Week 3 - Practice 1

12/05/24

1 session at a public park with Flora and Finwe!

Session 1:

• Weather: 45F,

  Sunny, Wind NW 15mph.

• Located in a public park on a very cold and windy day.

  • Track One - 1:00 pm & Ran at 1:09 pm

    • 15 yd on short grass. (A dog and human had recently passed by this area.

    • Chicken was spaced about every 12 inches.

  • Track Two - Laid at 1:38 pm & Ran at 1:43 pm

    • 25 yd on short grass with small incline, passing benches and tree.

    • Chicken was spaced about every 15 inches.

    
    

GOAL FOR THE TRACK:

• To practice in new environment that is similar to other practice locations

How did it feel?

• Pretty decent, a bit hard to stay still and let her go back tot he track during distracting moments. (Such as the loud banging sounds that were similar to a past bad experience for her.)

  
  

List three things the dog did well:

1. Getting right at the start to go go go. (Verses looking around before putting that nose to the ground)

2. Not straying from the track more than a small check out despite all the scents of other public visitors.

3. Ignoring the vultures! I swear my baby herding breed was a bird dog in a past life.

   
   

List things you’d like to improve:

1. Me getting better at setting her up for success in making straight lines verses circling. (Or at least understanding why specifically she is stopping for that. Ex. Is it related to windy conditions, distraction smells, etc. )

2. Me taking better care to properly judge the distances I should be placing her food tracks.

Goal for next track:

• Find more surfaces to practice on

• Find more places with foot traffic to practice shorter tracks (She already visits high traffic places weekly for normal exposure, but not while tracking. I need to be better about combining these outing types to make more chances for my dog to succeed.