11/29/23

River did an article track today with no food in first article, she is very consistent at down indicating for start, and then I increased the amount of food for each subsequent article.

After final article, I put the ball down the track line.

Really surprised at River's attitude for this track. She's done article tracks, but this was so different. Her attitude and demeanor on walking up to the start...excited to get going. HOORAY!! She was very obviously already on the scent even before I moved the line from her collar to leash. River is absolutely associating the current tracking activity with a forthcoming fetch activity.

She downs for all the articles. Difference was that this time after the 1st article she pawed at the socks before doing the down. So, this is what Duck does and did on his article track today and has been doing since last spring. River was happy to find her fetch ball out past the final article. I'm so happy I gave this reward a chance as it's really making a difference.