Tracking Transitions - soil to grass, soil to pavement

It was warm with high humidity today, bordering on rain, so I went to the College today and on a whim and did some transitions with Caden because I saw this area with fresh dirt around a new building. Caden did awesome on his very first track – usually I do three and he calms down by the 2nd and 3rd LOL. He has been focusing on veg all summer, so this was his first foray onto non-veg in months! The track went from soil to grass, grass to soil, and soil to pavement. You can see where he goes a bit sideways at soil to grass, and from the curb to the parking lot, but overall I was so pleased with how he did. I kicked dirt out onto the pavement, it is a technique to help with the transition. Also, there was a puddle there, so I stepped in it when I laid the track to wet my steps, I thought why not?

Caden's first track; no wind, high humidity; 8C


I would not do this very often with Caden as he has yet to refine his veg skills, but there was so much moisture hanging in the air, it seemed like a fun thing to try. I used a fur saver (long linked choke style collar) rather than a prong on Caden and had a bit less control and at one point I think you can hear me on his 2nd track whispering ‘oh man…” because he pulls so hard!

Caden's second track - rewalked and aged 30 minutes after River ran this one...


I re-walked the track and did it with River but added more non-veg to it. Then, I aged I and after 30 minutes, I ran Caden on it again. He did the track a bit faster, I think he was motivated to smell River on it. He did the non-veg including a turn. I was pretty excited about it. He was not dead on but was within a foot of it. River is doing so much better. Today I was working on technique so I didn’t care if I was using the same track over and over, as long as we were all basically on it – and I rewalked and refreshed it each time then let it age (except for Ted’s track). I have her on a collar today because I simply didn’t have any harnesses in the car – was not expecting to go tracking!

River's track



River is getting the idea to not cast so much and is not shutting down when I restrict her more than usual. Don't get me wrong, River is a great urban tracking dog and UTDX-ready but as she was my first urban dog, I let her cast WAY too much so have decided we can always learn more and do better. I am very impressed that at her age, she is capable of changing her style somewhat. I am sure that if I can convince her not to cast so wide at times, it will help us both! It’s taken two months of tons of food, lots of work on scent pads and starts only and mostly tracking on veg to change her style a bit but it has been worth it for me and a great learning experience. I have never talked so much to her either – I am usually so quiet. From Schutzhund tracking I am learning about the value of a verbal correction followed by praise, and letting the dog know when they are right. I hand it to the old girl (River, but maybe me too LOL). I am still allowing her small circles and I am now keeping a tighter line.

Jet's non-veg portion - ran out of memory before the end!



Jet was much more careful on the non-veg, but is still very visual. You can see her checking out wet spots on the pavement – a downfall of using water on the track? My memory card was full and the taping stopped just as I was correcting her to the track, she finished OK, it was just ahead of her. A very cute lie down at the article. I am hoping that with minor corrections and by using food and hidden articles on the track, I can convince Jet to stop cheating and running up to things she SEES!!

Ted's non-veg, managed to delete some stuff to tape this



My big surprise again today was Ted! I have been training him from scratch using a combination of HITT and footstep style. His non-veg was great! It was a well laid trail by this time, but motivating for him, and probably very clear. I ran him after Caden’s second track, to get the missed bait.