by them giving me little effort. I turned her around, and she again gave me no effort in the weaves. This aggravated me. After two weekends of beautiful weaves, Devon suddenly wasn't weaving and not giving me effort. I considered making her do them again (you see me hesitate), but then decided not to pick a battle over the weaves in a trial when she's so green.

We went on, and it was a good choice. She runs the last line really strong. I had originally planned to put a front cross in two jumps before the end, mainly to prevent the distraction of the ring crew for Devon. After watching 90 dogs run this course, I decided a pull would be the better way to handle that since the few that tried the front cross barely got it in. Since I only walked the pull once, when I disconnected from Devon to check my location on the course, she did what I expected and was distracted by the ring crew.

In all, I wasn't very happy with this run. It was the worst she'd run in the three weekends, and I was unhappy that she didn't give me much effort at the weave poles. I was probably a little hard on Devon, because the opening and most of the closing was lovely and fast.

Sunday Excellent JWW

The third day, and this was our second 3-day trial in a row. I wondered what Devon would do today. On Saturday evening after the trial, I tracked both Devon and Page. Devon did a lovely job, but Page was too tired and I ended the track early. I woke up with a headache, and Devon took her own sweet time doing her business that morning. She got to spend about 30 minutes walking around the area of the hotel, so I think she had a lovely morning!

We had another great JWW course. Devon gave me just a little lip lick on the line, which was her first sign of start line stress in three weekends. I didn't notice it until I uploaded the videos on the computer, and you see from the start she doesn't seem stressed.

Devon read the pull after the triple like a pro. The third bar of the triple came down a lot, so I was pleased with the opening. Even better, after jump 5 in the pinwheel, you hear me give her a loud name call and hand clap. That was because she was landing facing the judge, and I didn't want her to go say hello. She didn't even flick her head that direction, so I was super proud! The rest of that line into the tunnel was just terrific.

Now we come to the baby dog moments. She came shooting out of that tunnel and saw me really far ahead and came right in to me. This was really my fault. I should have supported that jump better for her, but I was so worried about making that front cross. Devon was a good girl and came with me even though she went around two jumps.

We again had to make two attempts at the weaves, but Devon did go into them and give me effort so I was happy. After the weaves, I didn't trust my baby dog enough and didn't show her enough lateral motion on the 270 for her to get the landing side front cross. Poor Devon does give me a couple of head shakes through here to show me her stress.

We ended the course nicely, and Devon didn't go see the ring crew too badly after the last jump. In all, I think this was a nice run for a green team! P.S. Devon is sporting a new pink leash, which I bought for Page. It looks really good on Devon, and if it breaks in better than her purple one has, Devon will be running in it along with Page!

Overall I was thrilled with Devon's performance this weekend. She had some really lovely fast runs. My goal going into this month of trialing was to keep her speed up. I think we've done just that! Devon is now running at 4.5 YPS or faster. Ian's average JWW run was 4.22 YPS, with only five career runs over 4.5 YPS. That means I'm having to learn to run a faster dog than I've ever run before. Combine that speed with being a green team, and I don't think our mistakes are really all that bad!

The second thing I know about this weekend is that the weave pole spacing was only 20 inches. I found that out last year, and I remember it took Ian 3 runs to get his footwork down on those poles. Devon hasn't run on 20 inch poles in a long time, and she's a green dog. She doesn't have the experience Ian would have to stay in the poles and adjust. Since Devon's poles were fantastic the previous two weekends, I want to see what she does on "home territory" this week in class. I think if I don't make the weaves an issue, they won't be. However, I think some extra weave work over the holidays wouldn't hurt!

One final note on our runs. I tried a different warm up routine with Devon on Saturday. I don't notice that Devon relies a lot on her warm up routine, but I do have very consistent routines in all of our sports. Devon's weakest run of the weekend was Saturday. I went back to the "normal" warm up routine on Sunday, and she did much better. I was also able to get tugging into the ring area on Sunday and clear up to the practice jump. This was new, and it showed me she was very comfortable on Sunday.

Bearded Collie Club Agility Trial

On Saturday, we drove to Lewisburg, Ohio, and Circle G Arena for the Bearded Collie Club's Agility Trial. I only entered Saturday, because Page was entered in a TDX test in Chicago. Of course, with her pass last weekend, we allowed someone else to take her spot, and we didn't have the pressure to get home to rest.

Because of the running order and not entering FAST, I got to sleep in and didn't rush to get to the trial. It's been almost a year since I've trialed in Ohio, and it was wonderful to see all my old friends.

Devon's teeter fears have returned in the last 3-4 weeks (more on that in a future post), so I pulled her from Standard and just ran JWW. We have not trialed in 5 months with hunt tests and tracking tests. Devon has become a very confident agility dog in that time, running Excellent/Master level courses with ease. I was excited to trial this weekend to see if her confidence in class transfered to the ring.

Our Open JWW course by Lisa Rieves was a course I liked. When compared to Excellent JWW, it had the same opening (1-6), the same entrance into the weaves (8-11) and the same close (11-18). The Excellent dogs ran the course well, and several big dog handlers came out smiling and said it ran well.

I saw two options for handling the opening. Option A had dog on right from the start with a landing side front cross after 3. Option B had the dog starting on right and doing a take-off side rear cross on 5. Either option had me doing a landing side front cross after 6.

For the close, I again saw two options. Option A was a landing side front cross on 14 with a pull to the finish. Option B had a rear cross on the flat after 15.

Based on the Excellent dogs, the start was demotivating for most dogs, with an opening pinwheel and the dog headed right into the ring gate off 1 and 2. A landing side front cross on 3 worked well for a solid, seasoned dog who trusted their handlers and for fast drivey dogs. However, that bar on jump 2 came down a lot or dogs pulled off jump 2 as handlers moved in the opposite direction to get into position on jump 3.

The Excellent dogs handled the close very well, so either a front cross on 14 or a rear after 15 worked. Hummmm, what to do? Based on her history, Devon has preferred me to get out of her way and rear cross at trials. It's not my comfort level, but I need to support my dog. So after walking it several times, I decided to rear cross on the take-off side of 5, front cross on the landing side of 6 and rear cross on the flat between 15-16.

Now that my handling was decided, I reviewed my only goal for the run: to stay positive and see a very fast drivey run like I've seen in class. This is why I'm trialing Devon in JWW even when I'm not running in Standard. I want her to learn trials are fun and she needs to run fast. I don't want her to feel pressure and slow down to a crawl.

Analysis of our run: Devon was in fine form going to the line. Although she stopped tugging the minute we walked in the building, she was really pumped. She loved the high value treats (steak and ham) and was foaming at the mouth for more. Jostling outside the ring when I set our stuff near where they posted the results only to find my way blocked three times didn't faze her. And we went in a dog early when the dog in front of us who had checked in wasn't at the gate. Again, Devon wasn't bothered.

