January 9, 2009

Junction City Park, approximately 4 PM. Clear and cold. I walked Dot from the car down the road toward going out of the park. Walked on driveway going out of park toward highway. Made left hand U turn back into park and around left side of old baseball diamond. About ½ through baseball diamond, I made a right hand turn across diamond. Once out of diamond went up slight hill and made a right toward playground. Went through playground, across the dirt road and made a left next to horse stables. Walked up fire road alongside stables. Stopped and turn around in the same direction. Made a right turn back toward dirt road and another right back in the direction of the car, but instead kept going straight up road alongside the right of the horse arena. Left towel with Dot’s scent about ½ way up the right side of the arena. Finished walking Dot at around 4:25 PM.

Went back into Junction City to go to post office and drop off boxes at storage unit. Came back to park at around 5:15 PM. Drove up along the left side of the horse arena and backed car up into side road, which is undetectable to Dino down on the track.

Put while towel with Dot’s scent back in the location of where I stopped her track along the right side of the horse arena. Took Dino out of car, put on harness, got rawhide bone, treat bag and clicker. Walked him down the short hill in the direction of Dot’s scent. Within about 20 feet of the scent, I told Dino “take scent” and showed him Dot’s collar. He came up, sniffed the collar, and I said “search” and then started looking for the track. He went forward on his own. He went back and forth looking. I thought he had the track, went in that direction, then veered off to the right and started to sniff in the bushes. He came back on his own, picked up the track and headed in the right direction. He was following it straight, and then when it turned right, he kept going straight. I let him go and then he turned and stopped on his own, looking around. He came back to me and sat in front of me on his own, which is his indication that he has run out of scent. I clicked and treated him. I brought him back to the area where he had the scent, and said “search.” He was looking around and around, and then picked it up in the correct direction down the dirt road.

He followed the track down the road and made the left turn down the next dirt road in the direction out of the park toward the highway. He followed it down the road on his own and when we came to the spot where I crossed the road diagonally with Dot, Dino crossed it on his own. Instead of turning left and continuing down the road, Dino kept going straight into the bushes. There was a worn footpath there. He got about 15 feet on the path, and then turned around and stopped. He looked back at me and then ran back and sat in front of me. I clicked and treated. I brought him back out to where he had the scent and said “search.” He picked up the track again and followed it down the road toward the highway.

He got the left hand U turn back into the park and into the baseball diamond. He missed the left turn after going into the field and kept going straight. He stopped by himself about 20 feet and then came back to me and sat in front of me. I clicked and treated. I brought him back to the point where he had the track and said “search,” and this time he got the correct turn and headed alongside the left side of the diamond. He missed the right hand turn and kept going straight. This time, I had to stop him because he kept going. I brought him back on the track before the turn, I pointed to the ground and said “check.” This time he got the right turn and started going fast across the field with his nose on the ground. I usually have the long line loose, but this time he got so far ahead, that it got tight. I have learned not to let him get going fast because then he gets so excited that he misses the turns. I had to keep the leash taut to slow him down.

He followed the track out the field, up the slight hill and got the right turn towards the playground. He was going straight into the playground and through the trees. Then he suddenly went off the track to the left. I let him keep going. Shortly, he stopped on his own and came back to me and sat in front of me. I clicked and treated. I brought him back to where he had the track and said “check” in different areas. He went off in another direction of the park. This time I had to stopped him and bring him back. I brought him back to the area of the track and said “check” and this time he got the track again and followed it out of the playground and across the road and made the left turn along side the horses, which are a major distraction to him. He veered off to the right to see the horses. I said “ack!” and “get to work” in firm voice and he came back to the trail and followed it up the fireroad. When he got to where the scent stopped, he stopped, looked around and came back to me and sat in front. I clicked and treated.

He followed it back down the fire road and made the right turn back onto the dirt road and then straight up the road toward the towel. He did go back and forth a couple of times on this road, obviously looking for something. He went off to the side on both sides and came back on this own. I said “check” as I pointed on the road. He went up the road, veering off to the left a bit and then raised his head in the direction of the towel and went straight toward it. When he saw it, he got very excited and ran back to me and jumped on me. I took him back to the towel and had him lay down. I gave him the treat bag and played with his rawhide all the way back to the car.

I was pretty happy about the age of the trail, which was an hour and a half by the time we finished. There definitely is a difference in how he works the VST trails in town and how he works the rural park. His confidence is much higher on the non VST trails. That is why I want to continue to do more of the VST trails. He seemed very strong in many areas, though I didn’t like him missing the turns that he did. He did get several of the turns and got many of the areas where there was no scent. Those were good.