Field Tracking (61 & 62)

My focus since our TDU test is to teach Gimme to track through dog contamination when it's at the beginning of her track. When the dog contamination is in the middle or at the end of a track, she gets through it without great difficulty. Not so when it's close to the start and she hasn't gotten the track scent well established in her mind.

On Thursday, January 23rd, Nadine and I met at Flaming Geyser. It was raining and the model airplane guys weren't there, so we decided to lay a track on their field. Since the prior track was so hard for Gimme, my plan was for a simpler track.

Naturally just as we were about to run the track, a lady came through and let her off-leash dog run all over the first and second legs of Gimme's track. So Gimme only had ten feet of track to get it established in her head before she came upon the dog contamination (red squiggle). She did better on the third and fourth legs, but not like she usually does. The last two legs were more like her.

I didn't see the contamination happening and when Nadine mentioned it, I understood the lady and her dog had simply walked across our first leg. If I had realized the extent of the contamination, we could have walked straight to the article on the third leg and started there.

Today, Thursday, January 30th, Nadine and I again met at Flaming Geyser and I had a plan for more controlled contamination.

I laid our track, with a start flag and another flag about 40 feet out, and then every corner. I wanted to give her a bit to get the track established in her mind. Nadine walked Ember over the track 3 times, before angling off past the end to start her baby tracks in the other part of the field. I brought Cricket up and stood about 10' to the side (near the road) and threw treats across the track, so she'd go to get them and then come back to me for another. She missed a few, which I figured Gimme would get. I couldn't walk her back and forth across the track, since I laid it.

Gimme did okay at this. She really followed the dog contamination back and forth, but did not find the cheese Cricket missed. Once we ran out of contamination, she went back to the track and did a fabulous job. She was fast, enthusiastic and precise through to the end.

In hindsight, I'm not sure this accomplished what I wanted, since she was still practicing following the dog contamination. My goal is for her to note it and stick to the track. I have a plan for our next time at Flaming Geyser. I want Nadine to mark off a rectangle in the same general area, but contaminate it in a more random fashion. Then I'll lay the track over it and put cheese on the track to help Gimme learn to stick to the track and get a self-reward when she does so.

I also want talk to Sill about giving her less line to work with, to encourage her to stick closer to the track. He may have different thoughts.

Meanwhile next week we will be at Game Farm. Nadine suggested laying an article circle and having Gimme run it after her dog. But I think we'd still be practicing her following dog contamination and essentially getting rewarded for it. So, I have a plan doing overlapping tracks - planning the two tracks so I can set articles to reward Gimme for getting past the contamination.

Urban Tracking (156)

On Thursday, January 9th, Nadine and I met at Game Farm Park. I let her know what I wanted, but she exaggerated the length of the challenge at the beginning in the potty-zone, making it about 3 times what I intended. Next time I'll make her a picture with more detailed info. Also, the track was 1:45 old... older than I intended, also making it more challenging.

The purple line is the sidewalk most people use to walk their dogs, often using flexi-leads so the dogs potty 15-20' on either side. I wanted to make a quick pass through the potty zone close to the start. Since this was so much longer, it took Gimme a long time to get through it, marking all the way. She did make it, but it really was a challenge for her. When she got to the place where the track crossed the sidewalk she really went for it. Probably relieved to get away from all the potty stuff and find an article.

Turning up to stonehenge she did a great job and went fast. The big yellow dot in stonehenge is a container full of food. My intent was for it to be a distraction, but I didn't think it through. Since Nadine's scent was on it, it was effectively an article, so Gimme got to have the ham inside. Next time I will prepare it and give it to Nadine in a clean poop bag. Then when she places it, she can use the poop bag like a glove - so it never gets her smell on it. There was another article right after stonehenge, so included the botched distraction, Gimme got two articles one right after the other.  She really likes this system.

After stonehenge I intended for Nadine to go straight across the sidewalk into the open field. Instead she turned a bit right and set the track paralleling part of the sidewalk, which was more potty zone, though not as contaminated as the first area. So it took Gimme a bit to do that area and again she was quick to cross the path. Before long she found another article.

