On the brink

We pushed the boundaries today and encountered some frustrations. All in a day's training, but a new experience for us really.

We trained in a new location for us - around a local pond in heavy woods - and all after nightfall now that DST is over. The idea was for each team to work multiple short searches around the pond and not necessarily in 3s like we generally do.

Z went first or second and did about 5 reps total - hindsight being what it is, I realized afterward that we should've probably stopped after 3 or 4 instead.

I had two flankers (C and R I think) and a victim (J). Before heading out, I instructed J on the reward pattern for Z and made sure the flankers were set. We were doing basic runaways, so the first one was to be the shortest and gradually adding distance as we progressed around the pond.

In the dark, distance is hard to gauge, but I would say the first run was about 150 feet, 2nd was about the same, 3rd was probably 300 ft, fourth was about 200ft, final was about 150ft.

First round went well - J ran of to hide with some excited talkign to z and Z was raring to go, complete with whining and everything. She found J pretty easily, came back for the refind, and then found her again for us. Nice rep.

Given the niceness of the first, on the second rep we kept it the same length but added a bit of a curve vs. a straight shot. Z was raring to go again and took off like a shot, but did overshoot J by a bit before getting a negative and finding her. refind was ok, but not real strong.

We increased on rep 3 and that caused some issues - Z got a bit confused and J wasn't giving her many hints when she probably should've given the increase in distance. Z did find her but we may have had a false refind.

At this point I felt rather discouraged and should've reinstructed J on what to do if Z doesn't locate her easily or appears to be struggling, but this was new to me as well so i didn't think of it. J added more distance and in the process took off on the wrong trail, confusing both Z and myself as well as the flankers. Z apparently passed by her but didn't pick up on her location. Disappointing.

The final rep was just as bad as the 4th - Z was utterly confused, I was frustrated, and we had no idea where J had hidden so all the humans were having issues as well. Sigh.

I came out feeling a bit defeated and such, but C did say that she thought Z performed as is to be expected with all the uncertainty and mixups and did pretty well for the increase in difficulty.

I talked to our training director to get some tips and he mentioned that I might've been well advised to switch victims after the first mixups (it's my duty to see how to help my dog in training) and sticking with fewer reps of that difficulty would also be a good idea in the future. All things are well filed in my brain now.

I flanked for a few teams after Z and I worked and got to see how other dog-handler teams work in the exact same setting which was incredibly helpful. I was feeling kind of icky (tummy upset), but as long as I kept working I was ok.

Before packing up for the night, D suggested I get Z out for some quick, easy reps to help him see where she was and leave her and I with a more pleasant memory of training that night. We had K hide for us while D flanked.

First rep was about 70 or 80 feet in deep shadow on the edge of the woods. K reved Z up and she was pretty happy to be given her "go search" cue. She beelined for him and did a beautiful refind (D was impressed!).

Second rep was about the same distance and about the same results even with K's decreased talking and animation. Another nice refind as well!

Final rep, K was silent but Z was still hyped. Distance increased to approximately 100 feet, but she still beelined for K and did a wonderful refind, including an uncued jump alert! :D

Certainly a nice note to end on and D says Z's doing very well. He's very happy with her progress and remarked on her focus and victim loyalty - all very good!