Devon sat quickly at the line with none of her past startline stress. She was ready to go. She was slower off the start line than I expected, which was probably caused by the demotivating start I had already identified. I was glad I decided to continue to support her through jumps 1-3 and not pull off for the landing side front cross.

However, I think I showed a little too much motion and acceleration through 3, 4 and 5 because there was no stopping Devon! She was flying and didn't pay any attention to my lateral motion to cue the take off side rear cross and took 14 as an off course. Oh well, the qualifying score was gone with that off course, but I still needed to reach my goal of staying positive and having a fast drivey run.

Devon came back to me with a good attitude at jump 7 and did a lovely job into the weave poles. The off side entry wasn't easy. On the video you hear Kim complimenting Devon's weaves, and they did look fantastic. All the work we did this spring and the confidence she's gain in classes over the summer has really paid off.

In the close I probably should have done the landing side front cross after 14. First, I was standing still to get the rear cross, which always means you would have had time for the front cross. More importantly, with me behind her, Devon was able to focus outside the ring and get distracted, causing her to miss jump 17. Kim's comment of "devil" was pretty accurate!

Overall, I think I met my goal of staying positive and getting a drivey run from Devon. She was happy out there, and her tail was wagging clear to the end. While I saw a lack of focus a couple of times (not surprising because she is so environmentally aware), I didn't see stress of slowing. Even better, she was more than 9 seconds under SCT even with the off course. That's a great improvement in her speed!

I wonder if our past experience with rear crosses working so well in trials had more to do with me staying out of Devon's way (i.e. not micromanaging her) and trusting her to do her job than the rear cross itself. I think I should trust her in trials and push for more seasoned dog handling, which includes landing side front crosses. We perform them well in class when I push and trust her, so it's time for me to relax and work them in the ring. We'll have lots more practice, because we have three weekends of agility coming up!

Stupid Squirrel ... Devon's VST track Saturday

I had a nice 350 yard VST track for Devon on Saturday. It had 39% non-veg and was aged about 3.5 hours. I was excited to run it, because it rained the previous 2 days and I thought Devon would like this track. I didn't lay any chalk because it was a straight forward track and I wanted to see how Devon would handle it.

She started strong and after much checking transitioned out into the parking lot. She handled the turn on the sidewalk along the building much better and found her metal article in the grass.

She got back to work and had just started a lovely transition from the grass next to the building onto the sidewalk when a stupid squirrel jumped off a bird feeder next to the building, took off across the parking lot - and across Devon's track - and into the fir trees beyond the grass.

Devon wanted to take off after the squirrel, and I was able to hold onto the line without a rope burn. The only thing not making me want to kill her was how pretty she looked all at attention and fully focused on finding that squirrel.

I thought I could get her back to work until I realized the devil was sitting in the grass taunting her with his flicking bushy tail! Sigh! One of the things you learn about dog training is the best laid training plans usually result in you working on something you never intended to work on. So I took a deep breath and asked for a lot of patients and worked on focusing Devon back to the task at hand for the rest of the track.

Devon did finish this track and found her last two articles, which helped her focus. By the time she made it to the final turn, she was back to 90% focused. Still, she was a little "squirrely" (pun TOTALLY intended) for the rest of the track.

The fun thing about tracking and field work is the "variables" Mother Nature throws at you in every test and training scenario! Man-made distractions seem like a piece of cake compared to squirrels, rabbits and deer!

Training this week

Both girls have had some good training sessions this week. Page did a couple of TD tracks, and she just looks awesome. I can't wait to test her.

Page's marking has also continued to improve. She's retrieving real ducks on marks. Today she had a hill to fight on a long mark, and she let it push her off her line. We repeated the mark to give her a second throw to help her learn to fight the factor. Amazingly, she didn't need the second throw. She fought the factor herself and took a straight line to the bumper.

Page's water marks are beautiful. She even did a mark high on the opposite bank with ease. On both land and water, she's working really hard to bring the duck into my side and sit. It's almost like you can see the wheels turning in her head as she comes in and she's saying to herself, "Must go to Mom's side and sit; must go to Mom's side and sit..." I'm glad to see her effort, because I know it will degrade a bit at a test.

Devon has had as many marks this week as drills. That concerned me until today. Before running set-ups, I did three land blinds in a completely new area. We had several whistles on the long, harder blind when she was distracted with other things out in the field. I didn't give her birds, which she found disappointing.

However, she handled like a dream on the other two blinds. This was the best blind session we've ever had. I threw marks for her to wipe out the blinds. Even so she ran them again to near perfection, even lining the longest one with a flock of birds taking off behind the blind to distract her.

Last weekend's test really took our game to a new, higher level. We're handling as a team now, and I'm thrilled with where we are. This weekend we're off to another hunt test, with Senior both days. The entry is very high, so I expect land to be tough and judging to be tight. They can't carry too many dogs to water, or we will run out of daylight. I'm not worried. We'll work these tests one duck at a time just like we did last weekend!

Chiggers and back aches and training, oh my!

I see it's been about 2 weeks since I've posted! Goodness time flies! We've been up to a lot of training lately and too busy to spend much time blogging.

We have had beautiful cool weather to train in this summer. July has been the second coolest on record. The down side has been chiggers. I really hate these little devils and never remember being so affected by them! They really love my feet and ankles when I'm doing so much field work and tracking!

The other down side of the last two weeks has been back spasms. I think after two weeks I'm finally over the worst of them. Thanks to my good friend Sheree who is a master at releasing muscles, I could actually walk again last Wednesday and I was able to travel to Ohio for some field training.

Field training

Speaking of field training, it's going really well. Devon and I have worked hard, and last week it really showed when we visited Mitch. Devon did a really hard lining drill, which worked suction from buckets that were closer when sending to farther buckets. You were only allowed to handle to each bucket once, then the dog had to line it.

The next day we did an over into the water drill, which is done before swim by. I was really proud of Devon for looking great and nailing this drill. Mitch said all our hard work on land showed with how well she did on this drill.

Page is officially field training now. She started her hold work on the table and was collar conditioned. She did a marking drill in the big field. Even though she was distracted by all the great smells, she did mark each throw and step on the bumper going out. We can fix bringing it back with her force fetch.

Tracking

Our tracking continues with mixed success for both girls. After doing a fantastic job on a blind track one evening, Devon has been loosing confidence over the last few tracks. We've increased the difficulty by no chalk or hand prints. I also haven't been working pieces of tracking through the week; I've only been working tracks laid by someone else on the weekends. Put this lack of "training" together with "testing" on the weekends and a lot of field training, and Devon's lacking confidence. We're going to solve that by putting her back on fresher veg tracks and really getting tracking again.