I had picked up the wrong tree as my sight picture and kept steady pressure on Gimme, pulling left. To her credit, she was firm about taking me down the track to the correct tree. I'd love to see her show this level of commitment more often, eh...

The next leg was really long and had two articles on it, then crossed the path. It turned and went across the base of a tree with lots of pine needles. Gimme kind of skirted the edge of the pine needles, so when she rejoined the last leg of the track, she was coming at it from an angle. Thus, when she picked up very fresh tire tracks (Nadine said they weren't there when she laid the track) Gimme was aligned to go with the tire tracks off to the right of the track and down the hill into the little amphitheater. She did turn off the tire tracks toward the concrete barriers; I think she might have picked up the scent of the last article. But it wasn't not enough to get there before Nadine called us back to redo where the tire tracks crossed our track.

It will be awhile before we do this again and when we do, I'll make sure Nadine understands the amount of difficulty I want. I don't think this bothered Gimme - it just wasn't the gentle introduction I wanted. To start I want her to get through the marking area fast, so she doesn't have time to get bogged down in it or do a bunch of marking.  Then I'll gradually increase the distance.

Nosework class (6/41)

They've combined the two Tuesday night classes, so you may notice Dorothy commenting on things as if people don't know Gimme.  It's because they don't, eh...

This class was all about inaccessible hides and puzzles. Gimme quickly makes the inaccessible into accessible.

Interior 1 video - Clearly I wasn't thinking about where her toes were when I moved the door - dumb me. For the first puzzle in the big room, I was waiting for her to tell me she needed help, but she decided to take things into her own capable paws. She is a Parkour Grand Champion after all. She solved the second puzzle much faster than the other dogs. She was slower than I expected to solve the last puzzle. I think the table was blocking the odor because she was moving so fast and rounding off that corner.

Interior 2 video - This second set Gimme did give me a "help me" look on the first puzzle. You almost can't see it because she's behind a cart. Then she quickly finds a hind outside the big puzzle. You'll see her go around the big puzzle to check where she found the opening before (Dorothy comments on it). Gimme always remembers stuff. Once she sees she can't get in there, she slows down a bit and finds the other opening right away.

Interior 3 video - This time there was only one hide, in the bathroom. Whenever you do a bunch of inaccessible or hard to access hides, it's important to end with an easy one. Gimme checked where the puzzle had been before and caught odor from there, turned on a thin dime and had the bathroom hide in 7 seconds!

This girl loves puzzles. She was very happy to get back to nosework class...

TDU Test

We failed at the TDU - didn't even get the first turn. It was frustrating, to say the least. The premium said the test would be held on Portland University, which is a nice dog-free site. Tracks 1 and 2 were at off campus satellite sights and we drew track 2.

I went along to track 1 and when the judges moved to track 2, the lead car lost me at a stop light and just kept going. I was able to get back to the track 1 site and found someone who was able to get me to our track location. When I arrived, the judges were waiting and concerned about getting behind schedule.

I didn't let Gimme pee before crossing the road because it was a residential area and we were parked along the front of houses.  I didn't seem appropriate to potty in someone's front yard or the grass strip next to the sidewalk right after getting out of my car. It would be different if I was walking down the sidewalk. So we crossed a paved road, the judge was right next to a tree about 10' from the curb and she pointed us to the start flag about 25' forward from where she stood. There wasn't really any time to let Gimme pee on the way to the flag - in hindsight I should have asked for a couple of minutes. When we train, our starts are always far enough away for Gimme to take care of business as we walk in.

Within a few steps after we crossed the start, one judge called out, "stop, you can't take your purse on the track". The "purse" was an over the shoulder bag I've been using for years (and used at her TD) to hold articles. My bag is so old and crummy, obviously not a "purse" that anyone would carry in public, so it didn't occur to me.  In the future I will be sure to ask the judges to check my equipment before we approach the start.

