Yesterday we tracked on a short track to concentrate on articles and turns. Sadie offered downs on all three articles. She missed one of four right turns, but did correct herself.

Today we tracked 200yds on a field we'd only been on once, which had sparser grass and more dry bare spots. Two soft turns and one sweeping u-turn. Random-baiting, six inches between steps, five articles. By far most challenging track to date, but I made sure that there wasn't anything she couldn't handle. We'd done all of these challenges before, but not on the same track.
She was a champ. Deep nose, methodical, steady pace. Bare spots caused a little head swinging, but she got right back on track each time she looked unsure. I am now able to stay upright behind her at the end of a 6ft leash, offering minimal help.

Tracking in wet grass and some puddles.
Harley was spot on, ignore the squirrel and just walk into Dexter who was just hanging around. He got a bit lost after a tight turn, but found the track easily.

Both dogs came for a 5km run done under 25min. Garbage truck was a bit of a distraction.

Short track with lots of articles... score=A+.

Club night last night... Our TD still thinks he's running a club for GSDs, but he's mostly responsible for the diversity of our membership. Besides the GSDs, including a new puppy last night, we added a second Boerboel (belonging to the same owner as the first) and a Dutchie. We are also hopeful of adding a second Mal.
To date; Two Pit Bulls, two Boerboels, a Cane Corso, a Dutch Shepherd, a Rottweiler, a Mal, and I'm not sure how many GSDs (they don't all come regularly, and TD has a kennel-full that we don't always have time to work).
Our club has more than doubled in membership in the past two months.

Tracking in tall grass, nearly lost Harley in there. He was very good, did slow down a lot in the sand patch +/-75'. Also had some short dry grass and some fairly moist ground.

Here is my gps log of the track
http://i1226.photobucket.com/albums/ee412/donnerschweer/harleytrackmay24.jpg


Harley got spooked by some frog in the long grass, totaly ignored the bunny rabbit that run right in front of his nose.

I then tried to do some sent pad with Dexter. Lots of beef in short grass. Sent pad about 1 sq foot. He was ok with the first one, the second was more interesting and he could not care about the last one even if it had more goodies.

I can`t seem to get Dexter to do anything more then basic ob and some mild tug play. He is so frustrating for me and he is probably the dream dog for most people out there. One big couch potato.

 Quote: Ariane Gauthier

Tracking in tall grass, nearly lost Harley in there. He was very good, did slow down a lot in the sand patch +/-75'. Also had some short dry grass and some fairly moist ground.

Here is my gps log of the track
http://i1226.photobucket.com/albums/ee412/donnerschweer/harleytrackmay24.jpg


Harley got spooked by some frog in the long grass, totaly ignored the bunny rabbit that run right in front of his nose.

I then tried to do some sent pad with Dexter. Lots of beef in short grass. Sent pad about 1 sq foot. He was ok with the first one, the second was more interesting and he could not care about the last one even if it had more goodies.

I can`t seem to get Dexter to do anything more then basic ob and some mild tug play. He is so frustrating for me and he is probably the dream dog for most people out there. One big couch potato.

When I first looked at your picture I saw the North Side St. Louis and thought This person is nuts!!
Then I realized it wasn't what I thought.
I grew up on the North side of St. Louis...Missouri.

Yesterday I worked on Cody and his pivots. He can pivot around the "mark" (a wood block we use to have him stand on with his front feet, and swing his back feet around as I move around the block.)
For some reason, I am having trouble getting him to stay in heel position when I come along side of him while his front feet are on the block of wood. I am holding the treat above the block where I want his head. But as I move, he moves but changes his position with his head and muzzle pointing right at my knee. I have moved my hand around to lure his head into position, but he usually just sits. I try and keep the treat hand lower so he won't sit and he just nuzzles my hand to get the treat, which I do not let him have. I do not know what i am doing wrong. I know it is a handler error, just don't know how to correct myself. I do not have a video recorder or I would record it and put it here so you could see it.
I have gone to U tube and watched videos, and try and copy the handler moves there, but I just can't seem find the correct position to cause cody to swing his rear end along side of me once we begin moving.
Any suggestions?
Thanks sharon

This can be worked out... Does he know the heel command, apart from the touch pad?

Sharon;

It would be best to have two heeling commands; the one you are using now to enter into heeling mode, and another for the pivot, or"finding the foot". When you step into heel position with Cody on the pad, are you giving your initial heel command?

Both the video that David linked and my system are for a dog that already will come into the heel position solidly, and will sit at heel without a command. Although the dog in the video is new to the pivot, he understands the heel command and automatically sits when in the position and at rest (EXCEPT, that trainer's timing is terrible and he is marking and rewarding before the dog sits).

I reread the thread and saw that you are working on Cody's heel position. You may want to reinforce that some more and THEN go back to the pivot. The only thing I can see in your description is that Cody is not in a heel when you step up next to the pad. You don't wnt to lure for that. You want to be able to save the lure for when he needs to adjust his position (i.e. pivot).
When you step to the pad, make sure he will be in heel position as you come into position. If he moves to look at you, give your original heel command (which should be solid). When he heels and sits, do not reward; rather, offer your duration command ("Good" in my case. Once he will sit at heel for a few seconds, then you can start luring/pivoting. Only after all of that is solid would you add the new command.

My dog is to the point that I can use either "Heel" or "Au pied" and it means the same thing to her. I have refined it a little bit to where I use "au pied" to bring her into position, and "heel" or "fuss" for the walking portion, depending on whether it's a casual walk or an OB routine.

I've been getting Skipper out for timed Fetch games to tire him out. This is a 12 year old dog. He sleeps through the night when he has at least one 20 minute game of fetch the day before. Here he is, after his session last night:

Yes he does. Sharon