| Distance | R+ | Spray | Notes | Success |
| 315 ft | 5-10 footsteps | mist | Laid first, run second. Aged ~20 min. Really good when working but distracted several times and had trouble restarting. | 70% |
| 300 ft | 5-12 footsteps | mist at knee level | Laid second, run first. Aged ~10 min. Scalloped downwind but didn't miss any treats on that leg. Distracted but restarted okay. | 90% |
Lots of problems today. First the spray was very visible even at the widest setting. I laid the first track with the nozzle near the ground and then realized that she would be following her eyes the whole way so I chose to lay the second track before running it. Even with the nozzle at knee height on the second track the spray was still clearly visible. I had planned to work on articles after the tracks so I decided to do that for ten minutes before running both tracks. She just couldn't do the articles, even with fairly significant prompting, so I picked them all up again and put her back in the vehicle for the rest of the 10 minutes.
Then the second track laid was mostly dry so we ran it. She did well most of the way but on the second leg we started hearing a horrible screeching metal noise as if someone was dragging a dumpster along the ground. She was distracted by and clearly a little anxious about this several times but restarted herself fairly promptly.
I put her away for a minute and just then a train came by. I had to wait for it to pass as trains make her anxious and I was already a little concerned about how long the next track had aged. By the time the rather long train had passed the spray was almost completely dried. She did surprisingly well right up until we got near the building, and then she started to get distracted. She restarted herself twice along that leg but right after we passed over the boulevard a van pulled up beside the parked truck and dropped off the driver. She alternated between staring at the truck and pulling towards our vehicle which was parked near the start line. I waited until I was sure she wasn't going to restart and then I pointed out the next treat. She ate it and followed the track until the end.
I don't like the idea of helping her too much but I really think she was overwhelmed and I wanted to end on a good note. Today I threw too much at her, unintentionally, but she doesn't know that.
I think the wind (coming from the direction of the tracks) near the building was confusing too.
All in all I'm still very pleased with her though! She may have been overwhelmed but when she was working she was very good, and despite the fact the tracks were aged she clearly knew what she was doing. I think my little girl is really tracking now.
How do you decide the success %?
ReplyDeleteI look at a number of things including how much time she was off track, how she behaved off track, how many treats she missed, and whether or not she got distracted (and if she did get distracted whether or not she restarted herself in a reasonable time). When we were starting I also included how she behaved on track (body mechanics, mostly, and I can clarify those if you want) but I don't feel the need to worry about that these days. I also don't worry about treats she found but chose not to eat although that rarely happens except at the start of a track.
ReplyDeleteIt is obviously a bit of a wild guess in the end. Because we're using the 80/20 rule I kind of think of it as shorthand - a percentage above 80 indicates she found it easy, one below 80 says it was hard (and how far below 80 indicates whether I should retry something similar or how much easier to make it), and if I put 80 down then I'm telling myself to increase difficulty but not by too much.
Does that make sense?
This day I gave her 90% on one track and 70% on the other.
ReplyDelete90%
- except when distracted she kept her head down and worked the whole time
- missed one treat
- handled the corner nicely with a quick circle around the area and then definate commitment to the new direction
- being distracted by a horrible noise is reasonable and she restarted herself promptly with no help from me
- the only variable on here I would like to repeat as far as difficulty goes is the noise that distracted her. As I have no control over that I can't mark this track anything other than Very Good.
70%
- when I review this I want to remember that she worked beautifully for much of the track but that she was not ready for the difficulty. This number tells me she was close but not quite there. I think that if the truck driver hadn't arrived she would have probably gotten 80%, meaning that she could handle it but only just.
Does that help?
Tracy I have been meaning to thank you for the emails! I have been taking a break since September and don't think it hurts, they always go back to it, sometimes revealing things to you that way. I love to see your reports on this, this method requires so much precision but you also are really detailed on the analysis. I was at a retreat in Maui (not dog related) but the man (Wayne Dyer) talked about comparing the words 'analysis' and 'synthesis.' I thought this could compare to tracking. At times Wayne says we can get bogged down in analysis. Synthesis is the sum of experience and parts coming together to reveal meaning and awareness. Tracking is both, art and science. Since you are an artist, I thought you would relate to this. Sometimes you can't articulate things you feel to be true. Rivet is doing amazing! And I never hesitate to help my dog, because I think they need to feel supported at times, and also I like to avoid having them feel anxiety on the track. The thing is knowing when to step in. That is the art part, I think. It is so good to hear from you, and I hope you don't mind my comments - they come from not really understanding HITT but just from the heart of a tracker. I think you have that heart too! A kindred spirit. Love your blog and thanks for staying in touch on mine too. Donna
ReplyDelete