Week 14 - Practice 1 & 2
- Heather McNamee
- Feb 19
- 4 min read
2/16/2025 & 2/17/2025
These both were taken before my class Tuesday 2/18/25
I split into two separate videos both embedded at the bottom of this post.
On Both Days:
Each track is Double Laid with treats and an End Article.
Working about 10' down the long line from Wren.
No food inside the article (As is later discussed changing in Tuesday's (2/18) class)
2/16/25 At Public Park with Dog Parks and Child Playgrounds nearby:
Weather:
Located at open fields ground ended up being pure slop mud under a thin layer of grass. (Wren and I sank to our ankles a time or two. Wren didn't seem to care about that much.)
We first ran: Three 10yd tracks with 2 treats and an end article for each one. No food on/in End Article.
(Per the Comments of Week 13 - Practice 2 Blog Click Here)
Then we ran our three tracks per usual to see if the three short ones help Wren make a connection between tracking & articles, verses her only indicating when specifically playing article games.
Track One - Double laid. Open Angle Right
Aged 15ish minutes, the time it took me to walk back around the field to get Wren
80 yd
Treats spaced every 20 paces. One treat also placed for 5 steps leading into, and then 5 steps leading back out of the Open turn.
End Flags are in a V 15 paces past the End Article.
Track Two - Double laid. Open Angle Right
Aged 15ish minutes, the time it took me to walk back around the field to get Wren
90 yd
Treats spaced every 20 paces. One treat also placed for 5 steps leading into, and then 5 steps leading back out of the Open turn.
End Flags are in a V 15 paces past the End Article.
Track One - Double laid. Open Angle Right
A bit trickier start as some geese were ran off by another dog from the pond we passed, as we were walking over from the parking lot.
Aged 15ish minutes, the time it took me to walk back around the field to get Wren
100 yd
Treats spaced every 20 paces. One treat also placed for 5 steps leading into, and then 5 steps leading back out of the Open turn.
End Flags are in a V 15 paces past the End Article.
2/17/25 At Yorktown Lots of off lead dogs coming and going:
Weather: .
Located at open fields ground at Yorktown. Lots of thick steams/field grass/short briars.
We first ran: Four instead of Three 10yd tracks with 2 treats and an end article for each one. No food on/in End Article. (I forgot to record 2 of the short tracks)
(Per the Comments of Week 13 - Practice 2 Blog Click Here)
Then I ran Two 'normal' tracks.
Track One - Double laid. Open Angle Left
Extra Note for Track 1: When I got back to my truck to pull out Wren, a man let his dog off lead from the parking lot. The dog ran over to my first track (see image in video showing pee spots and general red track of off lead dog). I decided instead of avoiding that track to walk over it a third time and relay some food since the dog was there very briefly. Was that the right call, vs avoiding the contaminated track this early in our training? I'm not sure. I mentally went back and forth between 'real world training' vs 'not setting her up to fail.' She needed some extra support with me throwing food onto the track once, and sticking closer but we were able to work through this stint together.
Aged 5ish minutes, the time it took me to walk back around the field to get Wren
80 yd
Treats spaced every 22 paces. One treat also placed for 5 steps leading into, and then 5 steps leading back out of the Open turn. An extra treat just past the pee spots.
End Flags are in a V 15 paces past the End Article.
Track Two - Double laid. Open Angle Left
Aged 10ish minutes
90 yd
Treats spaced every 22 paces. One treat also placed for 5 steps leading into, and then 5 steps leading back out of the Open turn.
End Flags are in a V 15 paces past the End Article.
GOAL FOR Both THE TRACKs:
Continue working on end article fun in distracting environments.
Continue practicing tracking with further spaced food drops.
How did it feel?
They felt pretty good! I feel like I am getting much better at reading my little fluffy partner and her cues for tracking. Both day's the environment was very distracting. (People and dog's staring us down, distant loud sounds that she's been more sensitive to since the December incident, etc) But little Wren does so well. The articles I feel are a tiny bit faster pick up.
(Writing this in hindsight but we have a plan for changing the end article tactics since coming to class Tuesday. Thank you to our two fearless leaders!)
List three things the dog did well:
Working through a nice smelly wildlife filled field with rabbits and plenty of deer scat at Yorktown. At the playground park (2/16) there were a lot of barking/lunging/starting dogs that kept passing us during and between tracks. Plus the (2/17) with the contaminated track and a surprising number of off lead dogs coming and going that day.
She's doing so well waiting patiently for her cue to start while I hook up her harness.
I feel like the small 10yd tracks have maybe helped her make the connection between tracking + article a little faster.
List things you’d like to improve:
My handling as far as supporting Wren and I learning to track on the 'line', verses drifting to just beside the line. I feel like we stay on track pretty decently but want to sharpen up my hands on understanding of supporting her learning.
My planning of tracks ahead of time instead of showing up and haphazardly walking spaces to lay track. I want to be better about being a mindful track layer both for us and for others.
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