Page is continuing to learn VST and retain TD tracking. She's doing a good job on her VST tracks, putting a lot of information in her "Rolodex" for future tracks. She's a fantastic problem solver, and leaving her to it is my best option.

Agility

I have to put a note in here about Devon's agility. She is really looking fantastic in her weekly class. Because of our emphasis on field and tracking, this is all the agility training Devon has each week, and it seems to be a nice balance.

It used to be if we did any type of field drill in the morning, Devon would melt during agility that evening. However, that doesn't seem to be the case these days. I'm not sure if Devon's new attitude has anything to do with Page having a class right before hers or not, but whatever the reason, I'm really enjoying the fun times!

People, dogs and discipline casting!

Well, when you train at a new place, you must be ready for new things. At first glance this new park was a great place to train. It was quiet and big with open flat spaces to lay out a nice double T. In fact, there was a mound for a driving range where I could handle from and Devon could see me easily. It's so cool to look down on a perfect double T drill ... ok, I'm a field nerd.

Devon did a good job with this double T, except for her overs. After two days of blinds, she started coming in on her overs again. This is going to be life-long maintenance. I see double T drills every Monday after tests in Devon's future.

At one point I had sent Devon to the back pile set at 100 yards. Sat her on the back over intersection which was 70 yards out and looked to the right over bucket only to see a man and woman walking hand in hand directly for that over bucket. Huh, guess she was getting a left over instead! I sent her to her left, and she easily took it. The couple realized they were about to walk through my training drill and changed course.

In the meantime, Devon got her bumper and came running back into me, clueless about the two walkers. At least she's focused on me! When I asked her to mark her back pile, Devon sat straight up when she watched these two walk right behind her back pile! She went straight back and never missed a beat.

Next we worked discipline casting. We had to work through some no sits on whistles. This was frustrating, but I learned if I walked out to her and told her she must sit, it fixed the problem.

The next thing she did was refuse to go back with a bumper in her mouth. This was quickly fixed with a collar correction when I sent her back. This correction worked because it's one she understands. After one correction, Devon repeatedly drove straight back without turning around until I whistled.

Finally, the coming in on overs came out again with the discipline casting. I had to walk out and tap on the over buckets to get her to go straight. It was during this time that we had or second distraction session.

I looked up and a woman who had parked near my vehicle rolled out of her car with three dogs and no leashes. She had two medium sized dogs and a small dog. She saw me and I stood near Devon (who had a bumper in her mouth) and watched as the woman did her best to call the dogs in another direction. Once I thought she had them out of range, I left Devon and walked toward the over bucket.

Unfortunately, this is when the youngest of the group saw me and started running to me. I know he wanted to say hello, but I didn't know what he'd do when he saw Devon. I told the woman to call her dog and get him under control. She tried, but he wasn't coming. I headed back to Devon, who was still sitting perfectly with the bumper in her mouth. The dog kept coming and was coming fast. I ran the last few feet to get to Devon first. Thankfully 10 ft. short of Devon, the dog broke off and returned to his owner.

Whew! I was relived. And for some reason I took the bumper out of Devon's mouth. This was a mistake. Devon thought she was released from work, and she took off after the retreating dog. I yelled and she came right back. That bumper went back in her mouth so fast! Lesson learned: when Devon has a bumper in her mouth she's working and she's under command. No bumper, not working!

That little break in action must have given Devon time to think about her overs, because she did them well. I sent her to the back pile one more time, and she did three perfect casts and she was done!

I think the session was a great one for Devon. I learned how to correct her with a couple of different methods, and she respected the corrections and stepped up to the task. I don't use corrections unless I believe she knows her job. On this day she improved her performance, leading me to believe they were the right choices.

I doubt I'll use this park again during the summer. It has too much doggie activity for me even before I set up the drill. I can tell it's a place people let their dogs run, and I'm not comfortable with that. The three off leash dogs invaded the playground area on the other side of the park as I was cleaning up our drill. As much as this woman probably believes she has control of her dogs, she proved to me she really didn't. I'm going to seek out other places to train for a while!

Page's TD track on July 14

On Tuesday we headed out to do a field drill with Devon at a local school. I figured I could put in a VST track there for Page while Devon was working. However, when we got to the school, two groundskeepers were sitting out front with spray equipment. I pulled up and asked and sure enough, they had just treated the lawn. Great! One good location was out for a week or so!

The good news was they wanted to meet the dogs and asked what type of training I did. They told me about a park I didn't know of in the next town that they thought would be a good place to work the dogs, so I headed that direction. On the way, I found a new TD tracking field! My goal is to keep working TDX and VST and keep up with TD every week to 10 days, so it looked like today was TD day!

The great thing about this field is it's right across from a bank that gives the time and temperature. I know I started the track at 10:53 a.m. When we came back to run it, the time was 12:35 p.m. The track was 490 yards long with four turns. The cover was short clover.

Page had an outstanding start and pulled me hard. I forgot to mark the first turn, but it didn't matter. She had only a very short search a few feet from where I knew it would be. A short leg and another beautiful turn put us on the third leg.

Here, Page suddenly went off the track to investigated something in the grass. I told her to leave it, and she plucked something in the grass and retrieved it back to me. It was a dead baby bird - YUCK! I got it out of her mouth, told her to leave it and track - and she did! What a great girlie! And now you know why I carry antibacterial wipes in my vehicles!

Frankly, the dead baby bird was the most eventful thing on this track. Page nailed her turns, was dead on her track and even handled her 160 yard leg very well. When she got to her glove, she gave me a sit on the article and we were done in 11 minutes (that clock was handy!).

Devon and blinds

After the break throughs from last week, I was anxious to get to more blinds this week. On Sunday, I gave Devon her first truly cold blinds. We were at a fellow Golden Retriever club member's home, and there was a lovely tree standing alone 80+ yards out in a field. A perfect target! We put orange bumpers under it and a bird house about 60 yards away on another line.

Devon was incredible! She lined both of these cold blinds the first try! I was jumping up and down I was so excited and proud of Devon!

Of course, I couldn't just let the training session go with a perfect blind. I asked Steve to take a white bumper and throw a "wipe out" mark across the line of the blind. He did and Devon retrieved it. They aren't called "wipe out" marks for nothing! Sure enough, the mark completely wiped out Devon's memory of the line of the blind and caused suction when I sent her.

On both blinds, the second time I had to handle Devon to the blinds. Once she handled, she lined them the third time out without the wipe out mark. I was really pleased with this session.

