Otis 11

 Put in a track for Otis this AM at 7:15. Picked him up at home and ran it at 7:45. The temperature was in the low 30s and the ground was frosty.

Following our class work on Tuesday, I established a double line up (peak of house roof between 2 trees) and walked a straight line track of 150 yards broken into 3 tracks according to directions given following Otis' tracking on Tuesday. The first track was 30 yards with a food drop every 3 steps. The second, 40 yards with a food drop every 4 steps, the third, 50 yards with a food drop every 5 steps. I marked the beginning of each track with a flag and put a clip at the end. I walked 10 steps between each track. At the beginning of Track 1, Otis seemed to be looking for the food right after the start which had heretofore always been there. He paused, looked around, put his head down and then began tracking to find the next drop. When he would veer to the right or left on the track he would self correct and come back to the track. This tracking behavior continued with no apparent change through all 3 tracks even as the distance between the food drops increased. At the end of each track, I amped up his excitement with the food laden articles with lots of play. I'd throw, he'd pounce , grab and return. Was also so pleased by how proud and happy he was returning to the car.

Next outing on Saturday and again on Monday I will do 40 yds with food every 4 steps, 40 with food every 4 steps, 50 with food every five - I will add one food drop at each start. I will report in after Thanksgiving.

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