December 17: Great class with Cheeky

She was very happy to see everyone and all the dogs.

Judi asked everyone to say hello to her. She was a bit distracted at the start of her first track and didn’t seem to know what to do. The food was spread out and part of the track was not scuffed so Judi had Valerie redo the same track with scuff steps and good every 2 steps. I restarted her and this time she got right to work. A few times she got distracted but I just stopped and waited for her to get back to work. Judi told me to keep the leash very short and keep her on the track. She should not go more than a foot or two off the track and this stage. She did a second track and did great with much fewer distractions. Judi and I are both very excited about her tracking ability.

Homepage for the week of 12/18:

Cheeky-20, 30, 40 scuff steps (tiny steps), food every 2 or 3 steps. 3 tracks per session. Next time, 30, 40, 50. Next time, 40,50,60. Keep food the same. Maintain tight scuff (essentially walking heel-toe). Focus on nose deep. She looked great today.

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December 11

Cheeky, Sizzle and Fanny did 50 scuff steps (with food every two steps) tracks near the Community Center and Valero by 360 today. Cheeky ate more of the food without a flag in front of her and mostly kept her nose to the ground.

January 5: Left Turn Track Day Four

I put in a track at the Battlefield Green Community Center near a line of trees. It was overcast and 63°F. The track was 80 scuff steps, left turn and second leg was 60 scuff steps. Cheeky was mostly happy and tracked well, but after the turn she really wanted to go backwards. I stood still and waited for her to decide to go forward. She was pretty determined. She seemed anxious either because it was getting dark or because there were dogs barking nearby. At one point before the turn I made the mistake of correcting her for sniffing some trash. I don't know if that caused some of her anxiety too. Eventually she did decide to move forward and did well on the remainder of the track. The video is below. You'll see her off screen for quite a while after the turn and that's the point where she was trying to pull me backwards.

December 3: Cheeky's first tracking class

In the pouring rain and about 50°F, Judi laid three short tracks for Cheeky. She walked backward so Cheeky could see what Judi was doing. Cheeky seemed to pick up on the idea right away especially on the second track. She was sniffing and eating most of the hot dogs. We can work on recognizing the articles at home. She was distracted by people are dogs walking by but she's just a puppy and we can work on that.

Cheeky's Tracking Journal

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