Night tracks are fun!

Only the second time we've tracked after a 2 month break... and in the dark to boot!

She did really well, even though she missed some of the hot dogs I was quite pleased with how well she was using her nose

Starting off strong... she put her nose right to the ground when I said "track"...


Midway through the track:


Nearing the finish...


The end is in sight!


I think I'm turning into a tracking freak! It's so much fun, and so low stress for the dog :). I am really pleased with how well Cedar is doing. She is such a blast to train. I still need to do some problem solving and figure out how to show her how to track slower. I think doing it in the dark was helpful because she couldn't see the hot dogs on the ground as well. Maybe I'll have to do that more!

first track in 2 months

I was bored and decided to lay a 23 pace track in the front yard for Cedar tonight. She did pretty well, but was kind of distracted and missed a lot of the hot dogs. I think she needs to learn to use her nose more, although she was sniffing pretty well. I wanted to get pix but forgot the memory card for my camera :)

I might go and lay another track tonight and go in the dark, just for kicks.

Yesterday, I went to Lauries and worked Cedar in her husband's shop. It's big and echo-y and full of distractions, so it was great for her. She was nervous at first but calmed down enough for me to get some decent work in. Worked on heel, sit, down, and conformation training.

Updates

So I have been bad and haven't updated in awhile....



Cedar is 6 months old!



Cedar's doing very well with her training. We're taking an agility class and she is amazing everyone. We found out yesterday that she loves tunnels! She is going to be a great agility dog, I'm sure. And my first competition dog! She will be old enough to compete in AKC in July, and NADAC/USDAA in January 2009. I am hoping that I will have enough motivation to keep training her to get her ready for it! It would be a shame not to.

I haven't worked tracking in a long time, but I think I'll go out and do some today. My goal is to get a TD on her this year, but that depends on how many trials I can find, etc.

Another goal for this year is to get an RN on her; Rally Novice. I really need to work more on heeling and focus; she is very distracted and not terribly food motivated which I'm not familiar with. Maybe I'll try with a toy and see how she does. She definitely is an interesting dog to work with.

I am also thinking about trying to get a BH (Schutzhund obedience) title on her at some point, as well as an FH (Schutzhund tracking) and AD (Schutzhund endurance) title at some point. For the AD, the dog has to trot for 12 miles next to a bike. Once she is old enough, I'd love to try for it. She could do it no problem, I'm sure.

I really need to get my butt in gear and start training more!