February 2024

January 30

Brigid -- 4-turn track in unfamiliar field. Medium length hayfield all around. 400 yards, 50 minutes old. Three articles. Clear, 43°, calm. Humidity 67%.

Good start, great track accuracy all around. Good turns, although still has to work on corners. Found and indicated all articles. What is really encouraging is that she is enthusiastic and eager all the way around--pulling hard to final article.

Millie -- Short (230 yard), 4 turn track on new field. Foray into deep and thick woods. Aged 2:20. Medium length hayfield and woods. Sunny, 43°, wind force 1; humidity 69%

Excellent start and confident first turn (open right), found and indicated first (and all subsequent articles). Worked on second turn (open left) along tree line and made it cleanly; followed third leg along tree line, up to 90° right into woods. Hesitated for a moment, then checked right and plunged through thicket into woods. Found article after about 40 yards of thick woods, then worked hard to find 90° left, which she finally made. Emerged from woods and onto open field with no confusion and worked her way to last two articles. A nice, confident track, with no confusion or problem in woods,

February 2

Millie -- 5-turn track through difficult changes of cover and rough cover. 430 yards, aged 2 hours. 4 articles Medium to long field grass, scrubby brush, Overcast, 55 degrees, wind force 2. Semi-blind (no flags, and I had only a vague idea of where I'd laid the track.)

Very gratifying track--strong start, very good adherence to track and turns almost all the way around. Only missed the last turn, when she was clearly annoyed by chest-high scratchy brush. Otherwise a very nice job. Found and indicated all but the last article

February 4

Brigid -- 6-turn modified stairstep, with scuffing and drops as shown in formal exercise. Articles on each leg instead of food drops.  High-value food in first two articles (duck liver!), then in every other article. 350 yards. Aged 45 minutes. Short to medium field grass. Sunny, 46 degrees, calm. Low humidity.

Two goals in today's track: 1. give her a lot of incentive to pay attention to articles, alternating articles with and without food; and 2. try to isolate loss-of-scent behavior by filming her.

Good start and nice article indication on first leg; clear loss of scent behavior on first corner, but a bit of difficulty picking up the second leg in sandy area (but ultimately successful). Head nod in direction of turn on second corner, and eventually circled into third leg. Drawn off track by tempting deer turds; found her way back eventually and did nicely on third corner. Had to work on fourth corner, and had difficulty committing to new leg--needed some encouragement before nailing it down. Fifth turn in very critter-y area again took work, but did eventually settle into it. Sixth leg in that same very smelly area a bit ragged, but found the last corner and made the turn neatly. Tracked somewhat wide on final leg, but worked her way back.

Loss-of-scent becoming a bit more obvious. On many turns she gives a clear head nod in the direction of the new leg, whether she goes well past the turn or not. She usually (but not really reliably) circles back to the new leg, and digs in clearly when she has it--we both of us are starting to develop a bit more confidence on the corners. 

Her article interest is very noticeable and clear--just as interested in articles without food in them as in food-laden articles. Tracked a bit wide on some legs (particularly the last), but responded well to the technique of falling in behind her and letting her work her way over--it really works!

One further observation--I've started talking too much again, and need to shut up!

video: 

February 6

Brigid -- Straight article track at class, introducing throwing food on articles just at they reach them. Increasing interest with each passing article. 

February 8

Brigid -- 550 yard straight-line endurance track. Articles with "food from heaven" of increasing frequency as the track progressed (50 yards x 4, then 30 yards x 5,  then 25 yards x 8). Aged 45 minutes. Short to medium field grass. Overcast, 45 degrees, wind (head-on) force 2.

Good attention to the track the whole way--showed little inclination to stray very far. Drive and enthusiasm to the end; increasingly good indication on articles.

February 10

Brigid -- Four-turn, 300 yard "top hat" track, aged 30 minutes. No scuffing, but food drops every 20 yards or so.  Short to medium field grass. Overcast and damp, 52 degrees, wind force 2.

Brigid was a bit ill yesterday, but she is recovered. Nonetheless, I wanted to give her a short, easy and fun track, with just enough challenge to be interesting.

Her start was very strong, as was her accuracy on the first leg (and on all subsequent legs--no tendency today to become distracted; she even passed within 5 feet of a dead vole without being diverted). Went about 15 feet through the first (left hand) corner, but circled nicely to pick it up. She did have a bit of difficulty on the second (rh) corner, but again worked it out without any help from me. The third (rh) turn was quick and nicely done, and the final (lh) corner was one of those rare "turned like on rails" experiences. She found the final article with ease, and showed decent indication