So Zappa’s tracking is looking pretty good, for the few times I’ve been out this year, but I’m convinced from past failures that if you wait too long for articles, they will forever be viewed as an interruption of tracking by the dog, even if good things happen at them.  It may be to that point already, but no time like the present, right?

There are a plethora of methods for teaching articles, but I decided to start with them in the front yard off of the track.  I took out a handful of articles and scattered them in the grass.  Next came the dog and a bag of treats.  Of course, the dog looked at me, not the ground, because I have the treats!  So the treats have to go a little out of sight so I can show him the article on the ground.  Once he looks at my hand, I mark it, and treat on top of the article.  Stand back up, chances are pretty good he’ll look at the article just cuz there was food there a second ago, and you can mark and treat again.  Pick up the article and ask him to look for a new one.  Repeat above process for all the articles you’ve dropped in the yard.  Hey, this is EASY.

Next day I repeat as before, but while I’m treating at the article, I also give the hand signal for down (not a stretch, because this produces the same position he gets rewarded in for the down itself).  So while he’s down at the article, I keep bending over and paying him on the article.  For the first week or so, I let him mug my hand while I’m putting out the food.  More on that later.

Big mistake #1:  OK, it’s started, let’s see if it translates to the track.  I can tell you most emphatically, it does not!!! Poor boy was just really confused about why I was stopping him and asking him to down every 15 steps.  Repair:  Go back to articles in the yard for a while until they’re on command and highly reproducible, and he is actively searching for the next article once I pick one up.

Because I want to be able to straddle him while rewarding him at the article (something Ivan Balabanov recommends) I started doing this in the yard.   The first couple of times were OK, then he decided it was too much pressure, and as soon as I stepped over him, he scooted backwards and away.  This is probably a result of what I was trying to do on the track a few days earlier.  So… maybe too much to ask for just yet.

So over the last 5 days, I’ve gone out to the yard with a selection of articles.  For the last 2 days, I got all new ones by cutting up some scrap plywood and a chunk of alder into squares roughly 4″ across (10 cm).  These are easier for the dog to find (faster path to success) and can serve as a plate for him to eat from.

Overall, I think it’s working.  This morning, I know I am getting meaning to the command “find it”, because he puts his nose down and starts looking for it.  When he finds it, he stops and looks at me, and when I say “find it” again, he downs with the article between his front legs.  I even got to where I can straddle him briefly, but I moved from that position after a couple of rewards so as not to belabor it.  Also, I am now asking him to respect my hand a little more.  When he stops punching my hand with his nose, I release the food.  A little confusing at first, but it came along pretty quick.

So I see where we’re going, I think — smaller and new articles, only paying when he downs on the article.  The part I want to get next would be to have him down as soon as he finds it in the direction he’s facing when he finds it, rather than turning to face me.  I”ll try and put a post up when I get to that point.  Might have to refine that on the track.

Happy training!