October 28

Ilsa.

Easy, fun track to build confidence. Mostly cloudy, 54 degrees, Gentle Breeze. Cover medium length meadow grass, dry. Track 400 yards, 4 turns, 5 articles; 3:00 old. 

Took the start right away, drove down first leg with determination. All subsequent legs just as strong. Turns were very good and clear; only had to search carefully at the first turn, which was at a smelly, littered roadside. Even then took only a short time to find the second leg. Followed track precisely to, parallel to, and then away from woodline. Found and clearly indicated all articles.

A very encouraging job on a regulation-aged track in breezy conditions.


Millie.

Same conditions as Ilsa, only cooler (43 degrees). Two three-turn tracks, all walked off normally, with random but frequent food drops. Two articles on each track, to give her motivation (articles mean big rewards!). 

Good work on all legs and all but one turn, which she missed completely and had to be brought back to. We need to work on corners--she goes about 4 feet through them before indicating loss of scent. Seems to track a bit wide left on some legs, no matter the direction of the wind. Not too far, about a foot or two, and her nose is always turned right following the track closely. 

Comments

  1. JudiNovember 7, 2022 at 10:52 AM

    Loved Ilsa's track. Question: What skill were you working on? It sounds like the goal was age, turns, articles, and obstacle (turn away from woods). You will preserve more of that attitude if you can break those out into individual, or maybe 2 (because I'd always train articles with her) skills. She is an older dog, and we really want to preserve her joy for the game...if it's always hard (she gets to determine that, not us), the joy may fade... Just something to think about....and something I have to remind myself about pretty much every day!!! Try to not have any days where you come back and think, 'oh, I wish I hadn't done quite so much,' but rather you come back and think, 'wow, she could have done more!'

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