Week 55/56: Practice 1 & 2

12/5/2025 & 12/9/2025

Two different days combined into 1 Blog.

12/5/2025

• Weather: 40F, 43% Humidity, Sunny getting dimmer, Wind NE 9 MPH.

• Track 1 (I laid this track)

  • Located at open field that gets lots of dog and human cross tracks.

    • Single Laid

    • 2 Turns, and a 'lost track start'

      • Short cut field

      • Aged: 30 Minutes

      • 3 Articles, a start, '1st end', and a '2nd end'

      • 160 yds total.

      • Food Drop Pattern: Shuffle 5 steps, Walk 30 strides w/ food at step 15ish. Repeat.

        There is a scent pad w/food at: 3yds, 8yds, 50yds, 75yrds,

        Scent pad w/ No food after 1st turn, Scent pad w/food a few paces before 2nd turn. Scent Pad w/ No food at the 'recovery start' for the '2nd track'.

      • Each scent pad has 3 tiny bits of food. 1 in the center and two in opposite corners.

GOAL FOR THE TRACKs:

• Get a feel in for up how scent pads can help us be more thoughtful in processing turns.

  
  

How did it feel?

• I know I am not supposed to make a story, but good golly I promise I walked her for 20 Minutes before the track because I could see she had to go #2. We consistently have weaker tracking as a team when she needs to go #2. She so far has only once ever gone #2 while tracking and instead prefers to hold it. She will tinkle occasionally while tracking. Which I softly verbal praise calmly and verbal praise when she pops back into tracking.

• (When potty moments happen during a track)

  • I was surprised by her commitment to turn Right on the 2nd turn, when I had gone Left. Historically, Wren's sniffer might shoot past a turn some and then circle back for it. I cannot think of a time that she dug in and committed to a wrong direction. Perhaps the scent moving oddly in that field with trees all around it, maybe the 'poop walk' urge, maybe even a cross track I didn't know about, who knows? What I am very happy with is that she didn't give up when I paused her to water and reset. She picked it right back up, and I feel this was a very good learning/partnership training moment between us. (She did go #2 immediately after finding her last article)

List three things the dog did well:

1. Getting back to her track after a little reset.

2. Finding her 2nd track with the 4 big side steps.

3. Wanting to work even when she was frustrated by me holding her from the wrong way/needing to go #2.

---

12/9/2025

• Weather: 34F, Sunny, Wind S 2 MPH.

• Melting Snow and lots of mushy ground.

• Track 1 (I Laid this track)

  • Located at open field that gets lots of dog and human cross tracks.

  • Heavily Fresh contamination from a flock of Crows who hopped around and took half of my food. haha!

    • Single Laid

    • 1 Turn Open Left.

      • Short cut field and sand, and snow, and mud

      • Aged: 30 Minutes

      • 3 Articles, a start, '1st end', and a '2nd end'

      • 160 yds total.

      • Food Drop Pattern: Shuffle 5 steps, Walk 30 strides w/ food at step 15ish. Repeat.

        There is a scent pad w/food at: 3yds, 8yds, 50yds, 75yrds,

        Scent pad w/ No food after 1st turn, Scent pad w/food a few paces before 2nd turn. Scent Pad w/ No food at the 'recovery start' for the '2nd track'.

      • Each scent pad has 3 tiny bits of food. 1 in the center and two in opposite corners.

• Track 2 (Flora laid, Blind for me)

  • Located at open field that gets lots of dog and human cross tracks.

  • Heavily Fresh contamination from a a human and heir off leash small dog that ran zoomies all around and took some food, plus peed around the track (Pine straw area) as I was walking up with Wren to start.

    • Single Laid

    • 2 Turns: 1 open Right, 1 Open Left.

      • Short cut field and sand, and snow, and mud

      • Aged: 50 Minutes

      • Stat and End Articles

      • 215 yds total.

      • Food Drop Pattern: Shuffle 5 steps, Walk 20 strides w/ food at step 10ish. Repeat.

        There is a scent pad w/food at: 3yds, 8yds, others as shown on Map with and without food.

        
        

GOAL FOR THE TRACKs:

• Play with scent pads. Track in snow again. I have to admit I didn't have a super grand plan here other than set up tracks to help her win the game in a less common condition. She kept bringing me 'articles' around the house while I was working that morning, and dying to go train.

  
  

How did it feel?

• I felt confident she would do well, but I was so much more happy with how we worked together than I had anticipated ahead of time.

• She was so much fun to watch working odd scent pockets and possible snow melt/scent drifting? (Ex. Track 1 at the 'stream' of melted snow. I know it flows from Left to Right and saw her give behaviors I expected while she worked that puzzle. It was super cool seeing her brain work!

List three things the dog did well:

1. Finding her tracks in the unusual conditions.

2. Track 2, moving past the poles that dogs pee on/disc golfers lean on with minimal 'leave it' (I use 'Off') cues considering how smelly they are.

3. Working despite a dog screaming it's head off at her (I don't think the audio picked up) for her track start.

Goal for next track:

Now I have seen her work around the use of scent pads with and without food, I'll be spacing the food drops and pads again moving foward.

--also side Goal, we are about to change our article indication situation. I'll be meeting with Judi to get help on how to go about tackling the task. I came to a realization thag picking uo Articles isn't always doable in a future hopeful VST.