Mist

Success at Sviland5

Poor Mist has no real canine friends at home, so after a hard day’s tracking, has to make do cuddling up with Thomas’ toy dogs:

I signed up for tracking today, mainly because I had to be home by 1530 so Jon could take the train to Kristiansand for his training.

The plan was to do some ‘trail search’ and a B-assessment-like trail (~500m). It took quite some time to sort out who was doing what, where and ensure that all of us knew what others were doing so we wouldn’t mess up others’ training! Nina wanted to do pretty much the same as me, so we teamed up. It was 1115 by the time I got back from laying a trail for her up in the top (open) forest. Then we put laid the ‘trail-searches’ along the right-hand side of the main rundering track (noone was rundering today ). We put out 6 loops (3 each) from the track out into the terrain and back to the track, hanging a tape, visible from the track, once we were well out in the terrain and then leaving an article for the finish just 10-20metres further on. The idea was that, if the dog chose the wrong direction and ‘back-tracked’ then we would soon come back to the road where there would be so many trails that the dog wouldn’t be able to go any further. If they chose the correct direction, they would be rewarded promptly.

Mist was first to search for her trails. On the first attempt, she did exactly what we’d planned - she went the wrong way and led me back to the road where she looked at me confused! We went back to where we’d started, searched again and when she came across the track this time, she chose the right direction. Unfortunately she went past the ‘finish’ so I scooped it up, lobbed it in her direction and hoped for the best. Not the smoothest of rewards but never mind .
Whether she learned from that first mistake I won’t ever know, but on the 2nd trail-search she checked the wrong direction only 2metres before turning and going the right way. On the 3rd go, she took the right direction without hesitation. She found both finishes and seemed very pleased with her reward (a favourite home-made tug toy).

After Nina and Bina had done their trail-searches (very successfully ), we set off for the longer trail. We took a reasonably short trail-search (10m or so) and Mist set off in the right direction. Nina followed us, and collected in the tapes she’d hung to ensure she remembered where she’d been. The whole session went very well - she found and picked up all the articles (including a metal bike brake part, although I had did have to ask her to bring it to me… but she stopped at it and waited anyway) except for one which she missed on a turn (something to work on). She had to work hard when we first came out of the green forest into an open area just before a path. The path itself wasn’t much of a problem, but going from forest terrain to grass/heather etc. was something that required concentration. At one point Nina said we were off track, but Mist seemed sure so I followed her (I reckoned if she was pulling that hard, either she was right or she was onto something else and I should follow her and let her ‘fail’). Turned out she was right - we came across a couple of tapes before long. It is so easy to forget where you’ve been when you lay trails in forest terrain!

Right at the end, she was obviously tired and we went back into pine-needle terrain (difficult), and I misunderstood something Nina said to me. I thought we’d gone past the finish - which didn’t sound surprising since we were within 20-30m of the road. So I got Mist’s toy and chucked it in front of her. You’d think I’d practiced! It landed right in front of her on the track, and about 2metres from the finish…. which I only saw when Nina went to collect it. What Nina had actually been commenting on was that Mist was on a secondary trail because of a reasonable sidewind, and Mist crossed a wall further along than Nina actually had done. Ah well. If it had been ‘for real’ I would have found the finish as I wouldn’t have just rewarded Mist without her finding something and she was actually right by it! And not least because it was a brightly coloured lunchbox which was easily visible .

All in all, a really good training session . I will look for more opportunities to use the same method for teaching Mist to go the right way when she comes across a trail. And need to work on turns to ensure we don’t miss articles due to going too far past a turn.

Posted: Tracking / Spor

A recall that works - even when I don’t want it to….0

I wanted to continue my efforts with ‘recall from empty loops’ in rundering, and chose to use the open forest (Sviland) as I wanted to see at least some of the time where Mist was. I met Gro for the first time this evening - she has a lovely 10-month old black lab like Bina, who seems to be making a promising start. It was an opportunity for Mist to find an ‘unfamiliar body’, so Gro was sent out to be found on the first loop. Since it was dark, and I wanted to make things as simple as possible, Mist got a sound cue (clap) so that she was sure of where the ‘body’ was. I was a bit uncertain whether she was struggling to start barking since her lights stopped at Gro but the barking didn’t start right away. But Gro assured me afterwards that Mist was just giving her a getting-to-know-you kiss before she stepped back and started indicating . She didn’t need any ‘help’ which was good to know.

So, we started the empty loops and apart from Mist looping back rather than forward once or twice, they went very well. She was always out at least 50m (never been a problem!) and she came when I called . So much so that, when John was hiding the other side of the marshy area, I managed to call her in just as she sat down in front of him to start barking. Doh I was convinced he must be further back and that, given the wind direction, Mist wouldn’t find him because she was in front…. but no, he’d managed to sprint in the dark through the forest all the way past the marsh and up onto the hill. Well ok, so I messed up that time. But Mist was still focused out that side and when I sent her again, she went straight back to John and indicated immediately. Yes, I’d have failed on the rundering assessment for her not indicating first time, but more importantly I think, is that I feel confident that, if in a real life search, she found someone and I called her away from them just at the wrong moment, then she’d go back as soon as she got a chance.

In terms of rewarding her for coming when called, I alternated between playing tug, just taking her harness and sending her straight out again, or, if she was heading in the right direction sending her without stopping. By switching tactics each time, I hope it means she’ll concentrate on me to see what’s coming, rather than deciding things herself!

