December 30: Tracking at Cold Harbor Battlefield in Spring-like Weather

We tracked at Cold Harbor Battlefield around 4 pm. It was 64°F and wind was going to the left over the tracks at about 8-10 mph. I laid three tracks that were 70/80/90 scuff steps with food every three steps. Cheeky did a great job even though she was distracted a couple times and blown off to the left a few times. Each time she got right back to work. She's learning to pull me in the right direction even when I don't go with her fast enough. I'm excited about starting turns with her tomorrow.

Today I took a couple photos of my line-ups. This was the double line-up in front of me.

This was behind me.

Comments

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

Search This Blog