January 3, 2025
Happy New Year! 🥳
We went tracking this afternoon. Our goal was to do a multi-turn track with short legs to work on turns. She did not seem very focused after the first few steps. There was some sounds in the distance but I don’t think they were gunshots. I had to wait her out and try to encourage her to move on. It took a while before she took a few good steps and then she got focused on a few blades of grass. I thought she might be eating them because she does like to eat grass but she wasn’t. She was really giving those blades of grass a good sniff for a long time. Also, on the first leg she didn’t eat any of the food drops which is odd for her. She started eating them when we got to the 2nd leg. She was still distracted on the 2nd leg but started improving. Second half of track she was more focused on the track and did some nice turns with the last turn being her best. She did drink water at the end of the track and even more back at the car. She nosed the ending article but then wanted to go on.
thank you for using the form. is there any chance that you are working to include video in the future? if she is not routinely thrilled about starting and motoring down the track, i am not sure i would be doing 6 turns. yes, the TD rotation calls for a TURNS track but between overcoming the fear issue then being faced with 6 turns .... i don't know, i will try to talk to Judi about it. the TD rotation also calls for a long article track (as designed on the tracking website) but if she isn't routinely playing the games (as in multiple times a day) then having ten articles in front of her in a line would seem a daunting task. what are you doing to improve her interest in articles and her indication? what is her planned indication? revisit the videos on article games. i hear the actress they hired to make the videos is AMAZING! LOL. those games, from hide in seek, thru Can You?, to OOOPS can all be played indoors, for her breakfast and her supper. she should be loving these games by now. Get on it!!!
ReplyDeleteI have not had much success with videos that are the length of a tracking exercise. I think because my iphone is old and my internet is awful out here. I'll see if I can figure out something that will work.
ReplyDeleteHi Carolyn, Happy New Year! I read your other posts, but didn't have much to add - just wanted you to know I saw them. Glad to see you using the form and including a map! Other items you might want to note on either is your line length as that's helpful to know too. And, while tracking, mentally note if that line length changes her tracking behavior and include that in your notes. Agree with Mary Ann to check out those article game videos (the acting is excellent😁)...even if you've watched them previously, it's good to re-watch because as your eye and brain become more in tune with your dog's behaviors, you learn something new each time because you can better pickup on the nuance. I think once you get some good article game times inside, then work on them some outside your home; still where she is comfortable. And then, as you achieve success and maintained canine enthusiasm in locations she's comfortable, then maybe try to venture out a bit to areas that are different enough but not overwhelming. Like a quiet school ground on a weekend or something.
ReplyDeleteSound sensitivity is a pain in the ass, and something you might improve but probably can’t fix. When she spooks at gunshots, how long does it take her to recover? Can she take food? Our goal for her sound sensitivity is that she reacts, perhaps comes to you for protection/comfort, recovers, and is able to return to work. Let me know the answers to these questions and we will work on a strategy. I do agree with MAM, if she is frightened by a sound, I’d do our recovery process, let her return to work for a short distance, and quit! We don’t want her to make a correlation between loud noises and tracking.
ReplyDeleteHow long it takes her to recover is related to the loudness and duration of the gunshots. One lone gunshot will not affect her as much as a round of them. She will not take any food or play with me. Once she does start taking food, I know she is over them. I just need to remind myself to be patient and wait.
DeleteGood! Glad to know you understand that.
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