Today Edgar and I did 2 single turn starts. It was cloudy to drizzling. We were at Trevette Elementary School,

I practiced the sit at the start flag. I had to prompt the sit. 

I had put food every 10 paces. I was about 10 feet back on the line. He ran over a good amount of the food. On this track I had done the 5 food drops into the turn and 5 out.  On the second leg he crossed the gravel track. Weeds are starting to pop up on the track. His end article indication was very nice. He did search for his track once or twice and I just back upped a few steps.

On his second track he sat at the start article on his own. He had a lovely start. He crossed the track twice. He had no problem with my drunken sailor walking. He made the turn like he was on train tracks. There was food every 5 steps going out of the turn. He wasn't bothered by the drain grate. I had gone onto the asphalt for 3 steps and had no trouble making the transition. With the article only 4 paces onto the asphalt I'm sure he scented the article. If that's what helps him with transitions more power to it.

  

Comments

  1. Anne (Mila)December 1, 2025 at 3:42 PM

    Sounds like a good outing for you both and I'm hearing a lot of positives - which is always nice! Just curious, but are you using any scuffing? Great that you used the 'back up' a few steps strategy to help him be successful in those moments of searching. You may have, but if not, try to file away information about what might have been challenging to him in those spots, so that when you are track laying and you encounter something similar, you can think about how you might want to reinforce it differently.

    It sounds like the second start went well and more importantly, I really like that you are pointing out the positives and wins! I think that's a great way to help continue to build his confidence. I'm guessing the article on the asphalt wasn't visible? Either way, the article itself becomes reinforcing (particularly if the article games, etc are being played) and so in itself helped reinforce successful transitions.

    A few questions for you (and these are not necessarily ones you need to answer, but if the answer is 'no' you might want to consider them)...Did you do anything different for the gravel track crossing...for example, did you scuff through the gravel track, treat drop through it? Did you place any food drops or scuffing about 10 to 15 yards after the gravel track to reward him for working through that "obstacle" successfully?

    And for future posts, please include track age and length. Thanks!

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