On Monday, I went to another location where I could set out blinds at a distance. I set one at 125 yards, one at 140 yards and a third at 130 yards. I marked all three with a black post with bright pink streamers. I know from experience I can see these posts and Devon cannot until she's right up on them. However, they gave me a good target to send to.

Before I got Devon out, I got my "fairway" to each blind, so I knew how far to let her drift. I lined her up for the 125 yard blind, sent her, and she went out in a straight direct line just as she had the night before. I was thrilled! She definitely has learned what she's to do on blinds!

She ran straight for 90 yards before she broke down and drifted left and I had to whistle sit her. She turned and sat like a dream. Awesome, one over and one back and she'd have it. I carefully put my over cast out and yelled "over" and walked to my right. Devon sat like a beautiful statue and watched me walk. Nothing. No movement at all. HUH? I've never seen that!

So I repeated my over command and again nothing. Three times and I knew I'd have to do something different. I'm not sure if she had never handled that far away from me, or what. I walked up closer, about 30 yards, and said, "Devon! Over!" Well, on her name, Devon came it. Darn it!

So I had to resend her to the blind because she wouldn't sit on her way in. This time it wasn't quite as pretty, but she handled to it. The next time she lined it. Good girl!

The other two blinds were much harder because of the suction from the previous blind. The middle blind she got on several handles the first time, two handles the second time and lined it the third time. We had quite the battle on the first send because of the suction from the first blind.

The third blind was a repeat of the middle one with extreme suction from the previous blind. On the third send, I got her to two whistle the third blind and I knew that was the best I would get.

Overall, I was pleased with Devon's blind work this week. She's really getting her job and we're starting to handle pretty well as a team. I think I'm going to stop marking the blinds with sticks and just do cold blinds the next time we train. I do think the blind markers made the suction worse because once she knew they were there, she looked for them.

Devon's VST track on July 11

Devon got a much tougher track than Page did on Saturday night, but she's also way more experienced. Steve and I had a little miscommunication on where we were laying tracks, and this one got interesting for both Archie and Devon!

This track was 512 yards long with 39% non-veg and was aged right at 3 hours.

Devon did a great job on the start. She didn't circle numerous times on the first leg like she has been doing, so I was happy about that. At the edge of the building, she went left and then right. She investigated more right, but then came back to the line she was working and moved forward. I followed her, but thought it was odd to have a cross track right there. About the time her head came up again, Steve said I would be hearing a whistle. Apparently what I thought was a cross track was really the first turn to the right.

We came back and she easily locked in. The second turn took a little more time, since she really wanted to go everywhere but the sidewalk. She finally decided the sidewalk was the right place, and we tracked along with Devon checking out chalk along the way.

We were halfway along the building after the entrance way, when Steve said, "You missed the metal article." Great! Devon never misses metal articles! However, this article was off the track under a bush and right in line with a chalk mark. I remember clearly Devon checking out that chalk mark, and Steve thought the chalk pulled her away from the article. Ok, that made me feel a little better!

Devon nailed the angled turn to the non-veg leg up to the next building, pulling only slightly right. You'll see a purple line through her track here, and this was a purposeful cross track. Steve's getting sneaky on us now! He's throwing articles, he's doing cross tracks! It's all great proofing for Devon, and I'm fortunate to have such an experienced tracklayer!

On this sixth leg, Devon decided to track along the sidewalk when the track was really in the grass along the sidewalk. It was dark at this point, and there were very few lights and they were on the far side of the parking lot. Devon again tracked right by an article, this time a plastic article with lots of holes. It likely doesn't hold scent as well as other types of articles, and it was orange and hard to see. Of course, had Devon been on the track, she would have tripped over it! Being 3 ft. off the track made a huge difference for this article, and I can now see how articles are missed in tests. It confirmed we need to work more on small plastic hard to see articles.

But the adventure wasn't over yet! As Devon tracked past the end of the building, you can see an orange line that hugs her track. This was the track I laid for Archie that we had already run. It was about 15 yards from Devon's track, and this was a tough thing for her to work out. Of course, Archie had the same challenge, and he did it very well.

As we got to the driveway and neared the non-veg turn, I kept hearing a tinkling sound that my mind identified as metal tags on a dog's collar. Sure enough, a guy with a huge Sibe came walking around the next building, about to cross our track. I held Devon up and waited. He stopped and watched us. Steve told me to keep tracking, that it was good distraction, and that he would run interference for me. That made me SO MUCH more comfortable.

I told Devon to get back to work and to track, and the guy realized we had a working dog. Steve went up and told him what we were doing and he was really interested. He decided to watch and to tell us how great a tracker his dog was. He then asked if Devon was a retriever and if she was a girl. Steve said yes. At that point the guy said he'd let us get back to work and he'd go home. I'm thinking his boy was intact, and he was worried his dog would like Devon a little too much! If so, I'm glad he left!

During this conversation, Devon did a lovely job of finding her track at the non-veg turn and getting right back to work, ignoring the guy and his dog. She worked the last turn and made quick work of the last leg, finding her final article.

All in all this was a good track for Devon. The two things Steve noted were the missed plastic article and the nearly missed first turn. We still have work to do, but I felt pretty good about this track.

Update on Devon's field training

This week I've given Devon a variety of field drills and blinds. Not only am I really pleased with how she's doing, I am seeing lots of break throughs for both of us. I am starting to see this goal of running Senior tests take shape!

We started the week with a double T in a large field. It went really well, so I threw in some discipline casting only on a back. Unfortunately the stress of something new and the distraction of kids screaming on the nearby playground frazzled Devon a little. She started pulling up short on her back pile, leading me to give her a couple of corrections.

It was also getting very warm, and ultimately I let Devon end with a successful (but not entirely "clean") run to the back pile. I realized she was getting truly hot and there was nothing to be accomplished by beating this issue into the ground. I again go back to the fact that Devon is an honest dog who gives me everything she has each time we train. I just pushed things a little too far on Monday, so I learned and we ended avoiding a no-win battle.

On Wednesday, I changed things up and gave Devon a wagon wheel. I kept the piles tight at only 8 yards apart. Devon did a very good job on the piles she could see. However, there was one pile she couldn't see; because of the cover I could only see the top half of the orange cone which identified it.

Devon sucked right to the pile next to it. However, she stopped when I gave her a whistle. I tried an "angle back" because this situation set up the "split cast" drill Mitch showed us at his seminar. Although I had never done this with Devon, she read it beautifully and turned right to the hidden pile. I tempted fate and sent Devon there a second time. She did the same thing, and she took the same cast correctly. Although it worked, I'm not going to test that one again until I talk with Mitch!

