Vivi & Carolyn

 I've had some car issues which kept us homebound for several days so we worked on article indications from last Friday through Monday in my side yard.  On Wednesday, we did two long, straight tracks (about 270 yards each) and she did well on both.  Got a little distracted by the rain barrel that our 2nd track went by, but not for long.  Today (Friday) I was a little rushed for time so we did one 4-turn track that had a start article, an end article and then 2 articles on the track (3rd and 4th legs).  She's nosing the articles at least.  We keep working on getting those downs. Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!  See you tomorrow!

 Worked on duration this morning by laying 2 straight tracks (both 250 yards long).   1st track - I laid this track in the Mashburn's front yard to see how Vivi might react to passing cars.  She didn't seem distracted by them so in the future I will lay a track closer to the road.  Vivi was right on for this track.  She did stop a couple times midway when we were right in front of their house because their dog was barking.  But Vivi just looked up and went back to tracking.  She nosed the article at the end, but no automatic down. 2nd track -This started in the front yard and went into the back field.  She was doing well, but about 2/3 of the way through she seemed to be a little distracted, checking out some other scents mostly to left of track.  She also stopped and just looked like she was staring into space.  Don't know what caught her eye, but I just waited her out.  The wind was picking up around this time so maybe that...

 Update on training so far... We started class on Saturday where Vivi did 2 one turn tracks.  She seemed much less distracted than she was in the spring.  Our homework was to rotate working on starts, article indications, turns, and duration.  Today we just finished one rotation of our homework. Sunday (11/17) - Article Indications - we did two short tracks with many articles in the side yard.  Still no automatic down but she is nosing the article.  We keep working on getting that down. Monday (11/18) - Starts - we went to the Annex sports field and worked on starts by laying 3 straight tracks.  One was straight on from our approach, one was about a 45 degree to left of our approach and other was about 45 degree to the right of our approach.  She did well.  I must remember to watch her body language because there is a difference from when she is tracking vs. searching for the track. Tuesday (11/19) - Duration - we went to the Mashburn's home ...