I have created this blog to follow the progress of Ilsa, Millie and the rest of my PBGVs through their tracking careers, and to share with my fellow students in Judi Edwards tracking class. Most of the posts here will be our training journal: brief descriptions of our practice sessions; some, however, will be longer discussions of specific observations or problems.
Dogs:
Ilsa (Ch. Goose Creek Brownstone We'll Always Have Paris TD): 10 years old. Has been tracking for about 3 1/2 years. Earned her TD in February 2020, and has been working on her TDX ever since.
Millie (Ch. Brownstone Mille Tonnerres De Goose Creek): 6 almost 7 years old. Started working on tracking this past May, and is just now starting formal classes. At least at present she can (usually) do a 3-turn track about 30 minutes old.
I'll just get started with my first entry, and along the way I'll explain some of the shorthand I use in my journal entries.
October 26.
Ilsa: Eight-turn stairstep track, with markers off to the side at each turn, to work on her turns (and my reading of them). Overcast and misty, 55 degrees, Light Air. Cover: mostly long grass bushhogged down to a length about halfway up the lower leg, with some short stretches of very short recently mowed grass; wet. Track 8 turns (9 legs of about 50 yards each), articles on all but first leg. 450 yards, 1:00 old.
Very good start, sure and committed. Sure on all legs, with no stopping to search around. Found and indicated all articles.
Her turns, which were of primary interest today, were characterized by her going about 4-6 feet (once as little as 1 foot, once as much as 15 feet) through the turn, and then starting to search. Each time she found the track with little difficulty.
A couple of points of concern: 1) I should prefer to see her tracking more systematically. I have been watching videos of dogs which move at a normal walking pace and with their noses practically glued to the track. Ilsa, in her enthusiasm, works the track much faster, nose down only part of the time. In part this is a function of working in the long grass, through which, because of her short legs, she has to "porpoise". And in fact, when we are working short grass, her nose is down and her work is a lot more deliberate. 2) Her turns, while she makes them all, are a bit less definite than they should be. I'd like to see a sharper, somewhat more immediate indication of loss of scent (eg head comes up immediately; head snaps in one direction or another). Instead, she seems a bit slower to recognize the loss of scent, and begins her search with a lazy turn in one direction or the other. She still finds the track, but if we were on a blind track I would be a lot less comfortable following her. Again, this is more of a problem in very long grass where she's working more quickly and less systematically. I need to try this exercise again in all short grass.
In the next few weeks I'd like to work her more in the woods, where she used to be deadly accurate, but now she seems a bit less certain. It is also harder to distinguish easily a real turn from a mere distraction in the woods.
Next time you do stairsteps, or starts, try scuffing up to the turn, and walking off with the biggest steps you can take....and see if that gives you a more pronounced LOS. I think you may have to accept what she's giving you in tall grass, unless you can train her to track in stilts? So i think what we want to work on is a more definite refind, where you feel confident that she has found the track. Often that's a handling thing, simply being more patient, playing out a bit more line, until you see the behavior you recognize. You will do a start with one turn in the woods on Saturday, so we can see what her woods turns look like. Great blog entry!
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