Wednesday, December 9, 2008

Lowden Park, Weaverville. Weather was clear and cold. Started walking Dot around 3:30 PM. Many people in the park including a couple of loose dogs in the playground.

I walked Dot around the back corner, near the fencing and then out to the street. We crossed the street, walked down the sidewalk and then crossed again back toward another opening into the park. This part I thought might be tough for Dino because this spot goes off into three directions. We took the turn to the right, around the baseball diamond and then through a gate, into the field, across the field and then back out and through another smaller park. The car was off the the left in another parking lot.

I put Dot into the car and then I took Scout out and walked her on a cross track across Dot track just coming out of the baseball diamond. We walked around a bit in that area, and then we walked back again across the same track and back to the car.

I waited about another 15 to 20 minutes so the track would be about an hour old. I took Dino out, put on his harness, got his bag of treats and his rawhide bone. We walked another way into the park not near Dot's way into the park. We came across Dot's track, I showed him the scent pad, said "Take Scent" and "Search." He lifted up his head just barely and then put his head down and immediately started searching. He followed the track along side the wall up to the open field. Prior to getting to the field, he went into the fenced field about 15 feet, stopped, turned around and came back to me. I had him sit and clicked and treated because I felt he indicated on his own that there was no scent in that area. I said "check" and pointed to the ground, and he followed the scent as it continued around the outside of the fenced field.

He followed the scent into a completely enclosed pitching practice area. It was small, and he got to the end and turned around on his own and went back out without a hesitation. I thought about clicking and treating but I didn't want to distract him. He went back out to the open field and there he seemed to get confused which way. He started to back track and then came back to me and looked up at me. I said "check" as I pointed to the ground. It took him a couple of times before he picked up the scent again. he followed it around the fencing of the park. Toward the end of the park where there was a left turn to go out onto the street, there was a man walking a large German Shepherd off leash and Dino became very distracted. I don't know if he wanted to play with the dog, or if he was concerned that the dog was off-leash and running around. Since I didn't know what the man was going to do, I took Dino a bit further up closer to the fence and said "check" to give him something to focus on. The man walked the dog away from us in the direction we just came. Dino had a tough time getting back on the track in this area. He kept going off in a direction I knew the scent was not. I brought him back to where I knew it was and said "check." Finally, he got the scent on the way up to the opening to the street. He seemed very focus again. Then the man with the GS came back in our direction inside the park, and Dino lost focus again. He missed the turn off the sidewalk and across the street. I had to bring him back a couple of times to where the scent was and restart him. Finally, I just brought him across the street and said "check" and he picked up the scent.

He seemed very focused along the sidewalk, and he "check" several spots along the way and then came back to the sidewalk. Then he went right past the spot where we turned to go back across the street. I let him go around 15 feet, and then brought him back. Just before the turn to go across the street, Dino stood still and turned his head and body toward the park just at the spot where I had crossed with Dot. I was ecstatic. I clicked and treated and praised the hell out of him. He seemed pretty happy. We went across the street back to the park.

He followed the track back into the park around a set of restrooms to the right side. This is where the footpath goes in three directions that I noted earlier. He didn't want to go to the left, but he was insistent to go further, which was a concrete set of bleacher seats. I had to stop him at the end of the leash about three times. I couldn't click and treat because he wasn't indicating that the scent was ending. I brought him back to the spot into the park and tried it about three times. He seemed confused which way to go. I told him "check" as I pointed at the ground. He was going around and around. Finally after a couple of minutes, he got the right directions. I verbally praised him.

He got the track into the baseball diamond, across the field and back out. At this point, he could see the truck and started to go toward it, which I thought he might do. I brought him back to just outside the field and said "check." He picked up the scent as it went straight, through a smaller park and picnic area and he got the left turn to go back out to the parking lot. He got lost just inside the gate. I brought him back and said "check" and then he got it out the gate and toward the truck. I let the long line go, as he ran to the truck. He ran back to me and then ran to the truck. When I got there, I had him down (his signal when he finds the scent source) and I gave him his treat bag and played with this rawhide for several minutes.

I think what I will do from now on is to open up the truck and make him go into the truck to where either Dot or Scout are to go actually to the scent and show the animal, not just the truck. He may get confused that he is going to the truck and not the animal down the road.