Today I thought I'd give it another go as the weather was a bit cooler, with the objective to be time lapsed on the track as opposed to a longer distance. We also had a couple of small showers the day before which hopefully would give us a damper environment to work with. As usual I always try to think of something different for her to do, so managed to find some long grass and vegetation, combined with crossing a track (my driveway), as well as extending the lapsed time to 7 hours.
As usual things started well, with the tracking outfit put on a few meters before the starting point, letting Heidi try to pick up the scent on her own-no problem. By the way, she really gets excited now when I put my kit bag on, and even more so when her tracking kit comes out! Off we went with Heidi dealing with the distractions of birds without to much trouble, especially pigeons bursting out of the hedgerows. Other things to challenge her were fresh fox droppings, badger activity, and one of her favorite snacks, Roe droppings!
Soon we came to the first left handed turn, which she missed completely. This may have been because the wind was quite strong, and blowing straight towards us, causing her to be lazy and not keep her nose to the ground. I stood close to the turn, and let her carry on, and by the time she got to the end of the leash, she turned around, came back towards me and picked up the turn.
The vegetation had become taller and thicker here, which must have held the scent well, as she had no trouble at this section until she came up against her dreaded enemy-nettles. Her reaction was to stop, turn to look at me as if to say 'no way', then come back towards me. Unfortunately I had to cut this section from the video for it to be accepted time wise, but to get over the problem I rightfully or wrongly went ahead, flattened the nettles, and with plenty of verbal encouragement she continued on. We are a team after all!
Next problem perhaps predictably, was crossing the track (our driveway). I thought it would be a problem, so when laying the line I made a point of dripping a little extra blood here. When she came out of the grass to the track I guess the wind was blowing down it like a tunnel from the right, and the first thing she did was turn left and wander down the track. Eventually she realised the scent was not there and turned around, came back to the right point, which I had marked, picked up the scent and was off again with no problem through the very long and thick vegetation.
We went a few meters and came to what I knew was an acute right turn, which initially she didn't pick up, so I held back so as not to disrupt the scent line, and she very quickly got back on it. Things then went very well until we came to what must have been the only thistles in the area, which Heidi dislikes almost as much as nettles. Using her brain and nose, she tried to find a way round them, going this way and that, but at the same time she did not want to lose the scent line, and looked a bit frustrated. Her large team member at the end of the leash then gave her plenty of gentle, verbal encouragement, which was enough to get her through it, and back on the line.
Next up was the last right handed turn, which she had no problem with at all, and then it was a direct, and quick part of the track to the finish. Whereupon she acknowledged the skin laid out at the end, but was more interested in receiving her reward of a piece of liver!
After a bit of a game with the skin, and trying to get her to speak by holding it up out of reach, and teasing her, she was allowed to drag it a couple of hundred meters back to the garden, and have a bit of a chew on it.
An interesting point to note here on her development is that normally her life mentor, Corrie our 13 year old Lakeland Terrier has been the boss, and has alway been able to take any toy or food away from Heidi. Not so now! Heidi's instincts have now kicked in, and she is fully aware that it was her hunt, and her hard work that had rewarded her with this 'kill', and was not going to give it to another dog, no matter what. This was the first occasion that I had seen real aggression from her, and had I not interviened I think we may have had a dead terrier, and Corrie is a tough, hard fighter! I must mention I had no problem with Heidi at all, and could take the skin away at anytime, and do anything with her while she was playing with it.
Conclusions:
This was the longest time we have left a track yet, and she definately had big problems on a couple of turns, and I am not sure at this stage how to rectify this. In the early stages of training we started with gradual turns, and steadily increased their sharpness, so if anyone has some ideas I would welcome them.
The wind definately had some effect on these turns I'm sure, especially when coming out on to the track, so be aware of this tunnel effect when coming out into open areas!
Age of track: 7hrs
Length of Track: Approx 300m.
Type of track: Shoe and diluted blood.
Amount of blood: 250ml (1/4 diluted with cleave juice).
Wind direction: From straight ahead
Wind strength: 19-24 mph
Temp: 22ºC
Weather: Dry, cloudy, about to rain
Time: 04.30pm
Age of Dog: 4 1/2 months
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