December 7th, 2025

Location: Menchville High School 

Track Layer: Myself

Article: Varied between toys and clothing items on string

Food: Fried low sodium spam

Goal for the day: MAM's homework of using Scent pads also stay closer behind him.

How did it feel? I felt much better this time! Maybe we both were in a better head space. Also using the high reward spam helped get his butt moving up the track, even though he kept checking back to make sure he didn't miss any! 

3 Things That Went Well:

1. He located the turn even when handling wasn’t perfect. The scent pad clearly boosted his confidence and helped him commit to the new direction.
2. He drank his water!
3. Track 2 has much less snaking and weaving then the first one.

3 Things to Improve On:

1. Try the loss- of - scent exercise again. I totally forgot to re-scent after the first leg, and during the transition I wasn’t sure how long to let him search or stand there. Just something for me to get more comfortable with.
2. He might be checking back more because the treats were extra exciting. I probably need to play around with food value and spacing so he stays more forward focused.
3. I need to stay more consistent and not accidentally hold him back. I think I threw him off a little by being behind the turn. Also picking up the string to pull the article too early.

Track 1

We worked on the loss-of-scent exercise that Heather showed me from the class I missed. The first leg was an “L,” and the second leg was a straightaway. I laid the track as Mary Ann suggested: a scent pad at the start, then food at 5 paces, then 10 paces. About halfway through the start of the first track, he had a moment of “What am I doing again?” He was also very focused on something in the grass just off the track. However, he didn’t roll around, so I’m calling that a win. From there, the food drops were every 10 paces until the turn. At the turn, I did five drops going in and one drop after the turn, then placed a scent pad, followed by 2–3 paces and food again. I ended up being a pace behind the turn, which may have held him back when I thought he missed it. Even so, we weren't far off and he was able to find the turn. I really do think the scent pad after the turn helped build confidence for both of us.

When we finished the first “L,” I forgot that I was supposed to re-scent him. After a moment of him standing around, I realized “Duh!” and offered water, then re-scented him properly.

The transition to the next track, which was three steps to the right, left me unsure how far to let him search and how long to let him stand and air-scent. He eventually found it, though. Just like the first leg, he did some snaking back and forth and kept backing up as if he thought he missed food. I’m wondering if the higher-value treat encouraged more checking back than usual.

Track 2

This was a straight track with scent pads used the same way as Track 1. Between scent pads, I dropped food every 12 paces instead of 10. He worked this track much better, less weaving, less backing up to check for treats, and more forward focus. At the end, I picked up the string a little too early. The slight movement caused him to stop and stare instead of continuing forward. I gave a light tug, and then he grabbed the clothing article.