November 24th
We headed over to Menchville High School. I knew the school would be vacant however there is a public park and walking trail across the street. I thought this might help with ignoring distractions since it is far enough away to not be right on top of us. I laid 3 tracks side by side. I am still working out what is best for filming the tracks. I set my phone too far back for these in hopes of getting a better side view.
Track 1
15 feet long and the bate I used was chicken breast that had just been cooked. I was hoping it would smell more since it was freshly cooked vs sitting in the cold fridge. Again, at the start flag he seemed confused like “wait what are we doing again?” In the middle of the track, he started sniffing and veering to the track laid next to the first track vs staying straight. Lesson learned for next time. I think they were too close!
Track 2
25 feet with chicken bits 6-8 inches apart. This time when approaching the start flag I tried to make it more fun and exciting. A high pitch “let’s track track track!” While jogging up to the start flag and pointing at it. He immediately put his head down and began.
Track 3
30 feet and this time I started the food 6-8 inches apart and slowly spread the chicken out 10-12 inches apart. At the start I again, excitedly jogged up to the flag saying "lets tracktracktracktrack!" and pointed to the flag. Without hesitation he put his nose down and started eating up the food. A WIN!
After the tracks we played a casual game of "can you". It ended up turning into something else. I would like for him to get use to different materials when it comes to the articles. So I purchased some leather gloves. At the start of the game, he was a bit distracted and also didn't seem very into the glove when I dropped it. I decided to make it more of a tug and drop game trying to build some drive for it. Then from there it turned into a "catch" game. After that we quit while ahead! He was finding the glove fun and I didnt want to loose that. He has a tendency to be very intense with a toy and then loses interest after playing with it for a short time. I guess that is the sighthound brain at work.
He is getting it!! YEAH! That last track was gorgeous, head down, no looking back. Continue with that. Same food distance, getting longer. I love the lead length and you had your food ready to add to the food drops at the last flag. I did comment on yesterday's videos with direction to try tossing food 'on top' of his scatter at the start flag - so give that a try on your next outing. Now the article game - 'can you' is about one command and his obedience to that. So your down is weak - you tell him, you use your hand, you tell him again. So IF down is your indication, needs work. That said, I think HE wants his indication to be pounce and pick up!! Look at his joy! I know he is pouncing on a 'live' glove, meaning you threw it. But that could transfer to the same joy when he finds a 'dead' glove, as in on the track. I would continue to let him pounce on a live glove, celebrate 'look what you got?!?'. Do that four or five times. Then migrate in to 'opps i dropped something' -he may pounce, he may just look at it. Wait him out. This is how we got the saluki to pick up. Maybe play the live game a couple of times before Saturday, then let Judi help you and supervise with the 'opps i dropped it game'. BRAVO, I am so excited for you!
ReplyDeleteA BIG WIN indeed! Finwe is definitely getting the game and that build at the start is helping a lot. On Track 3, I liked how you started with familiar spacing of 6-8" and then slowly spaced further so that he would have his head into the game. I'm not sure where the transition was but you can see on the video that his head stays down even if he's looking a touch longer for the next bite - that's exactly what you want to see. Also love how you are incorporating multiple tracking locations and adding on an article game. Pretty soon he'll be dragging you to the start flags!
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