This interruption was very frustrating for Gimme and frustration is her Achilles' Heel. The judge said I could restart, but I didn't know what the parameters were for a restart and had already experienced the fun of asking questions of these two grumpy old ladies. So, I just encouraged Gimme to resume tracking.

Per Sil - Provided the dog has not passed the second flag, the handler may request permission from the judges for a restart. If approved by the judges, the handler may restart the dog, either from their present location or after returning to the starting flag. Only one restart is permitted. A restart allows you to point at the ground again, put the article back on the ground and hold your dog there, etc.

In any case, Gimme was very frustrated and annoyed and did very little tracking. She spent most of her time snooping around at the track and poop/pee sites, which she over-marked. There was a ton of dog poop, a pile about every 25 feet.  This is something we've never trained through - certainly not in that quantity.

Gimme missed the first turn. She passed it by 10 yards and then angled left about 45º and continued to snoop and over-mark. When I was sure she wasn't on the track, I organized her search to move back to where I thought the track was. She wasn't really into tracking and the first chance she got, she lined out pulling hard into her harness, going the wrong way. We got the whistle. Later I learned I hadn't gotten her back to where the turn was.

The judges wanted us to "finish the track", but didn't want to wait for Gimme to actually track. Instead their idea of "finish the track" was to tell me walk her this way, turn 45 degrees left, walk her forward toward the fire hydrant... I think they really just wanted me to bend over and pick up the articles.

It was a very discouraging experience, to say the least. It sure didn't help that the judges were so rude. Actually one judge was rude, repeatedly; the other never spoke while we were on site.

To prepare for our next try, I have some ideas for training. I think Gimme is generally a very strong tracker. I also think this was a horrid, grossly contaminated site. I have ideas to train to improve Gimme's ability to resist distraction. Thus, if we get another unfair test, we might have a chance to pass. Otherwise, she'll just be better and stronger than she needs to be. She'll enjoy the rewards in any case.

I am thinking about training the occasional (a few times spread over a year) interruption at the start. I wouldn't do it often since it would be frustrating and I wouldn't want to dampen her enthusiasm. I thought of letting her start, then stopping her after a few feet... dither a minute, then ask her to restart - so she will have experienced it other than at a test, where I can give her whatever support she needs to recover.

It also occurs to me I need to develop a consistent restart-plan, allowed according to the rules, for when we are interrupted mid-track. We get interruptions in our tracking at the park, from people and/or dogs. So if I had a restart-plan in mind, I could use it as/when these opportunities present themselves. Then Gimme would be familiar with what the sequence meant. I am basically thinking of re-scenting and then having her move around me to "search for it, search for your track". I'm sure I'm not consistent.

I think they planned the start location poorly. Think about it, people who walk their dogs, tend to walk a perimeter if there aren't paths (there were none there). So that's where all the tree/post marking and pooping will be. The judges placed our start right along a perimeter area and there was a line of trees 20' to our right and ball field backstop and benches 10' to our left. Thus, Gimme was exposed to overwhelming dog-potty smells before we even got started. I think she might have done better if the track had been reversed, because it ended in the open on one of the two ball fields, where I didn't see poop (though I sure wouldn't suggest children play there).

I realized when we track at Game Farm Park, we tend to start our tracks out in the open or away from the main dog-walking path. There are a lot of people who walk dogs through the park on Flexi-leads; walking the paved paths, with the dogs marking and pooping 15-20' on either side. While people here are much better about picking up after their dogs, there are still a lot of dog-potty smells along the strip. We have ended in the strip (100 yards long) and have crossed it mid-track, but I don't think we've ever started a track in the strip or close to it. So, every time she's passed through the strip, she's already well committed to the track.

I plan to reverse this from time to time. Starting Gimme in the contaminated area and ending in an easier area. The first time or two we could start close and just cross through the area. Later we could do a track starting close and then do a couple 45º turns crossing the path and zigzagging down it. This might simulate what we faced - no poop piles, but plenty of potty smells.

