Skip to main content

Weekend of October 29-30: First Class with Fanny and First Practice with Fanny

 Fanny's First Track   




The instructions were to:

  1. pre-count food for 15 steps.  Food every two steps. When you run out of food you know you've gone 15 steps. Check line-up after every two steps.
  2. put down a flag to the left of my left food and scuff 15 steps, but when you have about three pieces of food left, put down your second flag. Finish the track and lay down an article with food inside.
  3. walk five large steps. Pre-count food for 20 steps.
  4. Put down your third flag and scuff 20 steps.  Put down flag and article the same way you did after the first track.  
  5. Walk five large steps.  Pre-count food for 25 steps.
  6. Put down your fifth flag and scuff 25 steps. Put down last flag and article the same way you did after the first two tracks.
  7. Walk straight another five steps and walk around the track.  Do not back track.  
October 29: Fanny's Tracking in Class

In her first class and first-time tracking with other people following, she was nervous and pulled me straight down the track.  She stopped and laid down at each article, but was very nervous.  She ate the food in the article, but she didn't eat the food off the track.  Judi wants to see her with her nose down, working, and eating the food off the track. 

Homework: continue doing 15, 20 and 25 scuff steps

October 30

I prepared for tracking today by cutting up larger pieces of hot dog, mixing them with a bit of garlic powder and pre-counting and dividing them up into ziplock bags.


We went to a small field around the Corner from Cold Harbor Battlefield in Mechanicsville called the 11th Mississippi Volunteer Infantry Regiment Monument.  It's not large enough for a long track, but great for short tracks like we're currently doing.  


It was about 1 pm, 65 degrees with no wind and sunny.  The grass was cut very short.  

Here is our line-up.  See the electric pole and the tall tree behind it?


Here's the same line-up after I laid the track.


Here's our track.


Fanny started off pulling me towards the track.  She knows what we are up to.  She wouldn't take water before the track.  

She started off pulling me straight down the track and after about 6-7 steps realized there was something that smelled really good behind her so she started trying to backtrack to pick up the food.  I got her moving forward and she stopped to pick up all the hot dogs and started using her nose.  At the articles, she stopped but didn't indicate the articles until I got there and got down on my knees.  After that she laid down for the hot dogs inside the articles.

I forgot to offer water at the last article, but I offered her some when we got back to the car and she wouldn't drink any.

Seems like we are making progress.  She remembers this game.

Comments

  1. JudiOctober 30, 2022 at 5:15 PM

    FANTASTIC!!! And your track laying was STELLAR!!! Great job. Let’s repeat that again…maybe at a different location if possible. If not, just repeat and let me know how it goes. I think with her anxiety about stuff, the more new places you can practice these early beginner skills the better.

    Also, might want to play with taking her for short walks (collar, not tracking harness), in areas with people (I use playgrounds or parking lots, but park FAR FAR away—far enough that she’s not nervous, and just wander around giving her high value food. Don’t ask for any behavior—no eye contact, no commands—just wander far away from the activity and get her to take treats. Let me know how that goes too!

    ReplyDelete
  2. CrystalOctober 30, 2022 at 8:01 PM

    We can do both. I can lay tracks at Pole Green Park and that’s a great place for walks too. There’s also the battlefield and a few fields near my house.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Happy New Year: Fanny's First Track of the Year

We went tracking at the Community Center near 360 and practiced a left turn.  It was around 61°F at 3 pm.  I laid a track right beside the Community Center building that was two 60-step legs (scuffing all steps) with a left turn and food every three steps.  Fanny was trying to pull me to the left quite a bit, but she kept her nose down and working.  Here is my map of Fanny's track.
Post a Comment
Read more

October 31: All Hallows Eve Tracking

 Today we went to a field in my subdivision next to the tennis court and playground.  It had been dizzling earlier so it was very quiet except for the occasional car driving by.  It was 64°F with 6 mph winds and overcast. We did another 15, 20 and 25 steps track. My line-up is the corner fence post and the corner of the house behind it. Here is the track with 6 flags and three articles. Fanny ate a lot of the food but ran over some of it. She would have back tracked to get it if I let her. I kept her moving forward.  She went off to the right about a foot one time to sniff something, but quickly moved back to the track and kept tracking. She seemed very interested in the second article nudging it with her nose I said, "what did you find?" and she laid down.  At the last article, she wanted to keep going until I kneeled down.at the article and then she laid down for the cookies. She seems to continue tracking even after I put ...
Post a Comment
Read more

November 3: Tracking as the Sun Sets

We went tracking in a field outside my subdivision almost right next to 360 and a Valero gas station.  Fanny has tracked here before, but the traffic is still kind of loud.  6 pm, 65°F and 5 mph winds The Line-up for today's track was the tall multi-colored tree and a fur tree behind it.  There is another field between this one and 360 with a small road going to some quiet little shops and a restaurant between the fields.  We are approximately 350 yards from 360.. Fanny was a little more nervous with the traffic going by and the sounds of motorcycles revving their engines, but she was wagging her tail when we got out of the van. She moved quickly down the first leg and only started picking up hot dogs on the second track.  She stopped at each article, looked around as if checking to make sure it was safe and then nudged them with her nose and laid down. She ate all the treats and started tracking again.  Fanny didn't start eating food on the track until the...
Post a Comment
Read more