The dog is the one with the nose

I’ve been tracking a friend’s dog while she recovers from a broken ankle. Today, I was a little frustrated as he’s pulling so hard I can barely hold him. And his Mom is not going to be her strongest when she can track again, so I have to figure this out. On track 2 I tried something totally different—I followed willingly (I’ve reminded some of you to do this😂). He set the pace, I set the line tension I wanted. If he lost straight spine, I slowed down or halted as indicated. As he corrected, I moved forward…and he clearly picked the track up and moved on down the track. As you know, I DO NOT want anyone running on a track—ankles are precious. But, we reinforce good tracking with movement—make sure the movement is fast enough to be reinforcing! Let your dog set the pace (to a point of course). This is part of the way we transfer responsibility for the track to the dog. Cause, in the end, it all comes down to trusting your partner-he’s the one with the nose!