All in all the sequence was FBBF(no ind.)F(same body)FBBBF.
(Probably never written it before - F=find, B=blind/empty loop)

If I can get to feel confident that she’ll come in from empty loops, I think we’re well on the way to what we need for B-assessment. Distance isn’t a big issue as Mist’s in good shape, and running in the forest is quite a reward for her in itself. She does find it more difficult to start barking when she’s been going a while, but once she starts it’s generally not a problem. So, just need to practice with plenty of variation to keep her interest, and perhaps a few more ‘easy’ sessions (or loops at least) now and again (i.e. using sounds cues, or without indication) to keep motivation high.

Posted: Rundering

A welcome break in Hovden0

Time for some pics to make the site look a bit more interesting! We were in Hovden last week for 5days - staying in the BP hytte, with friends and their 18month old daughter. Managed to get in lots of skiing (cross-country) and Mist did pretty well at keeping out of the way of skis/pulks/other people, carrying her panniers, not bothering the kids etc. etc. ….Except for one notable incident where she was allowed to run loose (there was a very long downhill stretch and I was worried she’d suddenly get stuck in the deep snow off to the side and I’d catapult her downhill as I carried on - it did happen once another day )… a man went past quite fast and Mist decided to run after him. She’d not been bothered by the many others who’d past us but this guy was for some reason of interest. Him shouting at her and trying to fend her off with his poles only made her more excited, and she had great fun playing her ‘game’ for a few hundred metres, before realising we were far away and she’d better go back and find us. My only consolation was that we were probably safe from getting a good telling off, as there was no way he’d ski all the way back up the hill to tell us what he thought of us . Oops! Otherwise I was a responsible dog owner and Mist was on lead all the time except when Jon took her out early in the morning or late evening when noone else was around.

Posted: Miscellaneous / Diverse

A month without training!2

Yes, it’s a month since we last trained! (due to a combination of being away with work, then being ill and then going on holiday). Not that I wrote about that day - when Mist did everything possible to make me seriously wonder whether we will B-qualify this year! We trained rundering in Vigreskogen and chose to not know where the ‘bodies’ were….. he he, first time I’ve tried this and yes it was a learning experience. Mist ran completely wild from the start, and not only searched a large part of the forest on her first ‘loop’, but also found more than one body and didn’t indicate, ignored my calls to come in, later needed help to indicate at an unfamiliar ‘body’, then finally legged it after something or other in the forest and didn’t come back for 5-10minutes (seemed like forever).
Well, at least Tone who was on the midline with me, got to see the ‘problem’ I’d asked for previously at Sviland, when Mist was playing model student .

So, today….. I’d planned on training ‘recall on empty loops’/rundering, but the list of people signed up to runder at Vigreskogen was incredibly long and I just wasn’t interested in fighting for space, and ending up in the ‘puppy forest’ for some half-hearted training. So, I changed my mind and signed up for Gravdal where there were only 4 others signed up.

What a good choice! Aud, Kaare, Frode D and Kristin T and I had an excellent day, with sausages cooked over a campfire at lunchtime, chocolate brownies, and plenty of space for us all to train what we wanted. Aud, Kaare and Frode stuck to the rules and trained tracking (that was what was training at Gravdal was supposed to be today). Kirstin wanted to do an area search and there was no problem with space so she got her wish. And I got to runder up from the cars, in open terrain where I could (mostly) see what the little minx was doing.
After some discussion on the way there (I shared a lift with KristinT), I followed Kristin’s suggestion of having a find (Kaare) on the first loop so that Mist wouldn’t search the whole area in a one-er. After a slight detour, where Mist shot off up the midline in the direction Kaare had walked, and I called her back successfully , she ran out well, found Kaare and indicated. I’d also sent out Frode on the other side for the 2nd loop, but when I sent Mist she didn’t find him, despite apparently (Aud was on a hilltop the other side of the road and saw everything!) searching all the way back down to the road, even across the road, and a large part of the hillside Frode was hiding. Anyway, what was good was that when I called her eventually, she came. And was rewarded with a long game of tug while Frode moved further on. Another empty loop on the wind-side was good - 50m out and turned and came when I called. And then straight out to Frode.
I’d asked the ‘bodies’ to help Mist with indication so that that wouldn’t be any hindrance in training today. I see that she can find it quite demanding to get started barking when she’s been running empty loops a while. So, they helped her by giving the bark command and also by rewarding immediately, then taking the toy away and asking her to bark to get it back.
At one point I tried to send Mist out on the other side while Frode was still in place, but she was very focused on him and in the end he had to come in so that she’d go out the other side. Then he ran (impressive stuff ), uphill in horrible terrain, while Mist was out the other side. Another two empty loops and Mist got to find Kaare for a final time, and we stopped there as I was more than satisfied.

Overall sequence - FBBFFBBFBBF.

My ‘recall’ today was quite dramatic - a pretty piercing whistle with fingers in mouth! I usually reserve it for ‘emergencies’ - it’s more a stop command than a recall, but it (usually) gets her attention. My intention is to gradually reduce the signal I need to use in order to ensure Mist comes in from empty loops, but for now I want to be sure it works!

In the afternoon, KristinT laid out a trail for Mist and waited at the end. It was just a few hundred metres long and we took it straight away. I just wanted something fun and motivating today, as I’ve trained far too much ‘difficult’ tracking recently, without much easy stuff. Apart from one point where she lost the trail, and had to work around in circles for a while to find it again, she was fast and accurate. Kristin was lying in a jervenduk (camouflage bivi bag kind of thing) and was so well camouflaged against the terrain that neither Mist nor I saw her before Mist was about a metre away, despite Kristin feeling very visible!

Thanks everyone for a very enjoyable day

Posted: Tracking / Spor, Rundering