Shoulders, leads, articles and rhythm

Those were the things I was thinking about as I watched both classes this week. I think I’ve reminded you taking a step, no matter how small, when the dog is going in the wrong direction, reinforces that wrong direction. Most of you are working hard at that, so now…..I suggest it would be good if you start to pay attention to your shoulders. We all, generally, turn our shoulders (at a turn) slightly towards the direction of the new leg. Bad idea!!!!!! At a test, you won’t know the direction of the turn, and that small cue may (1) alter your dog’s search, and (2) make you less open and responsive should the dog indicate in the opposite direction of your shoulders. To quote Betty, we aren’t owls, so we can’t turn our heads 360 with our shoulders remaining straight ahead…so instead we have to make sure that when the dog circles or checks another direction, our shoulders return to midline.

leads: this isn’t a right or wrong, just something to think about. Our dogs are being trained to recognize the flag and the start article as the beginning of the track. They can smell the start article from some distance away. It’s possible we could frustrate them fussing with leash off….find my pocket….get the line on, etc etc. I always (yep, always) take my dog towards the start with the tracking line on his collar. I stop, harness him (click, click to fasten), switch line from collar to harness (click), and release. Everyone one of my dogs counts the clicks, and automatically starts after the third one. Back in the day of buckle harnesses, they were equally attuned to the pattern. The important concept here though is that I’m not untangling my 40’ line while my dog is trying to start. The line drags from the car to the start—it’s untangled at the car, and drags behind me as we walk to the track. If you harness at the car, I’d still suggest walking to the track with your line on the collar, the dog will quickly learn to wait for the swap, and take that as the cue to start.

Articles: I encourage everyone to branch out. I’d love to see lots of variation in articles. Don’t just stick with cloth and leather either—metal (old set of keys), plastic, be imaginative! Betty and others have had the amazing experience of there being an article on the track, not left by you, the dog checks it, and goes on….yet reliably stops for things left by the tracklayer. I think generalizing articles to be anything with the tracklayer’s scent is what allows them to learn to discard other article like items on a track.

Rhythm: had a great experience with Ralph & Ilsa on Monday. She was searching for a turn in the woods, when suddenly I heard her gait change into a very rhythmic trot. I looked—yep, dead on the track. I do encourage everyone to try to not only look for tracking behavior, but also to feel it in the line, and hear it. All can become helpful to you in recognizing your dog’s tracking behavior.