Urban Tracking (40)

I laid the track when I arrived at my Mom's and we ran it right before leaving, 90 minutes later. It got a LOT hotter and was about 90º when we ran it. I was prepared to toss a glove in front of her and call it quits, but even though we haven't tracked in really hot weather before, Gimme did fine with it. About half the track was in the shade and it was a very short track, so these two factors made a difference.

We started at the leftmost blue star (articles) at the start sock. The ground there was rocky and vegetation was sparse. She had short starting distance and then came upon an 8 yard blacktop crossing. She really struggled with the crossing, but finally went across and found the track on the far side. The lime green is also sparse grass, but more than the rocky ground where we started (is mowed). The two light blue-green rectangles are buildings. When we got behind the building where the first article was supposed to be (white star), it was gone. Gimme briefly looked for it then continued on. The textured avocado colored shape is an area of woods, where the ground is just solid pine needles. I really thought Gimme would struggle with this, but she zipped through it, making both turns as if she'd been tracking on pine needles all along.

The track came out of the little woods onto more rocky ground with sparse vegetation. She made the next turn nicely and found the second article 20 yards from the turn. The transition onto mossy grass was no problem. The track proceeded right beside a tree (about 4' away) and then turned left alongside of the other building. I see I actually drew this wrong, she could have gone straight there. I'd read in Sil's manuscript about turns very close to trees being a challenge, so I wanted Gimme to experience one. She did pause to check out the tree, which should not be a pee-marked tree. Then left it on her own, made the turn and got to the article. What isn't shown is the distraction of my mother sitting in a lawn chair 10 yards past the final article. Gimme was thinking of going to her, but stopped to tell me about the article. Good girl.

There really was so much to love about this track and her efforts. In hindsight I should have just started the track on the blacktop. I was very happy with her multiple transitions from one type of cover to another. She did so well on the pine needles - making both turns without hesitation. I really expected this to be a bigger challenge. And most exciting, she did so well despite how hot it was.

Good girl Gimme, best dog ever...

Urban Tracking (38 & 39)

On Saturday, July 1st, we again went to Medline for some urban tracking. I emailed Sil Sanders and asked him how I should increase factors to get Gimme moving along, since she is now consistently following her nose on asphalt/pavement. I wanted to know whether I should increase space between food drops or increase age first, assuming we continued to track at roughly the same temperature. I had noticed Gimme takes the first third of the 75 yard track to warm up to the task and does well through the end and on the 100 yard track. On the 125 yard track her focus seems to drop off, so I asked him about this as well.

Sil suggested a couple of things. He suggested doing two tracks of 75 and 125 yards, so we end while she's doing her best. He also suggested I focus on getting her food drops less and less frequent, and at some point more toward articles for reward stations. He also told me where we are in the new book, which has the plan for transitioning a field tracking dog onto urban.

So for this day's tracks (75 & 125 yds), temperatures at 60º, with a light breeze. There were food drops every 7½ yards and the track was aged 45 minutes. Gimme did very nicely. Once she does the first 25 yds, then she gets in her groove and keeps her nose down almost the whole time. This time it took her less time to track it than it took me to lay it, so obviously starting to spread out the drops didn't bother her.

On Tuesday, July 4th, we went to Medline early in the day. Temperatures were again 60º, with a light breeze. I moved the food drops out to every 10 yards, keeping the age at 45 minutes.

I thought it might be time for Gimme to do something besides straight lines, since I don't want her to get stuck assuming it will always be thus. Her first 75 yard track was straight, and into the breeze. She had a lot of difficulty getting started. There was a Golden running around loose, who startled the --- out of me as I got out of the car and suddenly there's this big dog 2 feet away. So it's quite possible the dog had been running around where the beginning of the track was laid. Once she got going, Gimme did just fine.

For the second track, there was 30 yards crosswind, cross a curbed landscape strip, 10 yards to an article, 20 yards, then a right turn and 80 yards to the end article (right before a storm drain). There were also food drops every 10 yards - wherever there wasn't an article or the obstacle or the turn. It looks something like this.

Gimme went straight over the curbed landscaping like it wasn't there. She didn't hesitate or raise her head. I had the impression she saw the article and was just headed toward it, not working out the challenge. NOTE to self, do a better job matching articles to background. She really struggled with the corner, which further made me think she'd seen the article. She did finally find the new direction and then motored down to the end. I'm certain she didn't see the end article, but found it quickly, before passing the drain, about a yard away.

