Container 1 video - There were 4 hides and we weren't supposed to go back if they missed one. Given Gimme's issues with pollen right now, I went back for one of them anyway.
Container 2 video - This time there were 3 hides and she caught every one right away. I think she has to work harder with the pollen issue, and it just takes her a bit to get her brain in gear. She has a long history of it being easy, so perhaps she just expects easy and then has to remind herself to work at it. I'll never know, since she doesn't tell me these things.
Container 3 video - With just two hides, this was easy peasy.
Container 4 video - Dorothy thought I was lunging Gimme around the containers giving her permission to check all of them - whereas I was thinking in terms of not getting between her and the one hide. There's no guarantee she would have searched different if on a shorter leash - we don't know. In a trial I wouldn't know where it was, so probably would go with her. Hard to say.
Vehicles video - Three vehicles and 4 hides, nothing on the first truck. You can see Gimme pays no attention to it. She gets right to the first hide under the trailer bumper. She follows the scent out and then right back to the hide on the trailer tires. Gimme gets the truck license plate hide as soon as she gets to the front of the truck. The only real challenge was the trailer hitch hide. I think she would have gotten it faster, but she saw me getting treats out of the pouch and then she assumed she was close enough. I just had to wait her out and then she got to source.
Overall she did very well. I've started her on bee pollen and hope it will help her soon. I usually start her on it in late march and end in October, so this is late to start it, but I just couldn't get it sooner.
Titles Achieved to date...
NW1, RATI, RATN, RATO, NW2, L1I, RATS, L1E, L1C, L1V, L2C, L2I, L2E, RATM, R-FE/N, PKD-TL, PKD-N, ADPL1, ADPL2, TD, UWP, ADPL3, NTD, TKN, L2V, ADPL4, SDS-N, ADPL5, ADPCH, ADP1(2), ADPL1(GC), ADPL2(2), ADPL2(GC), VPN, AP, UWPCH, ADPL3(2), ADPL3(GC), NC, NI, NE, SCN, SIN, SEN, CZ8B, NV, NN, ADPL4(2), ADPL4(GC), ADPGCH, ADPL5(2), RATCH, CZ8S, AI, TKI, AV, AE, AC, AN, R-FE/X NW3-V, NW3-E, SI, RN, R-FE/NS, CZ8G, SC, SV, SE, SN, SEA, SBN, SWN, SIA, SCA, ADP-1(Th), ADP-2(Th), ADP-3(Th), ADP-4(Th), ADP-5(Th), and ADP-CH(Th)... 81 and counting...
Sunday, August 9, 2020
Nosework class (2/44)
Saturday, August 8, 2020
RFE practice (116)
After our dismal performance 2 weeks before, I was prepared to work on focus first and above all. I think it went well.
Focus work video - I didn't let her free sniff this time, started with a down stay on her matt instead. Then some heeling and such to earn the sniffing time. She was a little bit distracted, but already far better than before. I was pleased with how this went.
Quick doodle video - This is just a quick doodle with part of the plan I have. It needs refinement, but Gimme was working with me.
Quick walk through video - Here we walked through my plan. There's nothing firm about it, just some ideas I had. I wanted to encourage Gimme to work with me for longer time, so she could get a big pay-off.
Run-thru w/music video - We are still working out technical issues for the music, so we lost some of it. I need to insert 5-10 seconds of silence at the beginning so I have time to get in position. Also I need to rethink my choreography, so her body is moving in the right direction when I cue a behavior. For example a "spin" ends with her heiney going in the right direction for the start of "otto".
Behavior warm up video - I ran through some behaviors. One thing you'll see is where I do a center 360º pivot in counter-clockwise direction, which makes a natural segue into her "otto". Those are the kinds of tweaks I'm looking for.
Thru 2 w/music video - I can see potential here. I like the extra steps in the Thru to Front... I think Gimme does better going "thru" with the momentum of the extra steps. I think I've found a place to put a spin-to-center also. Ideas ideas ideas...
I did three more runs with music and they went pretty good. Unfortunately, the camera battery died, so I have nothing to show you. In any case, each was better than the last.
I was contemplating entering the next RFE freestyle competition in September, entry deadline is today. However, my laptop is dying - it keeps gasping for breath, so I had to buy a new one. I paid for full tech support for a year and they are loading all my software and doing the set-up stuff. Tomorrow I drop off this half-dead laptop and they'll do the data transfer. But then I have to upload new video editing software and learn to use it. So I didn't want to be rushing through the learning curve. Just means we'll have plenty of time to tweak our routine.
