February 18, 2026

Millie -- Article track. Overcast, 58 degrees, moderate breeze. RH 80% Little age (<15 minutes)

Article track laid exactly as described in training guide. Criteria were that she stop in front of the article and down within 2 seconds. In this exercise she scored 9 out of 10. But...

  • She is down, but not fully committed. She is ready to bounce up as soon as I move. I guess I have to be quicker at dropping the high-value treat on the article to nail her in place.
  • She recognizes the exercise as the exercise--I want to get it to carry through to more general situations. The trouble seems to be getting the behavior so ingrained that when we are actually tracking she does it automatically.
Good, but we have to keep working.

Next time Starts.


Brigid--Aged track (2:15). 270 yards, 3 turns. Overcast, 58 degrees, moderate breeze. RH 80% Grass and bushhogged weeds, damp.

She started well--we went in at 90 degrees to the first leg, but she made the correction immediately. The first leg was cross-wind, and she did track about 2-3 feet to the leeward the whole way, although I got in behind her. She found the first corner (right) immediately, and turned without searching or checking. The second corner, also right, was not quite as good--she had a problem finding it, and I had to keep her in close and restrain her from going in entirely the wrong direction. She was fine when she did find the third leg, and from there to the third corner and final leg she tracked well, without being distracted, in spite of going through a crittery area. At the article she again went past after only the most cursory check.

The age of the track made her a bit less certain, but she still did it with less than her customary searching and casting. The major concern was the second turn, a problem that she solved for herself only after being restrained from going the wrong way, and article indication, which clearly needs a lot of attention.

Next time a formal stair-step.


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