Overall I thought she did a fine job and clearly was okay with moving the drops to every 10 yards. I love having a nice big space like the Medline parking lot to work in. It's 12 minutes from home and there are quite a lot of things we'll be able to do there while we work on urban.

RFE practice (48)

We met on Thursday for our regularly scheduled practice. I thought it was a good time to video a baseline of each intermediate behavior. We didn't get through all of them because J'Anna needed to leave a little early. I was also a little late, which also cut into our time.

Baseline A video - I started off with some "heel" and "halt" to get her brain in gear. She knows "halt" from parkour and I'm finding it useful to help her understand to stop and remain standing. Here is my baseline analysis
#34 Circle Handler 3x ("around" from "heel") - She's a bit wide on the far side and checking my hands each time for treats. I need to cue earlier for each repeat so she keeps going.
#34 Circle Handler 3x ("behind" from "side") - Again a bit wide on the far side and checking my hands each time for treats. I cued a little earlier for each repeat so she kept moving better. Need to improve her stop in place.
#33 Into Behind ("fanny" from "side") - Not clear for her, she was trying to turn it into "izzy". When she did get in position, her butt is angled out. Maybe platform work would bring her into better alignment.
#33 Into Behind ("fanny" from "heel") - This time I tried using "spin" to get her into "fanny" and it worked a little nicer. Her alignment was better.
#48 Follow Behind - She starts out nice, but has a tendency to go wide to try and get into either "heel" or "side", whichever side the last treat came from. I think this will improve when she understands "fanny" better.
#35 Circle Handler 2x Handler opposite ("around" from "heel") - Starts off wide. Needs better cue timing so she'll understand to keep going and not check hands for treats.
#35 Circle Handler 2x Handler opposite ("behind" from "side") - Needs better cue timing so she'll understand to keep going and not check hands for treats.
#37 CCW Spin to Center trx ("spin-center") - She seemed to be trying to turn this into "izzy". We need to put more value in "center" so she is happy to stay there and not try to turn it into something she thinks pays better.
#36 CW Spin to Center trx ("turn-center") - We had the same issues, though slightly less intense.  Again, need to put more value in "center".

Baseline B video -
#40 & 42 Pivot Right 360/180 and #41 & 43 Pivot Left 360/180 - Reviewing these is when I realized I'd been doing it wrong all along, as reverse pivots. I also did them wrong for my intermediate entry.
#44 Center Pivot 360 - (CW) - Gimme does this nicely once she gets into "center". She had a tendency to try and finish by pivoting right into "side", which we had to work through.
#44 Center Pivot 360 - (CCW) - Same issues, though she didn't try to finish by pivoting into "heel".
#46 Sidepass Right (moving close) - This is coming along, needs more work to get more steps at one time.
#47 Sidepass Left (moving away) - She needs to get better at moving her rear at the same time, instead of leading with the front and following with the rear.
#46 Sidepass Right (moving away) - She did a better job here than she did for our intermediate entry.
#47 Sidepass Left (moving close) - This was the weakest for this day.

Session 3 video - In watching J'Anna do the pivots with her dog I realized she was doing it different than I, so I brought Gimme in to try it the correct way. We tinkered with it for just a couple of minutes and the foot platform worked the best.

Gimme was getting close to her false pregnancy. In fact, I saw the first symptoms when I got home. This explains her tendency to go into food frenzy and to not listen well (at least worse than usual). So we'll probably be spending a lot of time on basics over the next 6-8 weeks.

RFE Entry Results

Just got the news and amazingly we passed with a fourth place, so Gimme got her first leg toward an intermediate title. My practice buddy J'Anna got first and third placements. Her third place dog finished her intermediate title and her score was just 11 points higher than Gimme's 137 (they need 125 to pass). Wild Glory got first place with a nice score of 164. J'Anna has been working a lot more on the intermediate behaviors than we have. I only just started teaching many of them a month before we entered - no sense in getting ahead of myself.

You can compare the scoring to the video if you like.  I've shown in parenthesis the score I would have given myself with comments in blue.
West 1 Regional RFE Intermediate video

Keep in mind the judging criteria is subjective, but is generally:
Performed with Significant Deficiencies - 1-3 points
Performed Adequate to Well - 4-7 points
Performed Very Well to Superb - 8-10 points
Points after a plus sign is a 1-5 point difficulty award on free choice behaviors.

