December 4th, 2025
Initial goal: To run an easy straight track (endurance).
Adjusted goal: Run a 200 yard track with 2 turns.
Track :
Time laid: 3:00 PM
Time ran: 3:10 PM
Length: ~ 200 yards
Temperature: 32 F
Humidity: 96%
Wind: 8 mph N
My plan was to run a straight long track but I had to adjust this since the line I decided on went through a field covered in some kind of protective plastic which I could not see because of the snow. In order to avoid walking on this weird surface I ended up making two 90 degree turn that were relatively close to each other. Not really ideal...
We start with a nice article pick up and a good tracking stance. The wind is blowing from the north and keeps pushing her to the left. Everything goes really well until we hit the 1st turn. Because I was not aware of the plastic on the field, I ended up taking 2 steps onto it, stopping, and then doubling back. At this point I had to make a decision where to go and I chose to turn. It might have been better to just end the track there instead since she struggled a lot afterwards and was clearly confused and unsure why the track did not continue. Thankfully she is an upbeat dog with a positive attitude and despite being confused she did not get discouraged. Finally at 6:42 she put her nose down and goes in the right direction and I go with her. The second turn is also a bit of a struggle but she eventually gets there. Good article pick up at the end. I think we are ready to move onto a different food drop pattern. Not sure what this should be?
I totally know the feeling of having to abandon the original plan based on changes when you get to the location! Just curious, but when you changed your turn, did you use extra reinforcement for the new leg? Also, remind me of your current WSF pattern?
ReplyDeleteIf I'm remembering correctly, I think she is essentially getting reinforcement - alternating food and scuff, every 5 steps...
DeleteIt was S5W10 for this track. I did add additional reinforcement before and after but that did not seem to help right away in this case. Maybe i should have added scuffs as well. However, this does confirm she isn't just following food hahaha
DeleteI'm very much a "oops, maybe I should have done xyz here instead" when I run into unexpected challenges when laying tracks and then running it later. So good job thinking it through in hind site and considering an alternative plan (place an article and end it vs doing the turn) so that next time that might be an option.
ReplyDeleteI don't see a youtube link for this track so I'm not sure if there isn't a video or if it didn't link correctly as you'd thought.
Ahhh thanks for letting me know about the YouTube link! I was having some issues with blogger saving that day and I just added it back in.
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