Caden's Combination Veg and Hard Surface Track

(plus a bonus sidebar at the end...)

Finally, I am posting the video of Caden's track from November 15. I was so proud of how he did, that I saved it for last! The first video shows his first leg and turn. He is a bit intense and pulls a bit hard still, but I like his style a lot more now. The turn is on the road, at the curb. I used the fold of the curb to hold scent. He also had to choose to be down on the road. I love watching videos after because I see things that I would not have remembered when following my dog. I love seeing him check grass, road, grass, road, then choose the hard surface!

You can see that after making the turn, he lifts his head and I had to help him out and calm him down. Interestingly he gets thrown off right at a light post, which can cause scent to do weird things. He is also tracking very intensely now, and I think I need to build up his endurance especially on hard surface. He works so hard, I think he needs the break. I have to watch this, as I definitely never want him to feel flustered when tracking.

I will lay his next track to keep up his confidence and accuracy, because what is in your dog’s mind is important. I believe it is important for our dogs to have the ‘can-do’ attitude at this phase rather than ‘it’s getting harder!'

By the way, I have learned from observation, and also read and been told to never, ever put an article beside a light post or tree or telephone pole because scent seems to be deflected further out and dogs miss articles beside them by being pushed away.

In part two, he moves along the curb very smartly. I like this transition, because the curb holds the scent nicely and you can see several times that he chooses it over the veg until the turn. I’m training him differently than any dog I have had before and am so far very pleased. For hard surface I have been combining my own method with SchH footstep tracking and HITT intermittently.

Here is the part I am so thrilled with...at the turn (black squiggly asphalt streak) he overshoots by a few steps, then lifts his head, backs up, makes a small circle, then finds the track up on the boulevard. I try to handle my line in such a way that he has the freedom to overshoot a corner, so that I can determine how he is demonstrating a loss of track, so I can also start to read him. To me his behaviour shows a clear indication that he has lost scent. It shows that he knows his job!

Following the SchH style I am learning, I have built in some verbals so if he goes too far, I gently say no, hoping to redirect him verbally to search more diligently rather than overshoot too much. When he is correct and appears to commit I say good boy quietly.

As he moves along on the veg he gets a bit too excited. I usually just leave a jackpot, but this time put the jackpot on a leather work glove and I am sure he could smell the glove. I won't do this again because he kept lunging a bit, changing pace and a steady pace is preferred for him to stay more calm and accurate. Plus - in SchH tracking he will be penalized if he keeps altering his pace from slow to fast.

Overall this was an exciting track. It was only 150 meters and about 45 minutes old in cold, dry conditions. I love tracking with my boy! I learn so much and he makes me feel very happy and in the zone as I follow him.

Sidebar

He has also been coming to work with me, while Jet recovers from her surgery. Usually they are kennel mates. This has been a nice experience, having him alone in the car all day. And, he loves the coffee runs! At Tim Horton's he gets a plain Timbit, and at Second Cup, they give him two milkbones. I consider this all "relationship building" so include in this tracking post!!
As soon as I drive up, Caden knows we are at the coffee drive through. Generally he is very well-behaved in the car and frequently he is crated but I do allow this indulgence.

I told the girl at the window that Caden had a blog, and she was great about posing for pictures! A "hand model" only (do you remember that Seinfeld?)
The cookies! He has such a cute face, he is hard to resist.

I had a Skinny Vanilla Latte.

Please VOTE for River! Hallmark Christmas Card Photo Contest

River Brinkworth A Dog Named Christmas - click here to vote. Below is our write-up. Thank you for voting for River. I think she could be on a Christmas Card, don't you?

River Brinkworth
Alberta, CAN

River is a long-coated German Shepherd and a very accomplished tracking dog. Everyone loves her soft coat, adorable floppy ear and muppet feet but they can also make her look very soft and pretty like in this photo taken on her 8th birthday. River is the kind of dog everyone should have - smart, fun, gentle and loving. We just moved together, from Ontario to Alberta. Thanks, River for bringing me so much joy. You are my best friend.

You've Got Mail, River!