• Back around handler - "Rear didn't maintain lead" 7 pts (5 because it was a two part behavior, which should be on the low end of "adequate to well)
• Free choice - "hand touch" 10 pts +1 (8 she wasn't back in heel before we moved off) 
• Right turn thru trx - "bit wide" 9 pts (7 she was distracted and more than just a "bit wide" by my standards)
• Pivot left 360 - "out of position, backing rather than pivot" 4 pts (2-3 this is the one we did the wrong behavior - my bad. I don't see how it can be considered "performed adequate to well" when it was the wrong behavior)
• About U180 - "wide" 8 pts (8)
• Free Choice - "leave to front, paw touch" 8 pts +2 (8)
• Back up in left heel x4 - "inconsistent position, hesitant" 7 pts (6 what she said, plus there was a second cue)
• Switch back - "loss of attention, wide, out of position, hand cue" 4 pts (4 Gimme knows this very well, but was momentarily distracted by squeak toy in the daycare, there was also a second cue)
• Free choice - "slight hand cue, handler aid end position, pivot pot" 7 pts +3 (5 this is the one that was supposed to be a send to "table" and instead I got "hands" and a partial pivot, I assume the bit she says about handler aid means getting Gimme back into position before moving off)
• Side pass right - "dog didn't execute the move" 3 pts (she really didn't do any side pass steps and so I wouldn't have awarded any points)
• Left turn circle trx - 10 pts (9 a bit wide on the far side of me from the camera)
• Free choice - "distance behavior, pivot pot, hand cue" 7pts +4 (7)
• 270 right - "partial pivot" 6 pts (7 this is a hard one to prevent Gimme from pivoting because she has such good rear awareness and movement, thus I have to make a HUGE 270 turn to keep her from doing any pivoting steps.  I think I need to ask about this is on the RFE facebook list)
• Front cross: dog - "Nice!" 10 pts (9 needs to be faster)
• Bow - "2nd cue" 8 pts (6 - 2nd cue and rear out of alignment 45 degrees)
• Heelwork-Attention-Teamwork - 6, 6, & 7 pts (agreed)

So she gave me 137 and I would have given me 126 - qualifying with just one point to spare. Judge's general comment: Your dog doesn't keep position through the course, which is a shame. There was quite a lot of distraction as well. But some moves were done superbly. Well done. Free choice at station 9 was a bit far from the sign.  Gimme can do better heeling, but she was doing well considering she's coming into her false pregnancy.  I certainly appreciate the judge noticing the distractions - even though I couldn't hear them on the video.  I don't know why she thought the free choice at station 9 was "a bit far from the sign"... if it had been closer, it would have been a temptation as we heeled by it.  Not sure why she didn't think of it as a distance behavior, like station 12, which was closer.   

Parkour (2/8)

This class started off with 5 dogs, including Gimme. There was one behind the fencing (behind Jo in the first video), one who camped to the back of the room and then two more on the left side of the room. Gimme was a bit distracted, but handling it. Then the nice calm Tervuren showed up and it really was too much for her. I didn't realize at the time she was starting into her false pregnancy - I saw the first real signs when we got home. The next day in RFE practice she also showed signs. So far she hasn't gone over the edge into false pregnancy, but according to my calendar, it'll be this coming Saturday.

Boardwalk work video - This was just a little bit of work on the boardwalk with extra control points along the way for Gimme. It is easy for her, but it was also a good chance to work through the distraction of two other dogs somewhat close.

"Thru" obstacle video - The obstacle was a channel with a 90º bend with pool noodles stuck through it at various heights and angles. Gimme has seen this set-up several times, so it was easy for her. She wasn't even distracted by the proximity of the Akita, about 6' away.

Sequence 1 video - This is not a challenging sequence, but you might be able to see the increased distraction. Her effort here was just moments after the Tervuren arrived. She normally "likes" him, because he's so calm and well-behaved. In this case, I think his late arrival created sudden environmental change (SEC). She wasn't too bad, just a somewhat frantic edge to her - I see it. To her credit, Jo notices it too.

Multiple uses video - We were to take one prop and use it in as many ways as possible. We used the barrel and did: "thru", "hands" (2 ways), "table", "out", and "bacon". Oddly the "out" was the hardest to get.

Multiple uses 2 video - This is our chance to show off to the class what we've done. I added her doing "bacon" into the barrel and doing "bacon" on the barrel tipped on its end. This turned out to be easier than "bacon" to the side, because she had traction available much lower.

