Scent Tracking and New Year's Resolutions

[.Poppy.]

This may be a different kind of thread, but I wanted to start one where I could celebrate accomplishments and maybe vent a little when I'm struggling.

About a month ago, Chisum and I started a scent tracking class. He really enjoys it, and so do I, which is great! But I can be really critical of myself and when we have a rough go or too many errors it's hard not to get down. He can't do in-person classes, so we are doing them all online which is a really great alternative but also means I have to figure out the material largely on my own (with the help of a TA) and I also get to be my own first, and worst, critic. Hopefully this thread can help me a little by chronicling growth and just giving myself an extra space to process my own perfectionism.

I have a list of goals and intentions for 2024, and two of them are "progress, not perfection" and "trust the process". Both apply to my general life, but will certainly come in handy here!

He had been doing pretty well, but we got some snow and had to wait a little over a week for it to melt. It's melted now and we did tracks both yesterday and today. Today's was better than yesterday, but it was still a bit sloppy and I'm not thrilled about uploading either video for the TA to evaluate. We will try again tomorrow (tomorrow's another day, right?) and I'm going to make myself pick one of those three videos to upload for critique, even if they aren't up to my "standards".

[Catkins]

What is scent tracking Poppy?

[.Poppy.]

It’s a dog sport, many people do trials with their dogs but of course we do it just for fun. I think in the UK you have mantrailing, which is related I believe.

The goal is eventually to have him follow a person’s scent along a trail and he’ll find articles along the way (we use gloves). With this type, he’s supposed to track along the ground as much as possible as opposed to scenting the air - some other types of tracking (I think usually called trailing) are more into air scent, and then some others are okay with dogs using a combo of the two - mainly things like search and rescue where finding the person is more important than how they find him.

Right now, he’s just following my own scent along a path and he gets pieces of hot dogs on the path along the way as a reward. So of course he loves it! The challenge as we start is getting him to realize that following my scent is what leads to the reward, so he wants to stay on the track.

Our instructor has pointed out that dogs already know how to do this, we are just shaping them to do it in a specific way for our own fun sport. And I know Chisum can certainly follow a scent trail, and has many times. That makes this game both fun, and also challenging for my own perfectionism because if he makes errors it’s likely my own doing. But it’s a good challenge for us both.

[.Poppy.]

I went out today; usually my mom comes along and entertains Chisum while I lay the track and she will also take the video on my phone. She didn't come out with us this time, so I had to tie Chisum to a tree while I laid the track and then figure out how to handle him and hold the phone to take a video at the same time. Chisum was not thrilled at being tied up, so I ended up rushing to lay the track and made it harder than I had intended to. He did better than I thought he would, though! He floundered some, but did get into a rhythm several times and only missed a few targets. He is supposed to "down" at the end of the track and didn't do it this time (not sure why) but that's okay.

I felt really good at the end of the track; watching the video back I of course picked out all of the mistakes that were made but I promised myself I would upload one of the videos from this weekend for constructive criticism from the TA and this was the best one, so I uploaded this one. I'll see tomorrow what she says and what I should work on.

[alpacagirl]

That's really cool. Just enjoy the journey, sounds like he's getting the hang of it. If it's only been a month then sounds like he's doing really well already. What type of dog is he ? We used to have a beagle. His nose was always glued to the floor

[Pain]

... We used to have a beagle. His nose was always glued to the floor

That’s a bit cruel – couldn’t you just tether him with a leash?

[.Poppy.]

That's really cool. Just enjoy the journey, sounds like he's getting the hang of it. If it's only been a month then sounds like he's doing really well already. What type of dog is he ? We used to have a beagle. His nose was always glued to the floor

Thanks! I refuse to let my perfectionism win...too much. It's all in good fun, anyway. He's a cocker spaniel mix. Has his issues, but I love him to bits.

That’s a bit cruel – couldn’t you just tether him with a leash?

EDIT: I feel like I need to include a picture of the little cutie; here he is in last week's snow.

IMG_0828.jpg

[alpacagirl]

haha yes poor puppy

[alpacagirl]

awww he's so cute!!

[fishman65]

Poppy that's a lovely picture of Chisum!! He really is a lovable looking dog So who gets sent packing? Is it you or Chisum?