I hardly ever get anything but bills in the mail. Go figure that RIVER gets mail!Today, her friend Austen sent her a lovely card. Austen is the world-famous Cavalier King Charles Spaniel who is Canada's first toy breed with a Tracking Championship. I put the card out for River to enjoy. Austen is so thoughtful, he knows River is pursuing the elusive UTDX. River was reading..."Dear River, I know you believe in yourself, but I think Celine D makes the best background music. So bark at Donna to fill your entry form out on the UTDX entry and play the music in this card..." At this point, River takes over the narration - this is the FIRST TIME River has ever posted to the blog.

Excuse me, but what is with this little pocket in the card? I must investigate with my super nose. Austen is a good tracking buddy and perhaps he has hidden some liver in there. What is that noise coming from that pocket? Is it some kind of code to look inside? Believe in the liver, believe in the liver... I must put this card on the floor so I can use my big paw. The lady likes all those words, but I am sure Austen has sent me something...believe in the liver, believe in the liver... AHA!


THANKS AUSTEN! And thank you to that other lady for mailing it.

I loved my card. You are a true buddy. Your friend, River.

Austen's card continues from above... "...The humans are so happy afer that UTDX track! They seem motivated to hang onto their gloves too, so you will be able to relax more.
AustenThanks Julie, what a day brightener. We will treasure this card and make sure it travels with us to our next test!

Tooth Fairy Time - Jet's fractured tooth was removed today

There are probably some sheep out there who will be happy to hear that my Jet has one less tooth... Jet had a hard day today! She has spent the evening snoring on my bed. I wonder what the doggie Tooth Fairy will bring her? I know, probably some expensive cans of Evo soft food for a week! I took the above photo this morning. Last week, she damaged her tooth beyond saving by running for a ball so hard she slammed into my fence. It fractured vertically exposing the pulp and nerve. I took her to a dental specialist for dogs in Calgary who explained the tooth was literally dead, with no chance of recovering. If I had left this, she most certainly would have developed an abscess within six months from the bacteria that would come in through the open nerve and pulp. From this view, you can really see what she did to it. Dogs more commonly break their teeth horizontally, but not Jet! She likes to do things her own way.

Check out Jet's purple sutures! My vet did not colour coordinate them with my decor, honest!

So I had the option of saving it at the base and doing a root canal, or having it pulled for half the price. The root canal is more intensive a surgery, but not as invasive into the jaw. Extraction involves cutting the canine sideways out of the jaw because it has such a deep root. Jet's jaw will fill in and she will be fine. While she was under, my excellent vet, Dr. Ken Hubbard, Cedarwood Clinic in Red Deer, checked for any sign of jaw fracture because of her impact but saw no cause for alarm, thankfully.

I just hate leaving a dog at the vet, and I was so happy to pick her up after work. She was full of spunk from the clinic to the car, and when she first arrived home, ran around the yard and showed just how tough she is - putting on a brave front. But I knew better. I blocked her in the bedroom where she initially made a point of being unhappy about being separated. When I checked in on her a few minutes later, her big sulk was fading as she was literally FALLING ASLEEP in this sitting position! She always sticks out her tongue when she falls asleep. Maybe it will happen more, now that she is missing one tooth.

Jet has improved immensely in the past year overcoming her temper and temptation! But I think if sheep had a chatgroup, there would be a thread right now about how to get more dogs to run into fences and shatter their canines!

My Dad's Cat Scarey Story!

So, my Dad took both of my kittens home as you may recall from my Thanksgiving post. Yesterday he told me a scarey story, but it turns out OK. Oh yes, and Caden's tracking video IS coming! It is on the Spiritdance Channel on Youtube if you want to check it out without my details...

Here they are! He has blankets everywhere to save his leather furniture right now!

