Practice Search for Millie

Well, this didn't go so great.  The weather heated up faster than expected, and human error messed up the trail for Kelsy.  This two mile loop around Lake Wilderness was supposed to be another trail where I knew the course in advance so I could give Kelsy positive reinforcement for following it correctly.  We reached a turn where Kelsy did not want to turn.  I let her go a little beyond and then pulled her back.  When I forced her onto the chosen course, she kept looking around as if she didn't have the scent.  I attributed this to the dry, warm, breezy conditions.  It turned out she didn't have the scent because Millie took a wrong turn.  Kelsy was right, I was wrong, and I just confused her by pulling her onto a course where the dog had never been. Once I realized this mistake, I called Millie's owner, found out their location, and waited with Kelsy for Millie to pass by us again.  Then I restarted Kelsy on the fresh trail and we followed it to the final location.  Instead of reinforcing Kelsy in the correct behavior, I stopped her from doing the right thing and gave her reason to think that these scent trails are random and meaningless.  In the future, I will take precautions, such as asking the target dog handler to call me if they think they have gone off the trail.  Kelsy got too hot on this trail.  All in all, this was exactly not what we needed.

Now (1:30)  for Maple Valley, WA (98038)

Temp: 56°F
Feels like: 56°F
Partly Cloudy
Humidity: 45%
Wind: SSE 4 mph

 Now (2:30) for Maple Valley, WA (98038)

Temp: 59°F
Feels like: 59°F
Partly Cloudy
Humidity: 40%