After her strong interest to go into vs away from woods last class day, I asked Mary Ann to lay a track that parallels woods and does bounce-offs from woods. Mary Ann nailed the assignment (and shout out to Kelley who co-laid and was MVP for double lineups!). We ran the track at 1hr 15min old. Notes - what went well: Great start and 1st turn on the rails! Her article indications were really nice today. I think our slowed down routine at articles is slowing her down and keeping energy / excitement from running wild. She feels more measured at restarts now. Turns - She was really clear to read on all with the exception of the last turn. In reviewing video, she gave a head turn at the final turn before going forward a little and then looking at woods. Line work was good today - getting back up the line quickly + a behind the back line work on the final turn - felt like I supported her well when she committed. She drank well before start and at articles Notes - To work on:...
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7/21/2024 - Great Restart!
After a few dabbles into VST before it got too warm, we ventured out today to start working on components and gearing up for cooler weather.
Today's Goal: Fun + Mixed surfaces with ~200-300yards and 4 articles. I wanted her to have fun but also see where some of her skills are right now. By setting intermediate articles (and carrying one extra), we had options to bail out while still successful. Kept track age young & fun.
Location: Robious Middle School
Weather: 82*, mostly sunny, high humidity
Age: 30 min
Pattern: S5W30F15 with article in place of a food drop on Legs 2 and 3. On the non-veg surface (tennis court), I did S5W3F2 with article in middle of court path.
Track Map:
Video:
Post track observations / Notes:
Getting ready / walk-up: Evie saw me chopping string cheese and get the tracking bag so she knew what was up. She usually charges the fridge when we use the ice but stayed calmly on the sofa - she reallllly wanted to go and was on her bestest behavior. When I got her out of the car to head to the start flag, she did not pull and was super focused already :)
Start: Good but not great - a little meandering but she got out of fringe pretty quick. Will keep an eye on this
1st leg: The first leg crossed 2 old sidewalks that had vegetation growing over them. I could definitely see a difference and that it gave her a little pause but she then picked up the track again
1st turn (right 90*): She looked right, circled left to check/rule out, then explored right crossing the track and a clear head snap and tracking shape - Loved it! (Video: 1:00-1:19)
1st article: pink glove - She was about 18" to the right and hooked back to check it / downed without any verbal cues. Super happy with this! (Video: 1:22-1:27). Lots of praise, cheese, pets, and then gave water before continuing.
2nd turn (left 90*): The turn bounced off of the light pole which I knew would have lots of added sniffables and she did investigate. Then she crossed over track leg 3 and continued away from track...to poop! After she finished, she snapped onto Leg 3 and charged up the hill while I threw a poop-marking flag to come back for cleanup.
Non-veg - She definitely was not as confident on this even with HIGH reinforcement for her (S5W3F2). She got to the article midway down tennis court and downed for it nicely while cheese rained down from the sky. After water, she restarted but seemed to want to check out any visual possible treats around before coming back to the food drops. She didn't eat them anymore after this, but investigated them so I can tell she was using them for context.
3rd turn (open left) / final leg: This were going too well up to this point. She worked the corner a little and then I offered her some water and then she confidently took the last leg. Her nose wasn't as deep on this final leg - thinking it may be because of the heat/exhaustion at this point. About halfway down, she stopped in the hardest point I may have seen her do as we neared the tree/wooded section.
Squirrel/SCATTER!: After holding point for ~20 seconds, she bolted for the squirrel and about took me out. I tried my best to hold footing and reel her in a bit but her arousal was off the charts. Then I remembered the lovely tool of SCATTER! She popped back to me immediately and scarfed down the cheese but then was still highly aroused. I tried to take a step whenever she was going in the right direction but then she'd stop tracking and lunge again. It took us a total of 3 scatters to get back to tracking. (Video: 7:10-10:00)
Final article - We finally made it to the leather glove and she paused for a few beats before downing to high praise.
3 things I loved:
Her enthusiasm / drive today
1st turn
Article indications
Bonus: scatter! worked really well for both us of in a problem situation
3 things to work on:
Non-veg surface (this is still fairly novel for her)
Keeping nose deep when tired - this could make her harder to read but it's a balance of wanted to reward her for being on track with movement when she's tired vs getting exactly what I want our first time out in a bit. Will just keep an eye on it for now.
Move up age/pattern with more practice on vegetated surfaces (keep short/high on non-veg for time being)
Bonus: Letting go of wildlife / focus on track first. I think this will improve on its own as we get back into more regular tracking but with TDX she may need a little more reinforcement while she learns to prioritize on the work.
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