1/10/24

Huguenot Park - short start tracks on soccer field

Gusty winds today but sometimes blocked by the surrounding trees.

S5 W60F30. (Basically, I tried to have just one food drop on each leg).

Our goal was to get an improved quicker start on the track from the article. She has been getting a food reward for downing or pausing so I am now trying to just not have River linger at the start.

So, fortunately, maybe due to the cold and wind gusts, River just kept sniffing around the flag/article. She did not stand over the article and stare back at me. She actually did step out and I kept the line super short on T1, (longer on T2,T3, ) so that I went with her on each track instead of asking for down indication . She was on the track fairly well, some crossing back and forth. She almost went past the food drops, but turns to get them. The tracks were 3 left 90 degree turns. I let the line out to 15-20 ft. She did all the turns consistently, going at most 3-5 ft beyond the turn, so I was not at the turn. On the T2 & T3 starts, she was no longer looking back to me and she just went out from the article. Smarty pants can learn quickly if she so chooses. Still, she starts a bit off to the left of the track line, from the start article, on T1 & T2 today, but there was a lot of wind gusts. .

It was nice being out as we took a break except for an article track last week due to working on the tracking test this past weekend.

Next, I'll likely try a long staight track with just a single turn.