A great day
- judisedwards
- Dec 31, 2022
- 2 min read
A huge shout out and thank you to Mary Ann for all of her teaching today. I think everyone benefitted, and it showed in your tracklaying.
Mary Ann, I'm very grateful for your efforts. Thank you.
And, second day of TDX-ers putting blind tracks in for one another was SO MUCH better than last time! Everyone knew exactly where they placed the track, and you were all able to help your team appropriately. As a very small aside....when helping, simply tell the team to stop or stand still--try to not tell them where the track is. Just telling them to stop puts the handler's focus back on the dog, rather than trying to figure out where the track is. And, if an error has been made, and you (the tracklayer) see the dog recovering the track, just quietly say "trust your dog." Those three words are critical...in a test, I want you to hear them in your head when your subconscious sees tracking behavior. Remember how I tell beginners the dog's brain is a few feet behind it's nose? The same is true for X handlers--your brain OFTEN sees things you don't consciously recognize. Part of tracking is learning to trust your subconscious urges. FWIW, that subconscious stuff is real--your brain recognizes patterns that your conscious brain can't process. I used to tell anesthesia providers, "if your spidey sense says something is wrong, LISTEN." Because that spidey sense is your brain processing stuff without your help. And the research is there to support spidey sense. It really is our brains recognizing patterns we aren't consciously aware of. Wild stuff!
Another big applause for Crystal. She has stayed the course, and after you guys left today, Fannie did a short straight track, laid by me, with Andrea and me moving around in the background. Not only did Fannie succeed, she looked quite relaxed, and even wagged her tail at one point. Saturday folks will see Crystal walking Fannie around while we talk or track...just ignore the dog--no eye contact, don't try to touch her. She's beginning to trust that tracking is just about food, and the humans are safe and can be ignored. That's a huge win for us!
And, for those of us who follow Otter 🦦 on FB...he showed huge promise as Andrea's first TD today.
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Example of TDX map from my Addie's pass. Crosstracks in dashes on leg 2 and 3
Example of my
Thank you Mary Ann and Judi for a fun day! Mary Ann, I had meant to ask if I could take pictures of some of your maps that you had showed us so I could keep them for reference. My own map making skills are questionable at best. 😂 I won’t be able to be at the next couple of classes (work, etc). Would you be willing to post some photos/scanned copies of your maps? Thank you!
I enjoyed it & learned a lot myself.
Very much agree I really enjoyed meeting Mary Ann and learned so much. Thank you, Mary Ann! It was a great day of tracking. I’m really enjoying seeing the progress we make each week. Thank you, Judi! This is such a fun group to track with and learn from. Happy New Year! See you in 2023!