He sometimes opens the glass door in his apartment a few inches for fresh air. He went for coffee with friends. When he got home, a lady met him in the hallway to say she had his kittens. He didn't really know what she meant, so she said she would meet him at his apartment. When he got upstairs, he saw that he had forgotten to close the glass door.
He realized that the two kittens, Mutt (the girl) and Jeff (the boy) got the door open and walked from my Dad's balcony to the balcony next door! Apparently the man next door looked out to see two little kittens on his balcony and brought them in! He called the superintendent who knew they were my Dad's new cats. My sister took these pictures for me. Look at that little walkway! And the drop - FIVE STOREYS. They are safe and sound and home again. My father really enjoys them. They cuddle all the time. The little girl sits at the computer with him and chases the cursor on the screen, so my Dad makes the arrow go round and round with his mouse so she can play. Jeff is a big, affectionate boy. I understand the entire apartment building knows about his cat's adventure. It is funny because now he has this great story to tell about them, and I think it makes him very proud of them. I am very happy they are such good company, especially as I am here in Alberta.

SIDEBAR NOTE

By the way, that is a picture of my Mom from the 1950s taken behind my Grandma's house in Thunder Bay. I love that shot - she looks so beautiful and happy. My Dad stuck something he cut from the newspaper into the frame that says:

WHAT CANCER CANNOT DO

Author: Unknown

Cancer is so limited...

It cannot cripple love.

It cannot shatter hope.

It cannot corrode faith.

It cannot eat away peace.

It cannot destroy confidence.

It cannot kill friendship.

It cannot shut out memories.

It cannot silence courage.

It cannot reduce eternal life.

It cannot quench the Spirit.

My Mom was only 58 when she died from Cancer, when I was 35. It was a horrible loss and shock to us all and my Dad still can't talk about her without his voice cracking. I know I walked around in shock for months afterward, trying to look strong on the outside. I feel for my Dad so to be without her at this time of life. Now that I am closing in on 50, 58 seems way too young to die. I am so lucky to have been released from ongoing checkups in 2008 five years later! It was caught early but don't let anyone tell you it is not frightening. Even though things happened quickly for me, it is something I carry inside all the time; the grief and fear hearing the words "you have Cancer" and the gratitude and sometimes even a bit of guilt, to be one of the lucky ones. It really brings things home and makes you take stock of your life. Because of my mother's experience, I truly thought I was going to die, but here I am blogging away! Not a day goes by that I don't miss my Mom. Every day, and aging, is a blessing! I am very proud of my Dad and his ability to remember my Mom with so much love and so many positive thoughts. And it is another good reason he should have the kittens, to keep him smiling and give good company.

(sorry, that is the serious part of this post!)

Sunday Dog Days - Gull Lake Weekend Retreat

The video of Caden's track last Sunday IS coming, but I have been too busy this weekend to post it!

This weekend a bunch of us are visiting a friend from Calgary who has a beautiful cottage on Gull Lake. I met Annette when I first moved here. She was renting her little cabin next door and even though I didn't rent it, we simply hit it off. Gull Lake is 45 minutes north of Red Deer, so I am coming home for the evening, but others are sleeping there overnight.

Annette attended the Hayhouse weekend with me last spring. She is such a go-getter and is used to advising people as she is a financial advisor. She wanted to have a small women's weekend following the Hayhouse ideas, and lined up a weekend of seminars on Yoga, Meditation, Energy, Astrology and so on. It has been so fun, and very positive - AND - I got some great ideas of course, to carry into dog training. Annette has friends everywhere it seems, so some are from Red Deer, some from Edmonton and some from Calgary! It is so fun, there are about twelve of us. And she has a big, beautiful cottage on the lake, perfect for sharing with friends. I brought Jet and Ted yesterday and they enjoyed a great walk around the lake.

They are the little dots running for water. Here is a funny story, one of the women is originally from Cork, Ireland. I told her that my mother's family and around 20 other Estonians spent nearly a year there at a Red Cross Camp, after escaping from Estonia during WWII. They thought they were learning English, which would prepare them for Canada, which was their destination. However, they learned Gaelic instead! They didn't realize it until arriving in Canada. When I told her this story, her jaw dropped. Her mother-in-law's sister married an Estonian who was a refuge in Cork during the war, and we figure it had to be one from the group traveling with my mom's family (the Kaharas). What a small world we live in.
Jet bemoans that swimming season is over. For me, it just feels good to see big water!
Ted schmoozes with everyone. The lady from Ireland told me a story of her family's Border Collie Shep. Her mother put a bantam chicken "chick" in a warm woodstove to revive it when it was found nearly dead from cold. When they opened the stove, the chick hopped out onto Shep and bonded with him. The chick would not even look at chickens, and followed Shep everywhere, even herding the cows. Can't you just picture a chicken running around cows with the dog? It would sit on Shep's back if it was tired. What a wonderful story. The chicken's name was Charlie. He met a sad end when the neighbour's dog killed him. But lived a glorious life for a farm chicken!