Special uses video - She set out a large group of props and we were to find unusual ways to use them. Obviously, we did "bacon" to everything... because we can. I didn't realize the cone would flip up against her. The other challenge was the little step platform - I thought she would back onto the low step on the end. When she tried to get on the top, it kept scooting away from her. I love how Gimme is so willing to try, even when things don't cooperate. I asked the lady who owns the Tervuren guy if she thought we were overdoing our "bacon" skill. She said, "Never. Always go with your strength."

Gimme was so tired she slept all the way home and didn't wake up until I stopped to get our mail. Poor baby.

RFE Practice (47)

This was our last day available to video runs for our RFE intermediate West 1 entries. J'Anna got a good video for Glory on Thursday, so she brought Ginger. Those two dogs are as different as night and day.

Session 1 video - Gimme was highly distracted by the open garage door. I'm sure it doesn't help that this is where are the mouse smells are. We closed it because the bright back light made the video hard to see. Even after we shut the door Gimme was still distracted. Trying to work on "pivot" was unsuccessful, so switched to a bit of off "side" heeling. I'm sure with all the focus I've put on learning these intermediate behaviors, I haven't been rewarding enough "heel" and "side". After just a bit of heeling, Gimme does a much better job on "pivot". When I take her over to work on "izzy" I showed Gimme the nuggies waiting for her. I know she was well aware of where here nuggies were the moment she came in the door; just wanted to make sure she knew I knew where they were, as well as their availability to be earned. I've noticed recently she isn't stopping with me during heeling, so I put some rewards into the stopping bank account. I also started using "halt", a parkour cue, to help her know what to do. I love her ability to apply a cue from one sport to another. Sometimes her "izzy" is a two-part behavior. It's something we are working on and when she does it without turning the wrong way and then flipping back into it, then she gets a huge jackpot. Remember, "izzy" is hard because the turn is in her less comfortable direction - so uncurling in the middle of it surely feels more natural. It was a big step for her to simply stop for a treat and then finish for the next treat without uncurling. She did a lovely job on the reverse pivot. Unfortunately we will earn a substantial deduction since the sign is for a pivot. I've been doing it wrong a long time and J'Anna has never noticed. The good news is - I can now go back to using it as a free choice move. We work on some more of the course before we get to sidestep right. As I watch this video I realize how food obsessed she is getting - which I now know is related to her impending false pregnancy. 

Session 2 video - J'Anna thought she needed to make different videos of each of my course attempts because she doesn't know how to edit hers, thus the blip early in. For this session we mostly did run-throughs, with focus on the problem areas as they cropped up. When I was trying to get a "center-sit", Gimme gave me the best "izzy" ever and of course, I rewarded it. I sure wasn't going to let it slip by. Thinking Gimme might be confused by the proximity of where I wanted "izzy" and where I wanted "center-sit-paw" I rearranged the location of my free choice behaviors. In hindsight I realize she was actually confused by her location relative to me, not the room. Moving this helped, but it didn't clear up the "bacon". Later in the week I get her an adjustment, since I had noticed a warm area in her back over the barn hunt weekend. J'Anna comes up with the idea to abandon "bacon" and just go for "table", because the judge doesn't know what you planned. This morphs into "pivot" because she resists getting all four feet on the prop. She usually will do almost anything for treats, so I assume she's uncomfortable with it. 

Session 3 video - This time I started with backing up in heel; given how much she loves backing up you'd think she'd be totally into this. I have to believe she just doesn't yet understand what I want. One time we got two-thirds of the way through before the first completely failed behavior.

I took the opportunity to reward two weak points and then did another run-through. It wasn't perfect, but I felt it was as close as we were going to get. Knowing now how I was doing the pivot wrong, it's even further than I thought. It's okay to not pass... we've learned a lot in the last couple of months getting ready for it and I've learned a lot from the video attempts. RFE West 1 Intermediate Entry video.

Gimme is pretty much in a false pregnancy now, even though early stage. So we'll be focusing on basics with a lot of motivation for the next six weeks. I can work gently on improving the intermediate behaviors as well. The timing should work out for us to enter the RFE World Wide video show in December.

Meanwhile I'm studying up on RFE judging parameters. I plan to analyze my video, one behavior at a time, and see how my critique stacks up with the report I get from the judge. I think it will be a good exercise to improve my scores over the long haul.

Barn Hunt picture

No, it's not a picture of Gimme doing barn hunt...

This is Gimme resting in the hotel room on Saturday night.  Isn't she cute? 

Oh wait - you can't see her, because she's resting stealth style...