Yep!!! That way if you start seeing the second tree you know you are starting to go crooked.

I'm not sure either.. To me it would be conflicting to the dog.. especially if their tracking.. But I'm sure there's a reason behind it for those that do. And I'd like to see way more intensity from your dog before I'd keep checking her..

If I have a dog that's tracking and staying committed to the track then I'm gonna leave them alone for the most part.

It could be she is wanting you to set a rythm for the dog.

Thanks everyone for all of the advice. It's very helpful!

I think it looks pretty good! I don't know that I'd change much if anything right now. Sure the food slows her down but so what? She's calm, methodical, clearly tracking....that's all I really want. Having tracked with a dog that started out like a freight train plowing down the track I'd give *anything* for a dog that tracked like Riva at the beginning! I've spent three years SLOWING Nikon down! There are ways to put more speed and intensity to it later on. I think if you start spreading out the food too quickly her nose might come up. I'm not expert at all, but for a dog being trained with food I like to keep quite a bit on the track until the dog is naturally plowing his nose through the track. I would agree with tracking closer to her. Are you giving any verbal feedback? When her nose is deep I'd reassure her very calmly like, "gooooood girl, goooooo dog" and if the nose comes up, give her a little correction either verbal or on the line or both (whatever is best for your dog).

I am definately NOT a tracking expert either, but I have dealt with this issue with one of my dogs. I don't think the speed is really the issue, but the drive change. You can see she is having a mental shift when she hits the food, she settles in then boom more food. The drive is fluxuating. Spreading it out might might even it out, at least it did for my dog.

Yesterday and today she tracked with food every 5 steps. And it went much better, much more fluid, not all that stopping and starting. And she did still check every footprint and didn't pick her head up. I also shortened up the line to the point I was before. Liesje, the club pres. (we don't have a TD) had told me to praise her like you suggested and I had forgotten about that. So I did that too and it didn't distract her. So thanks again everyone for the suggestions. Many of them reinforced what I was thinking. But, like I said, with 2 people telling me different things, I didn't know what to believe.