Thursday we had a really great session. I decided to break down the discipline casting on a back pile only. Devon learns best when you break things down for her, and I didn't want her double T and all handling to fall apart because of the discipline casting. I set out a 60 yard back pile and just worked discipline casting back to it. This worked like a charm and she handled it confidently. I threw in a couple of over casts even though there were no buckets, and she also did those well.

I also set up three blinds for Devon in the fields. The first blind was to a large round hay bale that we had used as a blind for marks the previous week. It was set at 60 yards, and Devon lined this blind on the first attempt.

The second blind was at a tree 80 yards away. When I walked up and asked her where her dead bird was, Devon's head flicked right and left but never straight out. Immediately I realized what I did . I set this blind between and behind two large round hay bales. The previous blind and two blinds we ran last week were to large round hay bales. She would have to push in between these two pieces of suction to get the blind. Wow, did I ever set up a challenge!

I knew she was pulling right, but I sent her anyway when she gave me something that wasn't a dead lock on the hay bales. She indeed sucked right immediately. I let her have some momentum, and then blew my sit whistle. She sat. I gave her an over cast, and while she looked confused, she took it.

Once on the correct line, I sat her and gave her a left back ... she turned left, but then sucked right again. We repeated what I just did and I walked up. Once back on the line I gave her a left back ... and she went left over - must be at the other hay bale!

I kept working this, walking closer to her until I was right in front of her for the left back. Finally, even though she didn't really believe it, she took the left back and held the line! Oh happy day! When she found that blind, she was surprised and I was excited!

I tried this blind again, and this time she really fought me to the hay bale. I let her get closer before I gave her the sit whistle, and she blew it off to hunt the hay bale. That earned her a correct of me walking out and firmly insisting using the tab on her collar that she get her butt back to where I told her to sit the first time. She also decided she didn't want to sit after my left over, again earning me walking back out and putting her where she needed to be. This was all the correction she needed, and she pushed back to the blind.

On the third time, we had several whistles, but she did eventually push back to the blind. At this point, I gave her a break, got her some water and worked Page. I then reloaded the blind with 6 bumpers. I wanted to get this one better. We had such success with her learning to push back, but she was still fighting the factors a lot.

After a water break, Devon came out strong. She nailed the blind in two whistles: she pulled right, but sat and took the over cast; then she nailed the left back to the pile. She got great praise and a fun bumper for that one. She repeated it on the next time, and I ended that blind with a success. I wasn't going to get her to line this blind with all the suction to the right, so two whistles and her obeying my casts was good enough!

The third blind proved challenging because of suction again to the right with trees and on the left with a house. I walked up during my handling and we worked through it. Then she lined it the next two times.

Even though these blinds weren't "perfect," I think we both learned a lot. Devon learned to trust me, that I knew where the blind was and she'd get her bumper if she followed my casts. I learned how it felt to give her momentum off the line, but how and when to whistle her and cast her. I also learned how to read the "fairway" and how she really would get the blind if I let her go on it versus trying to make her perfect right now.

This morning, we again revisited the double T. I didn't want her overs to get sloppy with the handling we'd done on the blinds. I think the double T will be a staple in our maintenance plan throughout her career to keep those over casts strong. The cover in the field was getting pretty tall, and I realized as I set the drill the farther left over pile was hard to see and the nearer left over pile would be impossible for her to see until she was almost on it. Devon did an absolutely fantastic job with this double T. She ran it to perfection! She didn't miss a cast or a whistle. It was amazing! And even when she couldn't see the over piles, she took the cast correctly until she saw the piles.

Because Devon did so well, I decided to throw in more discipline casting. I walked up on her to do it, using only the back over pile so it was really a "T" drill. She acted really confused, but she did a great job of obeying my casts. I had to give her a couple of back casts when she wanted to pull up early a few times. She reverted back to her old habit of coming in on the overs, so I had to correct that and identify the over pile for her once. However, all in all I'd say it was a really good job for only her second try at discipline casting. Mitch warned me it would be rough, and it was. But she generally did a really good job.

As I said at the beginning of the post, I'm really pleased with our work this week. I think Devon and I have reached a new level of teamwork. I know I learned so much this week about how factors work on Devon on blinds and how to overcome them. Devon learned that I really do know where those bumpers (or birdies) are, and if she does what I say, she'll get them. Seeing her finally push thru that wall of suction on her left back will be sight I don't think I'll ever forget. It was the picture of success for us this week!

Double T

Even though Devon's ready for it, Double T is hard and a big jump. Devon's handling weakness is coming in on "over," so when you add two over piles she wants to come in to the nearest one.

Steve cut a Double T into some cover in the back of his yard, so we gave it a try on Wednesday. A lot of trainers teach the T drill and Double T with mowed paths so the dogs can easily see alleyways to the buckets and piles. I think this is a great way to teach if you can, because it gives the dog a defined path to run and probably prevents some of the coming in and "banana" shaped overs I get.

Devon has been taught T drills on short cut grass at schools and soccer fields, so her first time on this mowed Double T was interesting! She was determined to come in on her first overs, even if it meant jumping the cover to do it. As in the past, her right over is more difficult than left over.

We hacked through it and were successful, but it wasn't pretty! At one point I looked at Janet, who is just starting down the transition road with Zoe, and said, "Isn't transition fun?" She didn't think it looked like fun at all! Transition may be a test of patience, but at least it isn't as dull as pile work!

On Wednesday, I gave Devon a break from handling drills to do some sight blinds. I was pleased she worked through the shorter, 60-yard blind. After seemingly indicating and lining the longer blind when sent from 130 yards, Devon broke off her line for some cover that was close by. I'm getting better at anticipating suction, because I knew this would be enticing. I gave Devon a whistle and she sat. When I gave her an over out of the cover, she didn't take it. When I resat her she did sit, but when I called her in she blew me off again and earned a correction for it. She was diving into an unknown woods line, and I'd seen evidence of coyotes in the area. That correction was for her safety, and she obeyed it.

I set Devon up closer to the blind at 100 yards and taught it to her in two, 50-yard pieces. Once taught, Devon lined it twice. I thought we got out of that training session on a positive note!

On Friday, we ended up with an impromptu field training group, complete with carry out Chinese lunch! How many people can boast that during field training? We got together with the Ripleys for drill sessions in a new location at my parents' old home. At the last minute, Beth joined us with Reba and Denver. Lysiane from the Westie Report decided to hang out and watch the retrievers, too, after a tracking session. It was fun to have an outside perspective on what we were doing and explain how we train the retrievers to reliably do their work so far away from us.

Drills may not be fun, but when they're done well they are worth it and take your training to a higher level. Archie was very successful on his proximity pile with ducks. Zoe did a lovely walking fetch, as did Reba. Zoe did a fantastic job with only her second session on pile work! We were all excited for Janet! Denver, who is in the middle of force fetch, did some progressive marks.

