On Friday, March 15th, Nadine and I met at Game Farm Park. The temperature was 47º, sunny and bright with no noticeable breeze. I asked Nadine to lay a track through our little stonehenge, which we aged an hour. Gimme had difficulty with stonehenge last time, so I wanted to revisit the challenge. The track starts in the upper left of the picture (about 1/4th down from the top), above the playground. Gimme started off well. It was a little challenging to get through the playground with the wood chips, but she figured it out. She went straight down the leg and up to the stonehenge. It didn't take her very long to realize the track went straight through.
Where she really had a challenge was the two corners at the start and end of the second leg (bottom of the picture). She was searching all over the place, checking all the trees and anything else, using the whole 40' line. I actually gave her extra room to explore, by going with her a bit and then stepping back to the track when she moved toward it. It was as if the track suddenly disappeared. She struggled with both of these corners, missed the article mid-leg, and only got through this part of the track because I helped her a lot. The grass was very dry in this field and the ground was dusty.
When she got to the third leg she started tracking normally again, getting better and better as she went along. This leg runs parallel to the river about 150 yards away and the trees provide shade, so the ground stays more moist. She found the article, aced the third corner in the midst of pine needles and then found the final article.
Nadine happened to mention she'd gotten a high-pollen-level alert on her cellphone first thing and then I realized we were about in the time when Gimme started struggling with pollen last year. I went home and researched how to use bee pollen and started her on it right away. It will take about a month for her to get the full benefit. I've put it on my calendar so I can start her on it before the pollen season next year.
On Saturday, March 16th, I layed a track for Gimme at Flaming Geyser and aged it 2:10. It was 48º with nominal breeze. Gimme was loosely on the track for the first half of the first leg. She didn't find the baby sock article on the first leg (light blue). I had it well triangulated and couldn't spot it either, so I think a crow must have taken off with it. Gimme did a great job on the first and second corners and found both articles. Right after the article on the third leg, Gimme was sort of unsteady and stumbled for a few steps and so I had her stop searching a little. After a few seconds she was fine and wanted to go on, so I let her. Once she got back on the track, she did fine. She almost missed the article right after the road crossing, because it was down in the ditch. From there to the end she did a great job.
At the time I had no explanation for the unsteady behavior. I did remember she did something similar at the urban tracking seminar in Bow last year. Last year when it happened I thought she was going to have a seizure, but then she recovered quickly and went on with her track. This was the first time I realized she had an issue with pollen. During the pollen season the two years prior we weren't really doing urban tracking, so I probably missed it. By comparison, field tracking has more available scent, but it's no cake walk either.
On Sunday, March 17th, I laid a track for Gimme near the MCSA building. I aged it 90 minutes and the temperature was 52º, no breeze. Gimme did a great job on the first leg and first corner, finding both articles. Up under the trees the ground was all dried pine needles. Gimme struggled with the corner and I kept getting the line tangled in the trees. It was so dry in there and I ended up needing to help her get through the corner and out of the trees. I'll try the tracking through the needles again some time.
She did pick up the track on the pavement, but soon did her unsteady routine. I had her stop and breathe and then she went on. She almost missed the article midway on the third leg, but then she caught it. It took her a bit to restart on this leg and she was uncertain about the slight bend at the corner of the building. We got across the road. She struggled with the last 45-degree corner, but then she dragged me to the last article.
Gimme is really working hard to overcome the challenge with the pollen issues. I think she may be breathing so hard, it's like she's hyperventilating a bit. So when I get her to stop, she has a chance to catch her breath. Also all the extra breaths may be drying out her nasal passages. So it occurred to me the next time I saw her seem unsteady or if she was struggling with a section of the track, then I'd stop her for a water break which would address both issues. I'd also use the opportunity to re-scent her. Can't hurt, might help.
On Thursday, March 21st, Nadine and I met at Auburn Cinema. I asked Nadine to lay a simple track for Gimme. I also gave her a bottle of water so she could hydrate the track. It was 50º and there was a slight breeze. Gimme did really well for the first part of the track where Nadine hydrated the track (blue line). When Nadine realized she was going to run out of water, she started using it only in the open spaces between the islands (grey line). She ran out of water entirely at the long curb where she walked in the leaves (black line).
Gimme had difficulty with the right turn away from the curb (far right side of picture) and was working all over using he whole line and more, trying to find the track again. I stopped her and gave her water, then re-scented her. She was then able to find the track and continue on to the end without further issues.
So, it seems like hydrating and re-scenting her when she has difficulty is a good plan. I'll be continuing this whenever she needs it. It's probably a good plan for always, certainly during the warm season. Meanwhile another three weeks and she should be doing better when the bee pollen supplements take affect.
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