Nadine and Cricket did their article-diamond track and as soon as they finished, I brought Gimme up to do our track. It was aged less than 30 minutes when we ran it. To help her sort out getting through the potty-zone and to keep her closer to the track, I placed a treat on the track every 6-8 feet. I set an article across the path, right as she got through the potty-zone. Gimme did well with this and found all her cheese. One thing I didn't understand at the time was the three pink marks at the beginning of the second leg, where she'd just stop and stare. I'd get her attention back on the track, she'd go a bit further and then did it again, twice. After the first article (orange) she dithered a little bit, but then went on and did a nice job. Nadine told me later, as we were running our first leg and the first bit of the second leg, there was a man throwing a ball for an off-leash dog right on our second leg (light pink lines just below the playground). We were still coming up the tiny hill, so Gimme and I couldn't see this, but she must've sensed it. The man and his dog moved off right before we topped the little hillock. Gimme was slightly distracted by their contamination, but not enough to need re-scenting.
Gimme paid no real attention to Nadine and Cricket's first crosstrack. She was pulled off by the second crosstrack, but then caught the smell of her next article on the corner, which brought her back to her track. From there the end she wasn't fooled again.
This was a great exercise and I'm sure we'll revisit it. The off-leash dog playing on her track was an extra layer of challenge I hadn't planned on, but Gimme did a great job with it. Actually she did a great job with the whole track - I was very pleased with her efforts. The cheese on the track in the potty zone worked well too. I think this is a plan we can make good headway with. I'm encouraged.
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