Devon got to do a small Double T in short grass. At first I worked just the back part of the T, getting her confident there first. As I expected, we had problems on the first right over because she wanted to come in to the nearer over pile. I identified the over pile on two different times for her before she was running it well.

When I backed up and added in the second set of over piles, things went really well. I did have to stop Devon on her first right over, identify the correct over pile and resend her. But she got it clean the next time, and she got both left piles clean on the first try.

The other good thing about this drill was Devon's focus. She had four people watching her and talking off to the side, but she worked through that. And as she started her full Double T, two guys brought in a hay trailer for unloading into the barn in the other field. This was a lot of distraction for her to work through, and I was really proud of her for doing so well with it.

My mom was a great "host" and offered to run into town and get carryout Chinese food. How many training groups get food delivered into the field? What a great Mom I have!

After a lunch break, we did a "Mom and Pop" double mark concept. We used a big round bale of hay as our blind. Zoe just nailed the marks, and Archie and Reba ran them as singles and did a very nice job. Devon struggled on her memory bird and wanted to search the first fall location. I reran the memory bird as a single, and she lined it the next time as a double.

Later Zoe and Devon ran it again as a walk-up. Zoe again did a fantastic job. Devon again struggled with her memory bird. This time I tried to handle her to the mark, but it was a disaster. I finally called her in because she was so confused and she wasn't handling.

The only good thing was she came in knowing there was a duck out there. I've been worried if I have to pick her up at a test I couldn't call her in from the field when she knows there's a mark down. I don't want to have to do that, but I want to have the tool if I do have to.

After re-running the memory bird as a single, Devon nailed it on the double again, and I ended the session with that success. I think Devon's struggle was how close the Mom and Pop double marks were, so that's a concept we'll be running a couple of more times in the future!

This week's field sessions have gone very well. I'm really proud of the hard work Devon gives me, and I'm looking forward to seeing how we progress in the next two months!

How a hawk can change your mind about tracking

I gave Page a TD track this week in anticipation of certifying her sometime soon. We've been doing TDX and VST tracks, so I thought I should again remind her what a good old fashioned TD track was.

The field I used was a little more sparse than I anticipated, but I thought it would still give Page a good lesson. I laid a 500 yard, five turn TD track, and I planned to start it at 30 minutes. I say planned, because Page almost didn't get to run this track after all!

As I took Page to the start line, a Red-Tailed Hawk came soaring out of the woods behind us screaming. This hawk was in full hunt mode, and I thought a little gold dog at the end of a tracking line might look too much like a rabbit for my comfort level.

After a few minutes, he soared off to the next field so I started Page on the track since she was now lunging for the start article. This girl loves to track. However, Page wasn't more than 10 yards down the track when the hawk came back. I held Page and watch him, and he got closer and closer, circling and screaming over head.

That's when I picked Page up! I wasn't going to risk either of us getting hurt for this track. I reset the start flag and article thinking I could come back later and headed for the SUV. Page wiggled and squirmed because she wanted to track. Once she was tucked away in the SUV and I was just about to leave, the hawk left. After waiting a couple of minutes, I realized it was for good.

We restarted the track, and Page was very solid in spite of the weird circumstances. She tracked strong through the second turn, and on the third leg she was pulling hard and wanting to go faster than I've ever seen. But once again she reminded me that "speed kills." I missed the turn marker and she overshot the turn by 20 yards before she showed loss of scent. When she did, I realized how badly we'd overshot it since I was watching her track.

After a few minutes of searching, she got back on the new leg, but she was going slower and I had learned my lesson about speed! She tracked strong through the last turn and about 30 yards into that leg she hit a wall. That's the only thing I can figure happened. She was still "tracking" but she was searching wide and not totally committed. Several rescents and two water breaks later and she still wasn't strong. I let her work through it, and she finally caught sight of the end article and raced to it.

Looking back on her previous tracks, Page hasn't done that much yardage in a couple of weeks. I think the length got to her, but she didn't shut down completely. She worked through it, but she didn't track strong. It was good reminder to vary length as well as time and types of tracking in Page's future.

Agility Club of Indianapolis Trial on Saturday

Devon was AWESOME today!!! I was so pleased with her two runs, I was just busting with joy all day! In JWW, I have to admit I had some nerves. I hate this since I know it affects Devon. It's hard not to have a few nerves for the first run of a weekend, and since Devon and I haven't been partners all that long our teamwork is still building.

The opening of the JWW course had a very tricky weave entrance; it was the same for the Excellent dogs. You had to really trust your dog to have independent weave entrances for this one. Not only did I trust her, but I thought the line was better using a rear cross, so for the first time in competition, I rear crossed the weave poles. Devon nailed the entrance and never hesitated in the poles!

In fact, Devon stayed in the poles even though the photographer was shooting away and his shutter was really loud. The photographer pulled out at least two Excellent dogs with seasoned handlers, so I was especially pleased with Devon's focus. This was an area I worried over before we ran, but I decided Devon would have to work through these distractions, and I wasn't going to fuss over it.

I saved a near off course before a 180 in the back of the course, but I didn't save another one in the front of the course. I saw her head off, I thought I had her redirected and I took my eyes off her and she went off course. Bad mom. However, Devon was in good company with these two off courses, because I saw lots of Excellent level dogs end lovely runs at the same places.

I worried that Devon would worry when she found herself out of position relative to me when she landed over the off course, so I told her was brilliant. I thought later that I'm sure there were those outside the ring that thought, "That stupid handler just rewarded her dog for being wrong." Yep, I did because I want her to always think she's right! And after the class, the judge made a point of saying that I had a wonderful run with my dog.

Devon ran JWW at 8:30 a.m. and she didn't run Standard until around 3 p.m. It was a long day at a busy trial, and I had a headache and was very tired for her Standard run. To backtrack a little, last night we had severe storms and a tornado warning, so all four dogs and I spent about 20 minutes in the half bathroom below the stairs before going to bed. Then just as we were settled, Connor decided to throw up on my bedroom carpeting. So I got to bed after 10:30 p.m. and had to get up at 5 a.m. and leave the house at 6 a.m. I worked as chief ring steward for the JWW ring, so I wanted to be set up early so I could concentrate on my job.

So when it came time to walk and run the Open Standard course, I was worried I wasn't concentrating enough and I was too relaxed. Apparently this was just the ticket for Devon. She absolutely ran this course to perfection!

