December 25th
Finally a productive tracking practice! It was Christmas Day, after work I rushed up to one of the high schools trying to beat the sun going down. Thankfully it was empty! There was some screaming kids through the wood line and a couple deer showed up but nothing like we have been dealing with. I repeated the tracks from the last two training sessions as suggested. I also tried what Jen and MaryAnn mentioned. Playing a quick article game by the car before starting a track.
Track 1
30 yards with larger spaced food drops, They were about 18-20 inches apart. He had a pretty good start and kept his head down for the most part. After laying the track I placed food on the article so it was there when he arrived and I also gave him food from my hand as Judi suggested. However he did not seem interested in picking it up. He started rolling around, this is common behavior for him. Eventually he did point to the article a bit and I rewarded him like MaryAnn suggested. She mentioned marking the behavior and treating him when he shows any interest in the article.
Track 2
This track also was repeated from the last two practice sessions. 40 yards with food drops 15 inches apart. We did an article game near the car again prior to the track. He seems to favor some articles over another. Such as he prefers a cloth glove over the leather glove. As we were walking up to the second track a deer came out of the wood line. He was too distracted to start the track. I ended up tossing some food down on the track to get him going. He did get his head together after a few steps and completed the track. He acted similarly to the first track after we got to the article.
Track 3
As we were walking to the third track. He started tracking something on his own. He was tracking in the area I walked to lay the third track however probably wishful thinking! This track was 50 yards with closer food spacing at about 12 inches. He was straight for the most part however he seemed to be to the left of the track consistently. I am not sure if I goofed while double laying the track or what. When laying the article I had food on top and buried a bit in the earmuffs. By this time I think it had clicked what game we were playing and he had no trouble really picking the article up. The deer were back and he did a much better job of ignoring them than the first time they showed up.
I agree with everything Mary Ann said. I hope to see your next tracks are 40,50, 60 yards as I think he will enjoy this more when he gets to move more! Fix the articles off the track though.
ReplyDeleteSide note: Loopy training (Mary Ann is rolling her eyes). We change behavior/teach a behavior through Antecedent-Behavior-Consequence. Those are positioned in a circle, not a straight line. SO, if he walks past the glove and you call him back to it and ask him to do something….and then feed…you have fed/reinforced walking past the article and waiting for you to tell him to do something. That will never get us the behavior we want. SO, no articles on the track for now. Shape the pounce/pick up—and yes, if he likes his dinner, I’d play the game for dinner. Article down, nose it—small handful of dinner (whole bowl is right there—he can see the consequences). AS HE IS EATING, set the article back down and wait (small room, ex-pen, leash would be helpful), noses it twice…feed. Again, as he eats, set it back down. Now 3 nose pushes.
If you aren’t even getting nose pushes, tie a string to it…as he moves towards it, make it move away (like a bunny). Handful of food for leap/pounce. Again, WHILE HE EATS set it back down and repeat.
LOOPY training works, do it!!!!
DeleteAs I mentioned to MaryAnn he is not really motivated to eat his dinner on a good day. So I am not sure adding a game with dinner would work. I may have to cook up some more pork and use that.
DeleteOkay I’ll try and shut my mouth! 🤪 He is not really dinner motivated. So I may have to try something else.
ReplyDelete