Tracking With Otis

 Goal today was change of cover. The start was in very tall grass/weeds. The first leg crossed a closely mown (yesterday) path. The second leg was in the tall grass and turned left onto a closely mown path. (These paths are paths Otis often runs free on each day when we come to the farm) The third leg was on the mown path and had an open angle turn off the path and back into the tall grass. I placed an article @ 15 after the turn as a reward for leaving the path. There was also 🥓! The final article was deep in the weeds-more 🥓!  https://youtu.be/8NvwpanSwzk     https://youtu.be/tJpnA1rfF_A   

 Goal was 4 start tracks with increasing age of 1.5, 2, 2.5 and 3 hours. The first track went well. The second track had issues from the beginning and on the third track I threw out my extra article and ended on a happy note. (Came home and enjoyed an indoor “find it” game together) The weather was heating up quickly and in my opinion I expected too much too soon. I hope to get back to my goal(s) for the summer: 1)maintaining the skills he has acquired for his TD 2)adding some TDX skills especially obstacles in very small increments 3)being cognizant of staring, whining and working on minimizing those by appropriate interrupting. Attaching video for Track 1 and the beginning of Track 2 https://youtube.com/shorts/mIHKa2mm0p4 https://youtu.be/UAH_vOslJEI

 What a wonderful morning! So proud of Otis’ tracking. Was it perfect, no but there were, in my mind,  so many positive take aways. When he was finished he was excited for the article find in the roped off short  grass parking area and so was I! I approached the start flag at an angle so he found the track and took off. There was some whining and staring at the tall grass on the far side of the road but patience won the day. (A truck had gone over the road after the track was laid.) The left turn was like his head was on a string but unfortunately the 3 minutes ended at the turn and in restarting the video I missed the turn. Super day! https://youtu.be/8IvDzBWdIB8 https://youtube.com/shorts/dlOA_C31px0

 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...