The two tunnel entrances were very challenging, and she never even looked at the off course ends of the tunnels. The triple, jump, tunnel sequence after the table was also a very tricky angle, and Devon made it look easy. And you have to check out those weave poles! In addition to nailing the off side entrance, Devon actually gets into her two footed stride at the end! Devon was the last 20 inch dog to run and she was the only clean run in the 20 or 24 inch jump height! She was 10 seconds under time, too, and took first place! This is a fantastic run, and it's her second Open Standard Q in three tries!

Devon ended her day with a massage from Susan. Susan thought her muscle tone and coat were great, likely due to a combination of the new raw diet and the field work she's been doing.

Field training successes

Even with one more agility trial coming up next weekend, I've really turned my attention to Devon's field work. I plan to put her in field training and VST practice immersion after next weekend. My goal is to have her ready for her Senior Hunter tests and VST test this fall. It's a huge goal, but with the way she's working, I'm very hopeful.

At the same time I could accept holding one of them until next spring. Maggie and her amazing boy Scorch just got their first SH pass yesterday. Her description of the test and especially the blind really scared me. It was "100 yds, over a point to open water and the blind was on a rock." Her advice was to train long and really teach Devon to mark and do long blinds. Whew, that's a tall order. So, now you see why it may be next year for this Senior.

I've also learned so much about me and my dog through this "transition" field training. The reason I like field is because it has challenged me as a trainer. It's brand new to me, but I'm a dog trainer and I have pushed myself to think through the problems and problem solve.

Devon is a fantastic dog. She works her guts out for me and frankly she deserves a better handler. It's her bad luck to be my "first field dog," the one you know you make your mistakes on.

The biggest thing I've learned in transition is to TEACH my dog the drills. In field because you have that e collar control, it's so tempting to correct when there's a mistake. However, I've resolved that each time Devon makes a mistake it's because I haven't taught her something and she's confused. Devon isn't a pushy dog or a willful dog. She is very biddable and she wants to do the right thing. Therefore if she makes a mistake, she's confused and I need to teach her.

Learning what I wrote above has made me a better field trainer, and it's directly responsible for the successes we've had lately. When Devon has struggled with "overs," we broke it down and just worked overs. When she's struggled with suction on the three in a row drill, I walked up until we got it worked out; then I slowly worked our way back to our starting point.

Yesterday we had the opportunity to work in a nice oval pond. On my way to the pond, I reviewed in my mind what I wanted to work on, and I landed on the "water force fetch" type drill. Devon went through this protocol nearly 2 years ago, but I thought revisiting a bucket and pile on the opposite bank of a pond would be a good reminder for upcoming water blinds.

I started her on a land blind I did on the property 2 weeks ago. I did the blind from several angles. As we worked this blind, it started to rain. Oh well; Devon passed her last JH test in a pouring rain, so we might as well train in it. A second distraction also started: dirt bikes in the neighboring field. This was a real distraction for Devon, especially when she could only hear them and not see them.

When we got to the pond, I tried to throw a mark to identify the pile for Devon. It went nearly 90 degrees to the left of the pile. Just great. She retrieved it, so I tried to send her cold and she didn't get the idea. I called her in and tried a second mark that went to the same place in the wrong direction. I let her retrieve the second mark and lined her up for the pile again.

Again, Devon seemed to mark the bucket but went left in the water to where the mark landed. I wanted to scream. I didn't want her to think she was wrong because of my errors. So I thought of one thing which was incredibly risky. If it worked, we'd be brilliant. If it didn't, I'd have to bag the drill...

I gave Devon a whistle sit in water. I've NEVER asked this of her. I knew there would always have to be a first, but I thought it would be when Mitch was standing over my shoulder telling me what to do. My wonderful little girl turned into me on the whistle - GOOD GIRL! I gave her an over, and she took it. She came in a little, but she took it. I gave her another sit whistle, then a quick right back and she did it! Awesome! I handled her to the bucket. What a fantastic little girl. I cheered ...

but it was short lived when she ran the bank coming back. Are you kidding me? Just when she was brilliant she starts cheating! When she wouldn't sit coming in to me with the bumper, I walked out and neutrally took it and threw it back into the water and called her around. We did this with Mitch when she first started cheating and up until yesterday it solved the problem.

I asked Devon for the blind again, and she needed to be handled again but she did it. She again cheated on the way back, so I stopped her and put her back into the water. I also moved the bucket down to the water's edge, hoping to remind her that she was to get back into the water.

The next time I asked for the blind, she lined it and with an early whistle and several comes from me, she got back in the water and swam back with the bumper. We celebrated with a break and a fun bumper; then I asked for and got two more perfect blinds. What a great way to finish! I really hoped we had some learning, too.

This morning I set up Devon's first double T drill. The back pile was at 135 yards; the nearest over pile was 30 yards out and the side piles were at 30 yards; and the second over pile was at 90 yards with the side piles at 25 yards. I only have three buckets, so I identified the farthest over piles with my blind sticks. This was my first mistake.

Even though I identified the back pile, Devon started angling to the over piles because they were marked with my sight blind sticks. I called her back in twice and decided to go fix my mistake. I put her in the crate and walked out to remove the sight blind sticks. Those piles had white bumpers and they were only 25 yards away, so I knew she could see them on the short grass. They would have to go unmarked.

When Devon came out, she showed me my second mistake (and luckily my only other one). I needed to walk up 30 yards to the first set of over piles and start the drill as a traditional T drill which she knows. Once she ran it successfully as a T drill to all piles, I grabbed my discard bumpers and backed up to the original line as she was going to the back pile.

At this point we started working the double T, and Devon was 100% successful at running it!! I have to tell you the first time she got the second over pile, I had tears in my eyes. This is an incredibly hard drill, and for us to get here because of the teamwork and relationship we have built together is amazing to me. I cannot tell you how rewarding today was for me.

Over the next couple of weeks I'm going to continue our drill work and give discipline casting a try before we had to Mitch's at the end of the month. I'm hoping to start formal water work then. Maybe we can get this Senior this year! And if not, we're going to be really close.

Another VST track for Page

On the way home from the kennel club, I laid another VST track for Page. This track was 437 yards long and aged 1.5 hours when she ran it. However, it only had 15% non veg, so it wasn't a hard VST track. I wanted Page to get a track with a lot of obstacles, including non veg, a building, a short woods line and a ravine.

This is only the second time I've seen Page cast like she was doing on this track. I can only think the age on short veg is causing this casting. I think it will go away as she gets more scenting experience on aged tracks with short cover.

I did remember my camera for this track, and I'm glad I did. However, it's also hard to manage the tracking line and hold a camera. Poor Page gets some bad line handling from me for the sake of the video! The first time it irritates her, but the second time she was too busy tracking to really notice.

