for 25 Feb Nimrod and I ran a 200 yard two right turns track with a bag drag and food drop every ten yards. I was payiing particular attention to my line handling and hoping to build Nimrod's confidence. We were tracking at a fairly busy park so the distractions abounded. I didn't feel Nimrod was enjoying himself so much as going through the motions. Maybe thinking that any one of the many distractions would be far more rewarding than rotisserie chicken. I'm not sure. We'll track again today, and I'll use sausage as my food drop.
Posts
For 16 Feb: I laid a 2- 90 degree L turn track with the first and third legs 100 yrds and the middle leg 50 yrds. I kept the food drop at 15 steps but continued to bag drag. We began to track. Nimrod had increasing difficulty with finding the scent. Winds were gusting at 40-50 MPH and the field was more or less a continuous inch of standing water. It didn't help that Nimrod doesn't like to get his feet wet. I think Nimrod started sight tracking, diving at every small pale object in his path hoping for chicken. On the last leg, he looked at me and more or less shrugged. I threw chicken over his head, clipped him into his collar and told him he was a good boy. It was just two hard.
Feb 13 I have no video of this Episode of tracking. I deleted all my video hoping to get my map photos to upload to Google photos. I thought I'd already uploaded it to YouTube. I hadn't. We ran a two-hundred-yard track with a bag drag to build confidence. A puppy ran across the already laid track and boys were flying drones nearby. Nimrod stopped and pondered at the place where the puppy and her owner crossed the track. He clearly understood that was not his track and got back to work. When we came abreast of the drones Nimrod had another ponder. This time I had to throw food on the track to refocus him. The rules say a tracking test is not timed but if a dog is not working the team will fail. How long should I let Nimrod stop and stare before prompting him to get back to work?
We tracked on Feb 11 during the sleet storm. I learned a lot about scent: snow holds scent, sleet dilutes it, scent goes downhill. I saw my first clear LOS from Nimrod. I couldn't help him. I was using my double line up and the final flag to indicate the track and the scent and the chicken had both rolled downhill a good four feet. Nimrod kept scenting and finally found the track again and made it to the end. Nimrod gets distracted fewer times while tracking and get refocused more easily. We did two R turn tracks, All legs 50 yards, FD every 10 steps with a bag drag on both tracks. The quality of the video is poor, my hands were numb and there was sleet on the screen so couldn't see well. I was astonished at how well that blown Airedale coat insulated Nimrod. He was impervious.
Feb 8. We tracked 2 L turn tracks. Each leg was fifty yards, with FD every ten steps. On the first track I dragged a bag on the second track I walked it only. I was pleased with how well Nimrod stayed on task, only needing prompting to get back to work once on each track. To be fair, it was wet and cold and there really weren't any distractions. As he tracked, I could feel something happen, as if he just let out the clutch. He wasn't going faster but there a change in his rhythm. Our next opportunity to track will be Tuesday. I will increase my food drop spacing to fifteen steps but drag the track. We'll be tracking at a park and distractions will abound. I'll probably lay two fifty-yard turn tracks again. The park has a lot of space but an endurance track of 150 yards or more is difficult because the space is chopped by fences.
February 1st tracking: Thomas Dale Ball Feild. Very wet field. Two dogs were running at large while I laid the track. Nimrod was interested but not mesmerized. They ran across the first leg of the track after it was laid even eating some chicken. We had tracked on the same field the previous day: same FD (every ten strides), same length (two seventy yards legs) same 90 degree left turn. The previous day we were tracking in the after-school period and there were sounds and distractions. Nimrod was easily distracted and there were long pauses before he could get back to work. I thought that by laying the same track, I'd build some familiarity. I dragged the bag rather than bouncing it to make it easier for him. I don't think I got LOS from him, but he stared into the middle distance quite often. When he's tracking, he's engaged but then he comes out for a while. I can't discern any reason for the extended pondering. I have noticed that when we track at the elementa...
