Practice Session, 1.2.2025

We were very excited to learn about turning at class on Tuesday! We gave turning some more practice today at Tucker Park. 

Weather conditions:

• Temperature: 40° F 
• Wind: NNW 1 MPH
• Humidity: 57%
• Overall: Clear & calm

 I wanted to be confident that I knew where the turns were, so I used landmarks around the park to keep track of where I put things. In order to make use of the available landmarks, I set a first track that was around 60 meters total length, and a second track that was about 70 meters in total. (I have finally explored how to use Google Earth to measure!)

I thought since we are so new at turning, I'd stick to the shuffle 5, walk 3, food drop on step 2 (S5W3F2) pattern that we've been using. At the turn, I scuffed five steps in the new direction with more gusto than usual. 

I thought turning was going to be A Very Big Deal, but Quinn doesn't seem to think it is. It was a little challenging to keep track of him AND my turn landmarks without a flag, so there's some shuffling around in the videos as we both get on the right track (literally). I know I am supposed to keep facing in the original direction until he's really sure of the new direction and actually tracking; I didn't realize how much of a challenge to my patience this would be in practice! Plenty of room for improvement on my part.

Track 1: Laid 11:25 AM, Run 11:37 AM 

 

Track 2: Laid 11:48 AM, Run 11:57 AM 

 

While I was laying the second track, some other park visitors chose to play fetch with their dog, off leash, in the adjoining field. This proved far more interesting to Quinn than tracking and I ended up talking to him quite a bit more than usual. We got there eventually. 

Three things Quinn did well:

1. Indications at articles are trending in the right direction again! (We are practicing a lot at home between official practice sessions.)
2. He seemed pretty confident about the turns - which I would not have expected from him at this stage.He has to look around and decide where he thinks we should go, but he doesn't seem overwhelmed or stressed about it.
3. Despite a very attractive distraction, he did eventually refocus and get the job done.  

 Three things to improve:

1. Patience and waiting for him to be tracking.
2. Especially waiting at turns for him to really be tracking in the new direction before turning, especially when practicing (because I know right where the turn is!) 
3. I'd like to keep making tracking very rewarding for him so we can overcome distractions more easily.  

Goal for next track:  I will be on vacation from 1/3 - 1/13 (celebrating the completion of my husband's dissertation!) so goals for our very next practice track will probably be modest - just getting back into the swing of things and reinforcing what we have learned so far before we start adding more distance.

(Unofficial goal for next track: find a way to ward off loose dogs in public parks!🤣)