The first turn threw Page a little, but I thought she did a nice job through the basketball court. She also did a nice job before the playground. She did a lot of casting and searching on the playground area. School has been out for a couple of weeks here, so I found that interesting. Page did a fantastic job of indicating her first article, which was metal.

You can see Page isn't strong on the restarts after an article and a reward. I think she wonders if the track is over at this point. I think I'm going to only put one kibble in the articles on the track in the future. Articles on tracks are new to her, so I am expecting a lot to have her just drop her nose and go.

After she gets restarted, Page gets distracted by something coming out of the treeline. She did get back to work when I asked her. I had planned to go across the ravine, but it had more water than I expected and I was tired of wet feet this week. You can see Page doesn't hesitate to go across the water looking for the track, but she quickly realizes it's not there and comes back to find it.

I was surprised she wanted to push up the hill early before her turn. I can only think that the wind coming from the east was pushing the scent from the new leg down the hill at her, which was causing this early turn confusion. Page finds her plastic egg easily today; that's the one she missed earlier this week.

You only get to see two of the three parts of this track. Page tracked out to the glove very nicely, and she gave me a solid indication on the final glove, too. Those article indications are really solid when she's recently had a training session that includes a down or a nose touch! I'll have to remember that!

Page finally gets a challenging track

I was going to lay a TDX track today for Page and then give her a VST track tomorrow. However when I got 110 yards into the TDX track I'd planned, I was in water above my ankles. I was already soaked and had a few hours to go that morning, so I abandoned that track and rethought my plan.

We tracked with a friend for the rest of the morning, then I headed back into town. I had decided to do a field drill with Devon at one of the schools, and it would be a great place to lay a VST track for Page and give her some age. Below is her track:

I laid this track at 1 p.m. and ran it at 2 p.m. Page had been in the SUV traveling around and watching other dogs train since 7:30 a.m. It was a muggy day with humidity in the 60% range all day. This morning it rained off and on and there was very little wind. When I ran the track the sun was breaking through and it was in the upper 70s. The track was 387 yards with 119 yards of non-veg, or 31%.

Every time I throw something at Page I think is going to be a tracking challenge, she handles it well. So, I decided today she would get her first lesson in curb work.

The first "leg" of the track curved around the edge of the building. I wanted to start her with some alternating veg and non veg on the sidewalks. I laid hand prints every 3-4 steps on the veg to give her help and continued this throughout the track.

On the second leg we angled across the sidewalk and dropped into the curb. Here I added a piece of kibble to the hand prints about every 10-15 yards. I also put an plastic egg filled with kibble in the curb behind some grass that was growing up in the cracks.

Page got to say hello to a woman and her daughter as she was getting out of the SUV. This really fired her up and she was ready to take on the world! Page came off the start flag dead on the track. I gave her only a softly angled approach to the article, and she was nose down pulling right away. I was very glad to see her start just as strong on short grass as she does in heavy cover.

Page handled the first "leg" very well. She put her nose down and sniffed the non-veg where the hand prints were, taking the sidewalk crossings in stride. She was very confident through this soft curve around the building, pausing only long enough to sniff a drain pipe coming off the building.

She handled the angle from the grass across the sidewalk very well. When she got to the curb, she didn't drop down into it at first. She started to track up on the sidewalk above the track in the curb. I decided to follow her here to see if this is where she stayed. After about 10 yards, she dropped onto the parking lot and explored out away from the curb, sniffing the pavement. After satisfying herself it didn't go across the parking lot, Page came back to the curb and for the first time put her nose in the curb and really sniffed there. I could tell by her body language she got a strong scent and "found" her track. She was rewarded a few steps later with a piece of kibble.

Once in the curb, she tracked well to the plastic egg. I thought she found the egg, but then she seemed to track past it. I held the line and she sat next to the egg. I asked what she found and gave her the kibble from the egg. Was that sit an article indication? I wasn't sure.

This is where Page hit her first difficult spot: how to restart on non veg. She was so focused on the food, she found it hard to get restarted. I had to point to the curb several times and say track, but she just kept coming back and sitting and staring at me. Finally with some water, rescenting and steps forward and repeated pointing to the curb saying "track" she got started again.

She handled the angle back up onto the sidewalk very well. Page did a great job of checked all spots for scent before committing to the grass. Once in the grass, she tracked very strong to the metal article. Here she gave me a paw tap on the article and then sat beside it and looked back at me. Seems like the sit at the egg was an indication.

The restart at this article was much easier. Off she went again, easily tracking over a couple of more sidewalks to the last turn.

I was very interested what she would do on this final leg. Right after I laid this leg of the track, three girls rode up on their bicycles and ate lunch at the picnic tables and played on the equipment. They ran over to pet Devon before her field drill. I figured they wouldn't stay long after their lunch, and I was right. But what would their scent all over the playground do to the freshly laid track and a very green tracking dog, er puppy? And while I laid extra scent with hand prints, I didn't put any kibble down for her through this section.

Page tracked onto the concrete well and into the circle where the picnic tables were. Of course, being Bizzy's daughter, she had to check out all of the picnic tables to see if there was even a crumb left for her! Someone had a picnic and didn't invite Page! What a tragedy!

After scouring the picnic tables, Page got back on her track and tracked it well into the mulch playground. I think she would have tracked easily through the mulch had it not been for the empty McDonald's cup that once held a chocolate shake. That was simply too much for Page, and she stuck her whole head in the cup and started drinking the contents - YUCK! You can guarantee I will never drink a McDonald's shake after this experience!

I grabbed the cup up and told her to get back to work. "Are you kidding me??" was her only answer to that! Holding the cup over my shoulder wasn't fooling her; she was jumping at me in protest that she wanted to finish her find! So I walked back and threw it in the trash can. That was not a popular decision according to Page. She got mildly interested in tracking again, but only to go back to the spot of the cup and start eating pieces of mulch that had leftover shake on them. UGH!

I finally shortened up the line and walked her a couple of steps past this spot. Then I asked her to get back to work and wouldn't allow her to go back where the mess had been. It only took her about 20 seconds to give up and get back to work. At this point she was really hot and getting tired, so I wondered if she would actually be capable of tracking to the glove.

I shouldn't have worried. Not only did she pick up the track in the mulch, but she worked the concrete curb out of the play area and back into the grass. She tracked strong all the way to her glove, where she gave me another sit at the article and then a down when I walked up to get it. What a good girl!

Although this track challenged Page, she never gave up on it. She only had two rough areas, and they were difficult challenges. It's simply amazing to watch this little puppy track like a mature dog. I can't wait to see what I have the next time she runs VST. She learns very quickly, and the time in the crate on the way home, then a nap after a late lunch when she got here should have solidified her lessons into her little brain.