Thursday, August 6, 2020
Field Tracking (69 & 70) and Urban (164)
I am a bit late in getting these tracking blogs done, but they are all very similar. My plan was a capital "R" shaped track, where the section near the first leg is much closer than you would see at a tracking test. I wanted to train to a more difficult level than we'll be tested on.
On Thursday, July 23rd, Nadine and I met at Flaming Geyser and did the first of our "R" tracks. I didn't make the spacing clear, so Nadine laid a track where the legs were too far apart. I was looking for something like 25-40 feet and this was more like 60 feet. Gimme showed no sign she noticed the other leg in either part of the track. She did enjoy the easy track in the 3' tall grass.
On Thursday, July 30th, Nadine and I met at Game Farm Park to repeat the "R" tracks under different conditions. I thought I was clear about the spacing I wanted for Gimme, but the legs were even farther apart. It was about 75 feet. Gimme definitely didn't notice the other leg in either part of the track. It worked out okay though, since it was hot and dry and the pollen level was very high.
Today, Thursday, August 6th, we again met at Flaming Geyser and Gimme got her third "R" track. (we did something different for Cricket and Sugar). This time the legs were 20-25 feet and the close-together section was MUCH longer. The shape was a bit different to make use of the space we had available, so it doesn't look much like an "R". Gimme definitely noticed the other leg in both directions. The first time I helped her figure it out with just a little bit of line tension. The other times, she'd explore in the direction of the other leg, but then leave it on her own. While we were getting ready to lay tracks, a deer sauntered right across where Gimme's track was going to be laid, so she had an extra challenge. She was very interested in where the deer had passed through, but then went back to work.
I was very pleased with her efforts today with both the intended and unintended challenges. In a few weeks we'll do the "R" or something similar again.
I did finally get some bee pollen today. I'm not sure if it will do her any good, since I normally start giving it to her in late-March-early-April, and continue through early October. Time will tell.
Tuesday, August 4, 2020
RFE practice (115)
- "hip" - her right hip touching left knee, facing forward
- "thigh" - her left hip touching right knee, facing forward
- "east" - her left hip touching back of right knee, facing 90º to my right
- "west" - her right hip touching back of left knee, facing 90º to my left
Wednesday, July 22, 2020
Nosework class (1/44)
Monday, July 20, 2020
Nosework class (6/43)
Exterior 2 video - Three hides. I'm not sure what Dorothy meant by her making it hard on herself. I thought Gimme was really bold to continue searching the stool after she touched it and it sprung open and toward her. The breeze was blowing from the right, which is why Gimme overran the last hide.
Interior video - Dorothy set up puzzles, which Gimme loves. The first one was easy-peasy for her. For the first puzzle, Gimme made her own entry, but then had a little trouble finding her way out. Since she didn't come in the way it was designed, it was a confusing visual for her. The third hide just had something in the way - well it would be in the way for anyone but Gimme.
Gimme thinks we should have puzzles every week - just so she can show off her incredible puzzle solving skills.
Nosework class (5/43)
Exterior 1 video - Three hides along a sidewalk. Gimme found the first hide in seconds. The second door is the exterior storage where Dorothy keeps odor and used boxes. So she put a hide in a brick at the base of the door so the dogs wouldn't think it was an inaccessible hide and be told "no". Gimme had no trouble finding it. It took her a little longer to find the hide off the sidewalk under a rock. I think the air flowed up the side of the building, making the first two hides more obvious.
Exterior 2 video - Three hide exterior. Gimme started to pass the first hide and then whipped back to it. It was stuck in a crack on the wood upright for the mailbox. Gimme was the only dog to pay any attention to the rock hide before going to the second (high) mailbox hide. The breeze was blowing from the road, so the scent was surely stronger coming from that direction. It took her a little bit to find the rock hide, but she did. As Dorothy mentioned, the breeze blew across the mailboxes right toward it. Gimme likes to follow lines of scent out and I think in doing so she got close enough to find the rock hide.
Interior video - This turned out to be a long and challenging search and Gimme thoroughly enjoyed it. The hardest hide was the one behind the cabinet and some dogs never found it. Gimme did well finding the chair hide. From there she went straight to the stool hide. Dorothy had the overhead fans on, which I think dispersed the scent for the cabinet hide in a weird way. It was interesting to me, when she re-visited the chair hide, she checked it, but knew better than to indicate it. From the second hide until she decided and indicated was 2:40, which is a LOT for Gimme. I think it would be interesting to revisit this search, but just with the one hide behind the cabinet.
One thing which is so very cool about Gimme is how she just never gives up. One of the other dogs got frustrated and stopped searching. One got frustrated and they ended the search. August found it just a bit faster - he's a GSD so he resorted to perimeter searching, which took him right to it.