Practice Session, 12.17.2025
I am very behind on compiling notes and videos into blog posts!
Quinn and I ventured to a park in Bumpass for some practice on the way home from other errands. I set a little warm-up track and a longer track per Judi's recommendation from our last blog.
Weather/conditions:
Track 1: Laid 2:53 PM, Run 3:05 PM
Quinn's warm up track included a scuffed scent pad at the flag, then I scuffed 5 small shuffle steps + a food drop, repeated 12 times to the article.
(Not my best videography - phone was not quite at the right angle!)
Three things Quinn did well:
- Pretty focused and clear on the job at hand.
- Down at article without cue.
- Efficient and businesslike! (We had a lot of NASDA practice on either side of this effort so I was pleased that he seemed to make the switch between activities without any confusion. Good dog!!!)
Three things to improve:
- Let him straighten himself out on the track (even if I am impatient)
- Line handling overall looks a little less consistent than we usually manage, so cleaning that up.
- Trust him enough to set something longer! 😊
Goals for next track: increase distance (both overall and between food drops) and let him work it out!
Track 2: Laid 2:57 PM, Run: 3:13 PM
Quinn's second track included a scuffed scent pad followed by the S5W3F2 pattern. On our first approach to this track (not on video) we encountered a loose dog who did not appear to be friendly. I was able to get Quinn safely back to the car and the other dog's owner got him back under control.
Quinn seemed a bit off his game after that, so I put down a couple extra hot dog slices at the start flag to hopefully refocus him on tracking (which seemed to help); but you will still notice him looking to the right at the unfriendly dog a few times. It was on a leash and back under control so I thought we'd try to complete our second track but acknowledge it was not our most outstanding performance thus far!
Three things Quinn did well:- Mostly focused despite a legitimate major distraction!
- Refocused when directed.
- Down at article (although he did not hold it as usual; perhaps reluctant to turn his back on the stranger dog.)
Three things to improve:
- Probably everything - I am not sure if any of my response to this incident was right. I know he needs to be able to work with distractions but maybe this was too big of a distraction. If the other dog was not under control I would have definitely bailed on the plan. Since it was back on leash and not immediately next to us (still visible) I thought we would just go for it but we were both checking over our shoulder the whole time (despite extra hot dogs!)
Goal for next track: I am planning to repeat the S5W3F2, hopefully under better conditions, and make sure we have a big celebration at the end to reinforce that all is well!
Hoping to get out this afternoon as well as tomorrow (Wednesday) and Friday.
I think instead of a short warmup track, I would toss out a few articles and play the "Ooops I dropped something" article game with a QUICK verbal cue to down followed by tossing a cookie at him. Light, happy, fun. You are inadvertently building in a huge pause by waiting on him. Clean that up with games. Then put your track in as Judi suggested and run it.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunate that the off leash dog messed up your real track. But, the good news is he came back to it and did his best under those circumstances. Options when that happens the next time: you can put him in car and rewalk your track (trying not to mash your fooddrops and sling them everywhere) OR run as tho nothing happened but have an extra article in your vest (from the earlier game) and toss it over his head onto the track to "end it" early. Sort of a way to cut your losses but he never knows because of the article party when he downs. I dont know if we have talked about aborting a track in class so that is something we can show you. Overall, he gets it. We just need to support him. Another nice feature was when he stalled and you asked him to get back to work, he did. Great tool in your toolbox!
Mary Ann
Thanks, Mary Ann! We will ditch the 'warm up' and do some games instead - very helpful! (On our 12/24 practice we jumped right into the track and he knew exactly what to do so perhaps I've been too worried about him needing a warm up every single time, anyway?) He's a good listener - I am very lucky!
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