Fall ‘25 #7

 Article track following the class lesson formula. The weather was warm and humid this AM. Otis had an amazing amount of drive and pull on the line. His angled start to the track I thought was very good with high energy. He had so much energy he blew over the first four articles. He then did not pick up article #5, the toothbrush. I dropped the toothbrush on the track when he was doing a later indication and he did pick it up. Making a mental note to use some unusual and more difficult to pick up articles to challenge him.

https://go.screenpal.com/watch/cT6jY3nbeQX

https://go.screenpal.com/watch/cT6jY0nbeQT

https://go.screenpal.com/watch/cT6jYtnbeQ7




Comments

  1. Jack's JourneyOctober 9, 2025 at 2:05 PM

    Video 2 and 3 were nice. I would certainly sneak in an article reward of "petting, then feeding" or "petting and no food". You know your restart food drop is upcoming so on occasion, let that be his food reward. Not every article, not every track. Water might also enter the mix.
    Video 1 skipping articles - not sure that I would just keep going but maybe not making a fuss about it is better? I don't know. Especially when you lay the track, I think you know when they are coming up and I wouldn't let him pass it nor would I let him stand there long, hoping he will pick it up. Judi's recent post about cookies leading up to an article may help. Put some thought on it.

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  2. JudiOctober 10, 2025 at 11:22 AM

    Hmmm. Thought I already commented on this…. Totally agree with MAM—sometimes it’s pet/praise/play/feed—all of those predict the food—and sometimes it’s pet/praise/play/resume…and the track rewards him. As far as skipping articles, that’s on you. YOU should know precisely where they are so you can assure success BEFORE he blows by them. Practicing blowing by them. Is bad! Apply line pressure to slow him down a little. Add a verbal cue BEFORE he passes them. While I do think once he’s passed the article the ship has sailed, and bringing him back does’t offer much actual training, I also believe we are training….and it’s up to us to make sure we our dog up to succeed. Food every step for 5 steps up to the article both slows him down and lowers his arousal, thus gets him thinking. It’s a training step…might be worth it for your articles on your next article track and see what you get.

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