Tracked with Nimrod on 1/7. Once again 50, 60 and 70 yards, straight line, no article, flag one yard before the final FD. FD every two strides. Watching him track in snow was interesting. I could watch him go from footprint to footprint. He couldn't find the chicken a lot of the time, especially when it sank into the snow. I got a lot of LOS signals from him. Could that be, "It all smells like chicken, but I can't locate it."

On the first track I put him in the harness and then dropped the leash while reaching for my phone. He charged the start flag and started without me. I dropped a glove while laying the second track. I didn't spot it until we were running the track. Nimrod gave it a nuzzle as he passed. I wasn't sure how to respond. It wasn't meant as an article and I'm working on nuzzle, down as an article indicator.

I try to practice article indication every day using "oops I dropped it." I'm getting an unprompted down about 30 percent of the time. The rest of the time he downs with a single hand gesture.

Comments

  1. Jack's JourneyJanuary 8, 2025 at 3:23 PM

    If you feel you have to give him a signal to down 70% of the time, please do not reward/treat those. Tell him he is clever and release him with zero food. Tell him "let's try again". With food in your hand, he should be figuring out that he only gets rewarded/treats when he downs independently. How about a video of article training?

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