March 5th, 2025

 Location: Yorktown Surrender Field

Track Layer: They were double laid by Heather and myself to save on time. We were racing to beat the storm coming in. 

Food: Chicken nuggets and cheese

Article: coyote tail on tether

Goal for the day: It was very windy and this is not his favorite area to track. Our goal was easier tracks with a fun article at the end. Also placing more food at the starts.

How did it feel? It felt okay. There were points where I felt like he was really working and other times not so much. He is very much a yo-yo tracker!

3 Thing that went well: 

1. At certain times he again, was working when I thought he wasn't. We were off the first track a couple of steps. I should have listened to him.
2. He pushed through a field that is not his favorite. 
3. His little brain worked through some high winds with tons of leaves blowing over the second track covering it and his food drops. 

3 Things to improve on:

1. Work on spacing food out more.
2. Continue focusing on line tension. What happens is, he starts going, I let the line out before taking a step to avoid pushing him up the track. Then he always stops! So I am constantly letting the line out and then pulling it back in to try and keep tension. 
3. I need to work on compromising with my patience. Is he stopping to just stare off into the distance for no reason or is he still working? When is the right time to "start the clock" to keep him moving. 

Track 1

100 yards, no turns with food every 18 paces. Since he had some issues with starts last week we placed 5 food drops right after the start flag about a pace each. I approached at an angle and with the food there it helped him have a better start. After the food drops though he seemed to focus on something on the ground and was then just kind of wandering. Lauritz had pointed out that when Heather and I exited the field after laying the track what we probably should have picked an alternate route. The wind was very strong, and we walked out where the wind might have blown our exit track over top of the main track. This is what I mention in the video. However I think he really was just smelling an animal spot or something. It still took him a long time to get going even with the extra food at the start. After about the 30 yard flag he starts moving. At one point I realize I am a step off. In the moment I decided to pick up the food he missed and toss it on the track just because I felt like I didn't want him to loose the momentum we finally got! Might not have been the right choice. 

 

Track 2

130 yards- 1 open angle right turn. We used the side of the open area for track 2. He was having a hard time in the open field with the wind and rough terrain I was hoping for an easier area for him. This area had softer ground without thorns, but it was heavy with leaf litter. The wind ended up covering the track and the food. He still worked better under these conditions though. Towards the end of the track there was a bunch of those prickly sweet gum ball pods. So he did slow down a bit and even whined but we were in the home stretch. The article was covered in leaves so he would not easily spot it. The wind blew them all off though, so he did spot it a few paces back. 

Heather’s POV

My POV