January 7, 2011

I almost cancelled today when I realized that I had left my sprayer in the van and it was frozen solid, but I decided to go out anyway and simplify things significantly for Rivet. We have about 2" of fresh snow.

Rivet

Distance	R+	Spray	Notes	Success
~50 ft (18 treats)	3 footsteps	none	Gravel parking lot. Beautiful! Followed a vehicle track briefly then refound track on her own.	90%
~60 ft (20 treats)	"	"	On grass. She mostly ignored human and rabbit crosstracks.	80%
~90 ft (30 treats)	"	"	Gravel to pavement to grass. Not many crosstracks here but I thought the surface changes and distance were enough variables anyway. Video below.	90%

Caiman

Distance	R+	Notes	Success
30 ft	1 per ftsp	Double laid - first I made 30 heel-to-toe steps with a cleared patch (perhaps 18" square) at each end. Then I relaid, stepping immediately beside the first steps, and put a hotdog slice in each of the original steps. Leather scrap article at end. He stayed on track 100% of the time but missed about 20 out of the 30 treats.	70%