11/30/24 Robious Athletic fields
- Maureen Woolley, Duck & River
- Nov 30, 2024
- 2 min read
Track#1
Track#2
Track#3
Venting first…so beyond annoyed as I wrote details and saved the draft until I could upload the video links later ….and came back but no draft to be found….grrr
Based on success, changed to S3W12F6 today. Added turns to each of the three 2 leg tracks.
T1- a 90 degree right turn L shape.
T2- a right open angle right turn
T3- a 90 degree left turn L shape
Pre track: tried the treat in water with a different silicon bowl that we take to other outings, no interest. Will have to try a different style bowl and bottle delivery. River in general does not drink a lot of water unless she has just exercised so she may take water more readily out on the track as the length increases.
Used 5 foot leash and I tried to stay close to her.
T1 became more challenging as while I was laying T3 some guys arrived and were playing frisbee. From the area of the start flag they were throwing out to the area between my turn flag and end point. As I put up my tripod they picked up their frisbees scattered along the 2nd leg of T1 and their bags which were about 10 ft away from my turn flag.
Outcome:
River is getting more enthusiastic about the start . She’s ready to move as I’m attaching the leash to the harness. She is moving along the track more quickly than last year. She is pulling into the track to make sure that I follow. At one point she glanced back at me as if to say hey, come on, hurry up. That was a happy moment for me. At the turns, she sniffed around and pulled on me to go in the correct direction and she did not cut the corners which I am happy about as last year she was doing that especially on a right turn. And, the contamination zone with the frisbee people cross tracks….she worked it out pretty quickly. I was ready to throw an article to end the track but she circled and wandered then got the right scent and ended up pulling into the right track so I felt she did a superb job and hopefully I did ok with helping or not helping her. She pulled a lot, and did get on the correct turns on T2&T3.
She did down indicate for the articles except for the T1 start article. But, last year when she did turn tracks she began to not down at the start just sniff and keep walking so I’m not actually concerned.
Game plan: changing the SWF, to S3W16F8; continue to do a longer straight away leg, and do open or right angle turns. Will try to track 2 more times before Tuesday class.
i cannot tell you how dang proud i am of you maureen. geez o jiminy - your dog is downing at the article, your line is per-fect, perfect! her nose is down, you both are moving together - what a dance!! your foundation is so vastly improved!!
For what it’s worth. Please keep your scuff walk going. Remember, it’s no food for 1 track out of every 4–so most of her tracks will have food. And yes, if the food has become the cue to track we have to fix that ASAP.
Oh, water. Try chicken stock or coconut water. If she will take that, gradually dilute it.
OK, you have your dog back. You are handling beautifully. Continue to build distance between food drops, FWIW, I prefer 2 successful days at each increment before increasing. You can also maintain the distance a third day, and make something else a challenge (more length, a sidewalk or ditch crossing, a few feet of bare dirt), making sure you make the challenge easier than the rest of the track.
The one thing I’d like you to change starting now, is ONE track out of each 4 there will be no food at the start. None at the flag, none from you. There can be a food drop 10+ yards from the start flag, I’m looking for the reinforcement to com…