October 8, 2023

 Used the practice field at middle school.  Short grass.  Partly cloudy and about 68 degrees.  Laid 3 straight tracks parallel to the tree line.  I was curious if Vivi would stay on the track or be tempted to follow critter tracks (I'm sure there are lots of critters coming out in that area when no one is around.).  I increased the frequency of the food drops to help keep her focused on the track.  She did have moments when she went side-to-side of the track, but I waited her out and she came back to the track.  I laid one of the tracks so it went by an old flag left behind by some work the school must have done. The flag was about 15 feet to the left of our track.  She didn't pay any attention to it.  I also used baby food to reward for article indication and on the last track she actually used her nose to push the glove around.  I'm hoping this is a good sign!  The previous day we were in a scent work trial and, in our last container class, she nosed the last hide ( a small box).  She's never done that before.

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