Update

River enjoyed working on the down indication for various scented articles over the summer. Given the heat we just did really short straight or one turn tracks, honestly mostly in our yard.

And, I’m in a CAM boot with a moderate to severe ankle sprain until at least 10/28, so the tracking is being done with the slower moving dog River.

With the lower temperatures sometimes in October, we tried to do a few tracks at a time. Or a single 2 turn track. She is still better at left turns, sometimes wants to cut the right turn, and has a more difficult time when the second turn is a right turn. I tried scuffing into the turn, or scuffing out of the turn. Honestly it seemed like the abundance of odor just pushed her outward more.

On 10/11, I tried just walking out past the turn and backtracking then walking out of the turn on to the leg. River followed the blind dead end track and then went back on the actual track leg.

Yesterday, 10/12, I just walked into and out of both right turns. She was right on the first and then cut the corner on the second turn by 2-3 ft? Is this significant? She was on a 10-15 ft line and I was only 6 ft behind her to prevent any extreme cut of the corner. She is being very nose to the ground and actively sweeping the scent back and forth across the direct track line with food drops every 10 strides.