March
2009
A recall that works - even when I don’t want it to….
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.