Tracking

I started tracking again recently, this time including Juicy. So far we've only had one impromptu session just searching for treats outdoors in the park and two official tracking sessions complete with three tracks. The first session my son came with me and he laid the tracks.

Juicy had three runs with five, 10, then 15 paces each. They were all straight tracks starting with a glove and treat, and a glove and treat at each of the pace points. The first time was fairly difficult. She doesn't know a lot of verbal commands so she just didn't know what I was asking. After we did complete that first line though, she nailed the next one and the third. And it was a little breezy, too, with air coming up off the river. All in all, a great first session.

Leo got longer tracks as he's more experienced. We did 15-25-40. The first track he did well although he almost completely ran the track a half dozen feet to the right on the sidewalk which I thought odd. The next one he struggled a bit more with but nailed in fairly short order anyway, and the third no problem. As always, it takes much longer to lay the tracks than to run them. All were double-laid as well.

The next time I took the dogs myself which meant I laid them and worked them, not always the best but sometimes you just have to make do. Juicy had two runs on straight tracks, same thing - 5-10-15, and the third I decided to try a 90-degree left turn. Once she stopped focusing on going to the top of the slope and into the road, she picked up the track at the turn and found the glove just fine.

Leo's first two tracks had a right-hand 90-degree turn. He struggled a bit the first time but the wind was picking up some which made it more difficult. None of them were as smooth as he usually is so I'm not sure we're ready for turns yet, at least not when there is wind.

Hopefully I'll have time to get them back out again in the next couple of days. I'm fortunate there's a park three blocks down the street that is only mildly used during the "off" seasons.