Cheeky's Tracking Journal

Thank goodness it’s the shortest day of the year and they will start getting longer from here on out.     I only took Cheeky out today because I knew it was going to get dark before we got done if I brought Fanny or Sizzle.     It was 39° but felt like 36° and 4:40 pm when I laid her tracks between the Battlefield Green community center and shops on 360 by the Valero.     I laid three tracks 30/40/50 scuff steps with food every two steps.     Cheeky did a fantastic job using her nose tonight and laid down super fast when she got to the gloves.     She loves this!     She got distracted a couple times by the traffic  noise  on 360, but got right back to work.    

It was 42°F and about 12 mph winds.   Cheeky did 3 tracks. 20/30/40 scuff steps with food every 2 steps. 5-6 feet before the article she saw it and ran to it. At one point I was holding Cheeky tight enough that she stopped tracking and looked back at me so I let her go once she wanted to run towards the article. Here's a photo of Cheeky's tracks on the field where someone had driven all over the field.

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 ...

A t 3 pm, we tracked at the community center near shops, Valero and 360. It was sunny and around 50°F. I laid an 80-scuff step tracks with food every two steps. Cheeky did the first one. She did great but got distracted by traffic a few times. She stopped to watch but went right back to work.

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. 

On December 10, Cheeky went with Fanny and Sizzle to the small battlefield near Gaines Mill Battlefield.  Cheeky was happy but does seem to be racing through the start and over most of the hot dogs on the first track. She picks up 2-3 hot dogs and puts her nose to the ground a couple times on the second track.  I'm starting to wonder if she's racing to the flag.  She seemed happy to see the articles today and laid down for the hot dogs.  Cheeky does a little better on the second and third tracks and picks up multiple hot dogs and mostly keeps her nose down but still seems to race toward the flags at the end of the tracks.  

 We tracked at the small battlefield near Cold Harbor at sunset. By the time we tracked it was getting dark which made Cheeky nervous. She seemed to be scared of the article, but I did try to make it a positive experience and give her more hot dogs. Fanny was happy to clean up the cookies Cheeky left behind.  

 We went tracking today in the drizzly weather.  It was warm and not windy.  We were near the main road on my subdivision that has an occasional car pass by but no one was at the playground.  Cheeky was nervous but she tracked well for the first half of the track.  Then she got distracted and seemed to move down the stack with tracking or eating the hot dogs.  She seems to ignore the glove initially until she knows it’s what I want her to pay attention to.  She laid down in front of the glove and ate all her cookies.  Then gave her more cookies on the glove and threw some for her similar to what I’m doing with Fanny since she seemed nervous.

It was sunny and 51°F.  We went to a small field near 360 by a small shopping center and a Valero near the front of our subdivision. Cheeky was excited to track and get the hotdogs, but she noticed the traffic about halfway down the second track and got nervous.  I did ask her to lay down to get the hotdogs and she did that.  She gets the tracking for hotdogs, but I don't think she's quite figured out that the article is what she's looking for. Here's a photo of the three tracks and a panoramic photo of the area.

Jason and Fanny went with us today for our first practice.  It was 4:20 pm and starting to get dark and cold at about 44°F.  I laid three tracks that were 15, 20 and 25 scuff steps.  Cheeky did a great job on her tracks and when there was a distraction, she got right back to work.  We still need to work on articles.   Jason video taped Cheeky’s track:  https://youtu.be/vzK4Jd26p70