December 7, 2025. I laid 2 tracks for Lois. The ground was muddy so I was able to create big scuff marks. I placed a small piece of kibble every 5 steps. When I started Lois she appeared to be really tracking and flying past a lot of the treats. I think the muddy ground really helped her.
The second track Lois noticed more of the treats, but it still felt better then our practice session last week.
We did a couple of article games where I threw down the glove and asked her to down at it.
Fortunately I will have a chance to work on muddy ground again soon.
It's always hard to have a restart after some time off so good for you for jumping right in! Good way to be observant that she seemed to be passing over the treats (kibble?) in her enthusiasm. When she is "running over" those treats pay attention to her body and head position. We want her head down with her nose along the ground vs her head halfway up just kind of pulling you along.
ReplyDeleteGood advice, I will try this again with muddy ground and watch her head. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteGlad you got out again! If you can start working in some added details into your description, it will be helpful and get you in the habit - things like track length, age, temp, humidity. Andrea makes a good point about body position. Also, keep in mind that if her head is down and nose active on the track, that even if she runs over treats it doesn't mean they are not reinforcing her tracking. One thing to be careful of, re: threw the glove down. If she's seeing the glove being thrown, that in itself can become a cue. Are you playing article games away from the track? If you haven't had a chance to yet, please take a look at the Article game videos Mary Ann posted. These can be found under the Training Tab --> Article Games.
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