I created a map of a fun TDX track Page and I ran on Tuesday. This track was at a local metropark. They have (finally) done some mowing in this part of the park so these pastures are at a reasonable length (like not waist-high cover). The track was 780 yards long and aged 3.5 hours when we ran it. The first leg was 150 yards long, and it posed a lot of challenges. When I laid the track I was literally walking next to and over piles of deer poop. The leg ran parallel to a woods, and it crossed at least 8 deer trails into the woods.
Page handled this leg like a pro! She was pulling strong, which was a difference from the 3+ hour track a few days earlier. At the first big pile of deer poop, Page stopped to snack. I told her NO! Leave it! Track! She turned to me (with stuff hanging off her lips) and gave me a look that said, "OK! Thanks for informing me of the rules," then put her nose down and continued to track. That was the last time she stopped for poop, not even a sniff! And if she turned to the deer paths, she quickly leaped off of them for her own track.
Page handled the first turn easily and it was about all I could do to keep her slowed down so I could keep my feet. This 60-yard leg was in a open wooded area, and when I laid the track I saw mice jumping through the grass in front of me. Page never even stopped to investigate critters.
The second turn came quickly, and Page dragged me through a woods line where I nearly lost my hat and had to keep my eyes closed for fear of tree limbs. She handled this short 50-yard leg and immediate turn well. Unfortunately she didn't give me a very strong indication on the article. I knew where it was and made her indicate it. I was curious what she'd do on the next article that was somewhere in the woods!
We went 75 yards through another woods line and into a field for her fourth turn. This time, Page worked the transition out of the woods and to this fourth turn for quite a while. I'm not sure what the differences were here, but the grass did not seem to be as lush as what we had been in.
Once she was committed to the 90-yard fifth leg, she pulled well into the woods. I wondered how she would handle a woods entrance after the last track where she took a cross track up to a woods but didn't go in. Page tracked very confidently into the woods, so I have something for my mental Rolodex: If Page doesn't enter a woods the track likely doesn't go there; if the track does go into the woods, Page isn't worried about diving right in.
Once in the woods, Page did a good job tracking up to the woods turn. Woods with limited vegetation is one area where Page doesn't track strongly. She worked the turn, but she wanted to go right and straight ahead. I followed her forward, but she wasn't confident in her tracking; this was again something for my Rolodex. We moved back to the spot where she'd had the track just before the turn, and this time she worked the turn and took it left.
This 230-yard leg had lots of woods which made it not only long but difficult. There was also an article on this leg in the woods, and I didn't know exactly where it was. I was thrilled when Page indicated it immediately with a down. She got extra cookies for that.
Page continued to work the woods track meticulously until she was halfway through the woods portion, then she seemed to lose the track. I knew she was on the track because I could see one of my trail markers dead ahead. However, Page circled me fully about three times, which is very rare for her. I tried to offer her water several times, but she refused it.
Since she refused the water and was continuing to work the ground, I never offered her a rescent. This was my mistake. Once I finally gave Page a rescent, you could see the light bulb go on. It was like she said, "OH YEAH! THAT'S what I was looking for! It's right here!" Her nose went down, she immediately located the track and we were off like gangbusters! Again, something for my tracking with Page Rolodex!
That rescent gave Page new life on this track. She tracked strong out of the woods, across the hay wagon track and to her final turn. The turn gave her no problems, and neither did two more hay wagon tracks. Just as when we started, I had to work hard to keep my feet as she tracked the final 125-yards to the glove!
Page's article indications were very different on this track. The first and last article, she struggled to indicate and even started eating grass around them. However the woods article she indicated immediately before I even realized what she was doing. The difference in the articles was that the woods article has some residual kibble in it and the others did not.
I think I'm going to continue to use a couple of pieces of kibble in my articles with Page to help me get the indications I want. I never reward from the article, but I reward from my hand with a different treat. Page is still very young, and I don't want her to stress on articles. However, I do want to insist on a big article indication on training tracks so I get at least a minimal indication on test tracks.
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