10/27/2024 - Ashland ES/Holly Ridge

Saber

Location: Ashland Elementary School

Time : 12:00 pm, Age: 15 minutes

Weather: 56 degrees, sunny, no wind

Video:

Track design: It was supposed to be food at 30 after the start and from there food or an article every 50. Matt did food every 50 and put the articles down randomly. Not a big deal. My goal here was really decision points. The track followed a concrete sidewalk, but had two turns. I wanted to see how Saber handled those turns. I was really quite pleased with how well she did.

She had a nice start. The first turn she went past, but I saw a clear loss of scent and backed up. She backed up and took the turn confidently. The second turn she took initially and then wanted to look around. I might have been slow to follow her, but I want to make sure she is committed. I was happy with her tracking behavior. We need a lot more work on her VST articles. They do not bring her joy.

We are going to keep working on decision points. I will alternate between reward reduction and increasing age.

Syd

Location: Holly Ridge

Time Run: 4:00 pm, Age: 20 minutes

Weather: 62 degrees, sunny

Video:

Track design: Start and end (food) article. Food 15 steps after start, then every 20 for 2 rotations per leg. Start turn about 5 steps after second 20 food drop scuffing in/out of turns. Two turns. Three legs total.

First leg was ok. First turn was good. Second leg there was something he was interested in off to the right (it was also a little issue on the first leg but less so than the second). Last leg was fine. I didn't love this but I will give this pattern another chance before I back up more. I think he was more than capable and clearly showed me tracking behavior. On this day, in this field there was something that smelled better than Matt's stinky feet.