November 13, 2008

It was around 10 AM. Weather was clear and sunny. I had John walk Dot around the Tops shopping center before we went to lunch. I told John not to walk near me so my scent would not mix much with his scent and Dot's. We walked down the middle of the parking lot with him walking through the base of the trees. Then we walked past a semi parked and then past another truck and then straight toward the end of the parking lot. He walked through some concrete planters and then toward the end of the lot. He walked behind a stack of bags on pallets of potting soil and then he followed all along the end edge of the parking lot which borders on the edge of an open space with grass. He walked all the way behind the entire center, which is an outdoor strip mall. Then we walked out to the sidewalk and made a right back in the direction of the car. The total time to walk the center was about 15 minutes. I put Dot back into the car and then went to breakfast.

About an hour later we came back to the same spot. I parked the car in the same spot because that is where the track it, plus it is a secluded spot so Dino can't see the car from the track, which has triggered an early run to the car in the past. I put on his harness, treat bag and rawhide bone.

He had a difficult time starting and find the track. Later I figured a few things. Either he was still too close to the car so it was confusing that he knew where Dot was. Or the parking lot where we started had so much traffic that it was too difficult for him since we had not had too much experience on VST. Too much time had elapsed for his level. Or he was very distracted by all the activity in the parking lot: all the people walking around, all the dogs barking and walking around. I think it may have been all of the above. I would like to come back to this spot and specifically work on this parking lot and subsequently walking in front of all the stores, which has more traffic. That would be a good track all by itself.

So I continued to tell Dino "Search" as we walked along the track and telling him "check" along the way and pointing at the ground where I knew the scent was. I did not rescent him on the scent pad. I knew he had the scent. He just couldn't find it or was too distracted. I kept walking along to where the semi had been parked. In this location, the traffic was dying down a bit, but still a bit heavy. He did seem to be looking and searching for something, but not dead on it yet. As we got closer to the edge of the lot and the open space, he seemed to be more focused. Once he got to the pallet of potting soil he seemed to be following something. He continued on the track all the way along the edge of the lot. He got the change behind all the stores from where I had John walk from the edge of the lot to a chain link fence along a loading zone. He followed the track along the outside of the delivery truck that was still parked in the same area. He followed the track straight out to the sidewalk and he made the right turn back toward the car. He followed it all the way to where the car was parked. He jumped on the car with his front feet and then ran back to me and jumped on me. I gave him his bag of treats and played with the rawhide.

By the time we got back to the car, it was over an hour and a half long. Based on his ability on the track once we got out of the parking lot, I do believe my assessment of the parking lot was correct. I didn't realize how different the two locations were until I saw his reaction to both. I do think the parking lot was more difficult for him due to the heavy flow of traffic and all the distractions which were completely non existent behind the center. I will come back to practice just on the parking lot with a lot less aging time.