11/20/24
- Maureen Woolley, Duck & River
- Nov 20, 2024
- 2 min read
10am laid 3 straight lines marked with start and end flags with only shuffling as in class, FD @ every 4th shuffle for 40, 40 & 50 yards and ran them right after.
Cloudy, 89% humidity, 64F, no wind, dewy, damp grass.
Goal: per class instructions we are working our foundations, so it’s having a straight spine on the track as we move along it.
How did it go? She tracked straight on the shuffle/snack line!
On first 2 tracks, there was no start flag but she got the food and moved forward. Straight on the track line aand got food in front of her or skipped over one or two entirely. Also, a few she went past and then turned her head go back for and eat the food drop sideways. The food was pretty much by my feet since I was following her on the really short leash guidelines.
The second track was near the first. I had moved the leash back to her collar but she stuck her nose down and pretty much walked the path to the next start area. I sat her and switched the leash to harness, and same straight on the shuffle line. Got to end flag and she was starting to sniff so I bent to move the leash and said game over.
We moved over to the third shuffle treat line. Honestly I had a lapse and dropped a start article and end article. River downed for the start and then was straight on the track line, even though it was a little bit uphill, (limited by my yards terrain) and skipped over more food on this one. Plotted down at the end article and turned her head to look at me.
From what I read, you guys did well. Not sure if you rewarded extra treats at the end flag of each track. I think MA wanted extra treats at end of track to reinforce the end behavior.
Glad you kept a short line and achieved straight movement!
Love, love love that you’ve gone back to foundations! Remember, she may still be using the food for information, even if she’s not eating it.
As an aside….think of something you are good at. Do you find it fun to go back to step one and just hammer it? That’s what you are doing with River. You’re giving her a chance to say “I got this lady, and it’s FUN.” That has to be part of your training—tracking, rally, obedience, agility—we have to routinely put the dog in the position of feeling powerful. It’s that powerful feeling that we access on test/trial day—the dog takes us down the track because they own all the skills—not because we told them to.