I also want to gear up on-the-ground distractions some of the time. Nadine could drop a filled poop bag next to the track. Gimme normally doesn't pay much attention to poop on the occasions we've found it and I think her reaction may have been exacerbated by the frustration at the start. But I thought it might be worthwhile to simulate it and cue "leave it" if she spends too much time studying the poop.

I also want to introduce other distractions. Such as a small container with something yummy in it. I could have Nadine stationed at an appropriate distance from our track or following us with one of her dogs. I can count on her to not do anything stupid, so this would be an opportunity to encourage Gimme to work through dog distractions.

I'm sure there is an unlimited number of distractions, contamination, environmental conditions and other interruptions to work through. I'll just have to keep plugging away at it. As long as she is well-rewarded for success, Gimme enjoys challenges. So it's my job to present them in a way were she is challenged in a reasonable progression and has fun overcoming them.

RFE practice (109)

I'm still working on the clips I need for the Intermediate-Advanced Skills test. We have a lot of clips for the intermediate part, but still need to train the advanced skills.

"Take-a" warm-up video - We haven't done "take-a" bow for a long time. Gimme remembered it, but her heiney was swinging out badly.

"Otto" retrain video - I tried retraining "otto" using the guides. She didn't seem comfortable with them, so I didn't do much of it. I made them into a larger circle for her, which helped a little. I didn't want her worried about it, so we only did 3 repetitions. Later we did it again with the guides open even more, so it was almost a half-circle.

"Back" 4 steps video - One of the advanced skills we are training is Back Away in Center 4x. Gimme must move into "center" position, then back away a minimum 4 feet and wait while I return to her. She backs well to a target, so it should come quickly. She just has to learn to put the sequence together. I also have to start going to her to reward her, so she understands to stay put. She makes good progress in this little session. It occurs to me I should train the return-to-her separately.

Motivating "otto" video - J'Anna gave Gimme a new toy for Christmas. I decided to put peanut butter in it and try using it to motivate Gimme to do "otto". It worked better than I expected. After just two tosses, I was able to move the toy off my person and set it on a nearby table. Once Gimme understood what the payoff was going to be - she became an otto-machine. In fact she got so enthused, she started doing multiples. I was able to record Opposite backward circles/around 2x, which is very close to being usable for our advanced skills. Next time we should get it easily.

Overall it was a good session.

Urban Tracking (155)

My excuse for being so far behind in blogging is how busy the Christmas season is for me, both personally and on the job - which I'm sure is true for everyone. Account transitions carry on through the first week of January as we reset to Valentine.  Now it's all done and I can get the blog caught up.
 
On Thursday, December 19th, Nadine and I met at Game Farm Park. It was cold, breezy and damp.  I asked Nadine to create a TDU-like track, to prepare us for the test we entered for January 1st.   We aged the track 2 hours.
 
I was hopeful we'd do well, but this was not the reassuring track I wanted. Gimme started well, but when we approached the area of the first turn there were too-friendly women tramping all over the corner and a man passed nearby with his dog (pink squiggle, top of photo). This was very distracting for Gimme. Once they moved on she was able to make the turn. However, she tracked with a wide serpentine down the second leg (lime green). A woman walked her dog down the cement path to our left as we tracked (pink squiggle, right of track) and a man was playing with two young children to the right of our track (big pink squiggle, center of photo).
 
Gimme continued the serpentine down the length of the second leg and overran the corner. The overrun made it all the way to the cement path ahead of us - about 20 yards. Gimme didn't try to cross the path and started searching around. As we moved back toward where she'd been solid, she picked up the third leg and followed it.
 
She did a great job passing through the stonehenge rock formation and making the turn right afterward. The track actually passed through the wood chips of the playground, but Gimme stayed up on the cement path, moving around the playground and picking up the track where it exited. She was going a bit too fast and overran the last turn, then self-corrected, circled back, and picked up the turn. From there she crossed the cement path and went right to the final article hidden behind the exposed roots of a tree.
 
Overall Gimme did well. She had difficulty recovering from the distraction near the first corner, as well as ignoring distraction on the second leg. People and dogs are always "enticing" for her, so it's something we'll need to work on.