Tracking With Otis

 Great to be back! Otis seemed glad to be back, too! Goal for summer/hot weather: keeping his head in the game with positive outcomes ie easy to moderate challenges with successes; tracking 2X a week one component per track-obstacle or stamina or starts Yesterday’s obstacle was crossing a dirt road on the farm. (W10 S2) His start was strong and tracking remained strong through the tall grass. He pooped close to the turn but made the turn well. Things got harder as we got closer to the road. I have permission and got the code for the gate at Panorama so I can enter early. That’s the good news. Unknown to me the farm manager runs the farm road early in the AM with his 2 loose hunting dogs. He was coming as I was leaving after laying Otis’ track and going home to let it age.  When I came back an hour later he was still running and coming down the road where O’s track crossed the road. This is something Otis definitely will have to learn to deal with I just didn’t want a challenge...

 Best day today! Lots of enthusiasm and super turns. At the turns I gave him extra line and he made each turn spot on I thought. I was especially pleased there was one very small (!) whine. Otis did not get drawn into the brush pile. He had a strong pull throughout. Taking his 15 foot line to the beach (away now until 3/21) Hoping to find a small green space for at least some fun starts and article tracks. https://youtu.be/k3Gfdi_9y4c    https://youtube.com/shorts/RUIr-wQi66I

 Goal was distance and maintaining attention to track. The start went well I thought. When we approached the first turn I gave him more line. Looking at the video I can see he clearly showed me the right turn and I didn’t go with him which caused his frustration. As I remember I knew the turn was at the light pole but should have had a ground marker as well. On the second leg I cannot figure why part way into the leg he kept wanting to go left. Maybe from watching the video and with your knowledge you will know. The track was even to the right of where actually I was as you can see his taking a food drop to the right. Second turn was made well with a “leave it” for track trash at that turn. He did a nice job I thought of not being distracted by traffic, by a loud trash truck picking up trash on the road adjacent or by the track being close to the woods. He missed the final article and so did I! Then I see I pointed it out to him! UGH! I think I did a better job of line handling and...

 As suggested, I laid a track proximate to the woods with rewards on the track for staying on/coming back to the track. As rewards I used food drops and articles. I also used an article on the 2nd turn. I missed videoing the start, 1st leg and turn. The 1st turn was to the left away from going straight into the woods and then on to parallel the woods. Otis did a good job I thought of not pulling into the woods, turning left and staying on the long paralleling leg. He retrieved the articles on the leg and found the food drops. Unfortunately I am still dropping the line when he retrieves articles. My excitement gets the better of me but I must do better and remember to hold onto the line. Otis did a nice job of retrieving the article on the second turn then taking the turn rather than continuing straight. A great article retrieve at the end of the track.  https://youtu.be/1rA3YzdzkNg     https://youtube.com/shorts/MEiNvRDbWk4

 Mistakes today but I will learn from them. Some good takeaways to feel positive about as well. My idea was to have 3 turns with an article on each turn and intermediate articles on the 100yd legs. Articles and their reward for indication. No food drops. Since I was going to double lay the track, I marked each turn with a flag so I would be sure to rewalk accurately. Got so excited about the track and all its possibilities. Had an errand to run for Dan so Otis stayed at home with Dan while I laid the track and ran the errand which aged the track an hour and 20 minutes. Not a problem. The problem came when I picked up Otis and took him straight to the track. In the AMs he has yard play or a farm run with me. He had neither. At the start as I rewatch it I see his behaviors trying to engage and play. 1st mistake ie not having a time of some type of engagement before tracking. As he seems more off track and “playful” I move up to 10’ and what I think was my double line up is one beside...

 Great day for tracking! With the snow/rain/sleet I was sure there would be no one at the farm this AM when it opened. Wrong! Just as I began to lay O’s track, 2 dogs came running down the hill toward me followed by a young man. He was the house sitter for the farm manager and had the manager’s dogs out for their walk. They marked the gate posts of course and ran here and there finally going on their way down the road and home. I walked back to the beginning of the track (not far) and started it again with heavy scuffing about 6 ft from the gate post as I went with an article in the scuffing and a jackpot at the end then continued the article track pattern. I went home and got Otis, brought him back and started the track. He was awesome! There were some places where he was definitely checking out where the dogs had been but he ignored the gate post and really enjoyed retrieving all his articles. After he finished he had his water and we drove up the hill where I put on his gps and ...