1.8 Urban Lawn | Too Hot to Handle
Date: Aug 13, 2024
Track Layer: Lorie
Cross Track Layer: Paul, the Husband
Location: Hampton Middle School Soccer Field / Our Property
Weather: Sunny, ~25C
Wind: Little to No wind.
Track Lengths: 50 yds., 100 yds. and 160 yds.
Today marked our third Urban Lawn training session, and I was determined to make it count. I needed a 200-yard stretch for our tracking work, which has proven difficult to find. I decided to head to the soccer field in Hampton, a spacious area that seemed long enough for what we needed.
While the field was a great size, I’m running into a recurring problem with the heat. I’m working in the mornings and not making it to the field until the afternoon, by which time it’s very hot. With no shade and no breeze, the conditions were too much for Rumor. As a result, I only ran the first two tracks.
Despite the heat, both tracks went very well. Rumor was committed and stayed pretty much on track, showing her usual determination and focus. Since I was on a commercial field, I didn’t worry about cross tracks for these first two runs.
Later that evening, I laid the third track on our property. Unfortunately, it wasn’t long enough, and I was only able to set up a 160-yard track. For this track, my husband laid a cross track to add another layer of challenge. Rumor did really well, although she had two spots where she got a bit confused. The first time, she seemed to be looking for the treat, and I made the mistake of speaking to her, which brought her back toward me. Once she found that treat, though, she got back on track. The second time, near the end, she had a hard time staying on course. This was interesting because this track didn’t call for hard footsteps the entire way. I wonder if the issues at the end were due to less scent for her to follow. If so, this is a natural part of the training as she learns to work through the problem when the scent isn’t as prominent.
I might redo this session because I really want to run that 200-yard track. I need to think about how to approach this.
Another change I made today was with the treats. I had this mindset that I needed a bright treat, something I could see. But I realized that I don’t want Rumor to be looking for the treat visually; I want her to use her nose to find it. And she did just that. She stayed in the track a lot today and was able to find the treats on her own. I think she may have missed a couple in her enthusiasm—she was fast today!
Evaluation: There were a lot of good points today. Rumor was very excited to go to the line each time. She pulled toward the start and it looked like she was picking up the scent even before reaching the line. She tracked enthusiastically and stayed in the track most of the time. She worked through some of the distraction areas and got back on track with little help from me. My leash handling, however, still needs improvement—she’s definitely learning faster than I am. For the third track, the leash was all knotted, and I didn’t notice until we started tracking and I tried to let it out. The main issue now is where I hold the leash and how tight I hold it. I need to keep it at my belly, but I’m allowing the line to go slack too often. On the bright side, I’ve greatly improved in raising my arms when she gets off track, and she seems to respond well to this, quickly getting back on track. It’s rare for her to go more than a foot or two off track.
