WordPlay

997…

Oh, but first, let’s go to Dart Beagle.

Because Dart Beagle has a nose. What’s more, he likes to use it.

Dart’s just starting with active tracking training. He’s got an idea (in the abstract), of article indication.  Now it’s time to explore the concept of following a track to find COOKIES along the way.

Or, in Dart’s case, grab the concept with vigor, shake it like a rat, and toss it aside to acquire the COOKIES.

(996…)

Dart, it turns out, likes to track.

Dart might possibly be eager to follow the track

Dart still needs help recognizing the article as the same thing from article training, but he's getting there!

He still has many conceptual leaps to make (on Saturday he learned that tracking involves more than one tracker/scent, and that his task is the same regardless), but for now, we’re immersed in the glee of his initial response to the whole exercise.

Because DART LIKES TO TRACK!!

(995…)

Ahem.

Connery is still at work, too–learning new surfaces, new article types, and how to deal with aging scents.  Over the weekend, he ran a wonderful track with a plethora of articles and a nice age to it.  He’s working shortish sections to keep his motivation high and avoid, as much as possible, triggering his headsplosions.  That’s going to happen regardless–wherever he is, whatever he’s doing–but I hope to avoid associating them with tracking if possible.

Gearing up. One of us is already READY!

Connery at work. See that jaunty movement in his hocks? That's part of his "tell" that he's on scent.

He’s been to see the autoimmune specialist (Auntie Specialist Vet!)–who, all things considered, he adored and so did we.  He passed that inspection with flying colors, and no obvious suspect for the cause of the (wheezing/snorking/sneezing) headsplosions, or for his pain.  We’re now headed for Auntie Special Specialist Vet #2, an internist, with whom we’ll target…well, internal causes.

(994…)

The tests to determine same are far beyond available funds, of course.  It’s thanks to readers and friends that we’ve gotten this far.

(If you ever doubted the effect of the economical and technological changes on the publishing industry…well…don’t!)

So here’s this week’s tally:
DART BEAGLE: WIN! And so cute!
ConneryBeagle: WIN! Such a good boy!
Auntie Specialist One: WIN!
Me: Still asking for help for Connery. Not even beating around the bush.  If you have a moment…

(993…)

Spreading the word about THE HEART OF DOG, our fundraising project, is easy:

~~Click the Tell a Friend button down there

~~ Go to B&N and click LIKE to express an interest in the book.

~~ Go to Amazon and click their LIKE button.

~~There’s no need to be on FaceBook or to have read the book to help TAG IT on Amazon–just follow the link and scroll down to the tags.  They’re all factual, and just make it easier for people to see the book so they can decide if it might be of interest.

~~Review it if you’ve read it.  Anywhere that suits you!

~~Ponder where fundraising above and beyond might serve well; Second Chance in Flagstaff is the first on the list…

~~The book itself is $3.99, and doesn’t require an e-reader; there are PDF versions, and the really nice EPUB version can be read with free Adobe Digital Editions.  It has 16 short stories, plenty of humor, plenty of thoughtful  satisfaction, and a enough sentiment to make you smile–and it comes courtesy of award-winning authors who donated the bulk of the stories for Connery’s sake:  Jeffrey Carver, Julie Czerneda, Tanya Huff, John Mierau, Fiona Patton, Jennifer Roberson, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, &  John Zakour.

The goal?  A thousand copies so we can take the next step.  And then it’s all for WIN and WIN for all!

(The bonus piccies…)

One of the reasons I love tracking

Sucks to be us. Not. (Beagle in the grass!)

…Monday

Because, you know…everyone loses their brains now and then. Even earnest little dogs.

Once upon a time, the dogs were widely cross-training as a matter of course. But then I moved, and my energy and attention was severely, shall we say, challenged. So we focused on agility, which is our foundation joy.

And then in the latter part of last year, I introduced tracking to ConneryBeagle.

Mind you, what I know about tracking is basically…well…

Nothing.

But to my mind, training is about understanding the animal, understanding the goals, and breaking things down into manageable bits that conveys the latter to the former. So 95% of my work has always been a “well, let’s see what we can do!” kind of thing.

So I bought some books, read some articles, and started training. Picked a few brains…started asking around for local folks who are active in the sport–because tracking, it turns out, just isn’t a sport one can truly pursue to title without some group involvement.

ConneryBeagle thinks tracking is way cool, by the way. It puts his brain in a neat space, and makes him content with himself. (It also makes him really thirsty.) So we worked our little tracks up into zigzags and moderate distance…and then I got distracted with new house construction an hour from the old, and then we prepared to move AGAIN, and then I also gave up, for the nonce, on getting in with a tracking group.

In other words, Connery didn’t track for a good 8 months.

Until two weeks ago! That’s when we made contact with the right people, and found the opportunity to move forward with the training. That’s when we started a big agility trial gap for the summer. That’s when I started laying some refresher tracks here around home.

And that’s when ConneryBeagle proved that he had lost none of the skills, but had completely lost track of intent. (Oh, punny me!) From moments of brilliance in tracking, he switched to aimless wandering.

It took me a while to catch on. It doesn’t, as some might think, have anything to do with “he’s just not doing it” or “he’s being bad” or even, “he’s failing.” To be frank, I’ve never found that to be the answer to any of my training challenges. Especially not with a dog as inherently honest as a Beagle.

No, with dogs, there’s generally a reason, even if we don’t understand it. That’s OUR challenge, as trainers–to react on that basis. Not to blame the dog. Not even when he’s abandoning a track he’s just brilliantly navigated to that point.

For Connery? This time, he’s mixed tracking behavior with article indication behavior.

When we practice with articles, he’s in “find” mode, which involves quartering the yard, air-scenting, and sitting beside the article. He loves this game! He’s good at it, too–and we’ve been playing it, on and off, all along.

So when we started back into tracking work again after all this time, all his reinforcement was on “find” mode. When he ran into a puzzling moment in tracking, he simply switched gears. How clever is THAT?

So Connery and I are doing a tracking reboot, and he’s enjoying this very much. It means BEAGLE SUCCESS! BEAGLE COOKIES! BEAGLE SONG OF SELF!

Who knows. By the time we join up with the new group on Saturday, maybe we won’t…completely…embarrass ourselves. But hey, maybe we will! That’s okay. Bring it on!

A really fun Connery pic--he's braced and collected behind to control the teeter tip, while at the same time striking out boldy in front. It's like catching a dressage horse in both levade and extension! (photo by Bruce McClelland)