Tracking With Otis

 3 straight line tracks Practice for: Walk ups-work in progress Article indication-pawed then picked up article on Track 1; picked up article on Tracks 2 and 3

 Article indication: improving each outing Walk up: work in progress Turn behavior: turns marked but did not know their direction; very helpful to be able to concentrate on his loss of scent behaviors

 2/9 1st tracks with 2 turns Continue to work on: line tension, observation of loss of scent, article indication Scenting, track dedication, turns were all good I thought even though one track went through some briery patches

 2/8 Article track 7 articles; followed class pattern-W25 FD W15 A W10 FD W15 A W10 FD… Pushed articles deeper into grass ie out of plain sight of the sighthound He scented to all, pawed each article, threw food and my aim got a bit better, picked up & dropped 2 Placing articles around the house and he’s becoming very aware that picking up and holding has its rewards

 2/3/24 30 degrees 4MPH 57% 8:45-9:15 Two flags were used, start flag with article which he pawed (!) and 2nd flag at 30 yards S5W5FD Varied from track very little, used 15 foot line held at 10 ft, right turn overshot slightly, scuffed into and out of turn, at the article he pawed, flipped and picked up and held!!! Party time 🥳  Practicing with games inside and on the farm when we are out walking (leashed) there.  Yesterday some careless (!) person had dropped 4 articles in 4 different places where we just happened to walk. He pawed and picked up each one-so much excitement from me for his smartness

February 1, 2024 52 degrees 4MPH 33% Sunny  12:00-12:15 New tracking site, longer/deeper grass, slight breeze across track Very accurate, not distracted by new environment or thicker cover; continues to paw article and getting paid with lots of joy, “Yes!”, and roast beef!

 Otis 37 January 30, 2024 Attentive to track, accurate, pawed article