Week 66 - Practice

2/19/2026

• Track 1, 2, & 3 (oops, I forgot to save Track 1's video.)

  • Located at short grass field in public park.

    • Double laid. Straight

      • Short cut grass, mud.

      • Aged: 20 Minutes

      • 50 yds per track.

      • Articles: Start & End Article

      • Food Drop Pattern: Scuff 5, walk till Scent Pad with food at 7 yards, walk 20, Scent Pad with food around 25-35 yards (depending where water is). 1 piece of food every 20 steps. (Other than for right after a tricky spot, like dog poop next to the track #1, or after crossing the dip/hill.)

      • The change in food pattern for Track #2, is I placed a treat every 25 steps instead of 20.

GOAL FOR THE TRACK:

• Simple tracks in the rain. I did not have a lot of time and wanted to take advantage of the weather.

• Her indicate soaked articles. (She plays with them off the track fine, but it isn't often we have the time + enough water to soak them on the track)

  
  

How did it feel?

• Felt good! She likes playing in the rain in general, I could see she was a little annoyed by it during her track, but I believe we accomplished the goal of ending on a good note in the unusual condition.

  
  

List three things the dog did well:

1. Right as I was about to step off on Track 1, a park attendant drove up in a covered golfcart to ask what the heck I was doing. I tried to keep it short and be polite, but they kept asking questions. Wren did very well getting started after the interruption. She also did well with a tiny pause to sniff dog poop but moved along to continue following the track. (I forgot to press record for Track 1)

2. Article indication despite them being wet and heavy. (She likes playing with wet articles, but there has been less opportunity to practice this on a track)

3. Working around puddles and sloppy fields. They were not that wet when I laid the tracks. By the time I got to my van and started walking back, the bottom fell out of the sky, adding more water than I anticipated. Wren and I go on walks in heavy rain sometimes to play, so that alone wasn't a huge concern. That occurring during a track is not the norm.

   
   

List things you’d like to improve:

1. Continuing to improve me supporting her to build confidence in different weather conditions.

2. Continuing to improve my line handling, not letting that tension slack or the line bounce so much.

3. I think this was an ok track to lay with the goal of easy wins, in the rain. I know there is always room for improvement, so I am anxious (in a good way) to hear how I could have improved this training scenario. I went back and read over the rainy day blog we all had a discussion in before. I think I understood applying those tactics here.

https://youtu.be/v_-kLllA9bk