I have to say, Gimme was amazing on this track. Once she warmed up to it (just after the first turn), she just motored along with her nose down. She barely noticed the landscaping strips. The green truck arrived after I laid the track and was slightly overlapping our track. Gimme wasn't bothered by it.She was more distracted by the woman who approached us and didn't get my hints about staying back (red dashed line). She really wanted to meet "the Dalmatian" and I told her she could, but not until she finished working. She followed just a few feet behind me, but then couldn't wait until we were done, since she was arriving for work. At first Gimme was really distracted and wanted to go meet this new fan, but with some encouragement was able to refocus and continue nicely. This was very hard distraction for my little social butterfly.
The gray triangle next to the third turn was a glass door. I know doors can affect scent so I made note of it, but there was no sign Gimme was affected. From there to the end was easy peasy. The article next to the landscaping strip was laid on its edge against the far curb and Gimme was going so fast I worried she'd miss it, but she turned on a thin dime to pounce on it and demand payment. This was a really lovely track and I was sooooooo pleased.
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Nadine and I met at Auburn Cinema the morning of Thanksgiving, Thursday the 23rd. Since the parking lot of the adjacent shopping center was almost completely empty and traffic was non-existent, we moved over there to lay our tracks. It was a new place as far as the dogs were concerned and it was nice to have ample space.
Oddly it was much trashier than the cinema parking lot. People are such pigs, clearly cleaning out their cars and just dumping their trash in the lot.
Our task was three straight tracks, 75, 100 and 150 yards. The conditions were cool and damp with almost no breeze. We staggered the time and even started Cricket's track early. She seemed to struggle with focus and so Gimme's track was older than it was supposed to be - coming in at 40 minutes.
Gimme again did a great job, just motoring along with her nose down. She was distracted briefly by a dirty diaper, but then got right back to work. From nosework we know dogs are often more distracted by novel smells than by yummy smells. Certainly the diaper was novel, as well as gross.
It's been interesting to watch this progression with Gimme. When the whether first turned wet, I really thought she'd find tracking on pavement easier. Instead she acted like she didn't know what to do and couldn't find her track. At the time it didn't occur to me that the track might smell very different, so I blamed it on a "lack of focus". After these two tracks, where she did such a stellar job, I realize she just had to figure out what to do about this different scent. Last winter we were just starting urban tracking after she got her TD in November and we were still doing field tracking about half the time to keep Cricket's skills tuned up in case she got in a trial. Thus, Gimme didn't have a lot of hard surface experience/skill, so I probably didn't notice any difference.
I am so very happy with the progress she's making. Oh how I love my smarty pants.
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