November 26, 2024
We ran three-30' foot tracks. The chicken was laid at intervals of one or two shuffle steps. Nimrod ran all three tracks with a fair amount of confidence. The tracks were laid close to road and a dog on the other side of the road barked at us the whole time. Nimrod started each track with confidence, but each time, after moving forward a couple dog lengths, he'd stop and look at the barking dogs. A low "find it," got him going again.
Good to hear his confidence is building and that a low direction was able to refocus him. Distractions can be tricky when getting started but as that confidence builds, distractions are a great training opportunity. If he seems unable to refocus with a distraction, throw a jackpot of treats while he's looking away and then pretend it's the end of the track so he finishes on a win/positive. As we start to work in articles, you'll always carry an extra in your pocket and do the same if a track needs to end early (or if an article has gone missing). We can talk about this tomorrow more!
ReplyDelete