Tracked with Nimrod on 12/01/24. An unmitigated disaster. I don't know if I should have given him a day off after tracking class, if he was still recovering from the ravages of antibiotics that treated his clostridium and giardia infection, (The vet said he was no longer contagious), or if it was the unseen dog barking at him, (Always Nimrod's kryptonite). I laid the track FD every five shuffle steps and then FD after two normal steps, article at the end of track, no food at the terminal flag. Nimrod just stood there, head up, tail down, looking around. I have video which I will try to post. I tried to wait him out. No go. I indicated the first food drop. He went for it, then stood there head up, tail down. I indicated the next food drop. He went for it, then stood there. We limped to the end of the track in this fashion. He nosed the glove. (No big achievement here. He noses/mouths every McDonald's cup, Popeye's food container, plastic bag and straw we encounter...
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I haven't posted in a while. Nimrod and I have been tracking 2-3 times a week. I don't use the same field two times in a row. Nimrod is tracking with a FD every ten steps. When we run a 200 yard, two or three turn track I see very few distraction or extinction behaviors. When we run a 300 yard, two or three turn track I see a lot of those distraction behaviors. I'm not sure whether to keep the tracks at 200 yards and increasing the spacing of the FDs or keep the FDs at ten steps and gradually increase the length of the track. I will try to upload video soon. I've put Nimrod on a long line and his tracking improved instantly but I'm having trouble managing my phone and the long line. I got a go pro mini with a chest and head mount. The battery keeps overheating, but I'll keep working on the video piece.
July 6
When he lets go of the environment, he tracks pretty well. It doesnt matter what verbal cue you use—it won’t make him track. And once you’ve used it a couple of times, and he hasn’t tracked, it’s lost whatever meaning it might have had. So let’s just stop using our communication tool (voice) with a non verbal animal!
ReplyDeleteI’d suggest you watch Anne’s track with Mila from last weekend, and possibly follow Buster the bloodhound. Go back a look at Buster’s earlier videos (before snow). Mila is the Black Russian Terrier.
Here’s your goal: Keep Nimrod working the track no matter what. He’s distracted by the environment? Toss food onto the track—silently. While he’s eating…toss another piece out. And keep tossing until you see him ‘tuning out’ the environment and staying on the track. The first thing he has to learn is that it’s safe to put his head down and concentrate on smells. As I recall, Airedale’s are kinda guardy, so let’s accept that, and teach him it’s ok to leave the world in your hands. And do this with as few words (ideally none) as possible—let your actions (tossing food) teach him. And try as hard as you can to throw the second, third, forth etc pieces WHILE HE IS EATING the prior piece—so he doesn’t see you tossing the food.
Does that make sense?