I invited Barbara my realtor who has become a good friend - as it is a 'non-doggy' weekend. She is in the brown jacket. She is a runner, and is so tall and elegant. What an inspiring lady (hence, my treadmill, LOL). It is so amazing to me how these wonderful people have come into my life since I moved here. I knew there would be great dog people here, but to find these other positive, happy women to guide and help me, and be my friends, has been a blessing.

I am heading back today with River and Caden! I can turn any NON-dog weekend into a DOG weekend! In fact, I found out what kind of dogs everyone has - two mini-Dachsies, a Golden-Doodle, a rescue Rottie and one old mixed breed - and a there is Maine Coon cat at the cottage named Guido, who is huge - practically Jet-sized!

Going to the lake will be a pleasant surprise to Caden and River, who started Sunday like usual, watching Dog Whisperer and Dogtown. As you can see, Caden has his favourite slipper and is watching intently to see if the blind puppy will find a home (it does!)

Hard workin' Hard sleepin' dog

Here's a little break from tracking. Ted gives everything 110%. He spent the day at work with me today...He obviously put in a hard day! I just had to share this picture, which I took about 15 minutes ago. He was fast asleep, and I took about ten before he realized. Then he grinned with his front teeth and wagged. I think he got embarrassed because he disappeared shortly after this picture was taken!

Back to tracking shortly, with video of Caden's track!

Jet's Urban Track Nov 15

Last Sunday Jet did a 340 meter urban track, half veg and half non-veg, 1 hour old in cold, dry conditions (a fire ban was just ordered today because it is so dry and windy)...NOTE: I forgot her harness, again. I just threw stuff in my car from the dog trailer, and no longer have a 'tracking bag.' I do like her on a harness better because of her size.She started out slowly and I thought that perhaps her tooth was bothering her, since it could have an impact on tracking (we go to a specialist on Thursday for a consult). But then I noticed her idly sniffing here and there and I decided to try a wee bit of discipline. I said 'OK Jet, I've had it, you get tracking right now or you are going back to the car!' It was a mouthful but it was the tone that counted. She studied me for a few seconds, and then took off and did a beautiful track! I hope this does not become our start routine, LOL. Above is her map. Below is the video I took RIGHT AFTER I had a few words with her, and you can see her shoot me "a look" - Jet just cracks me up! This video is from the sidewalk to the first article on the map...


I plan to reteach her article indications so she does it SchH - style, so that I can enter her in a SchH tracking test for her TR - 1 title (tracking only). I like her to put her chin on the article, so ask her to show me. This article was a SchH sized piece of carpet. You can see the edge of it under her little chin. Jet is such a good sport - she re-enacted her article indications (for a treat) so I could get pictures!From here, she turned right and went out to the parking lot. I had walked down the centre yellow line between parking spots. A ton of cars were there compared to when I laid the track. I wonder if they held the scent in, making a corridor. She just took off down this leg, checking to see if I am coming, and nailed her left turn on hard-surface.

As you watch the video, you will see two things...one - I let out too much line and had it too loose. Two...she stops at one point and seems to be collecting her thoughts. In the video, when I watch this, I realize she may have winded the next article. I went between the big truck and car (in line with a light post) heading for a break in the concrete walkway. If I had read Jet right, I might have asked her to find the article, and shortened my line, but DUH, I missed this. She even turns around and sort of looks right in the direction of the article!

I will never miss it again, now that I see it on video. She turns around and misses the article by deciding to fly through the next two vehicles. I chose not to correct to the article as I was pleased with her hard surface work, and can work on articles (and my bad article placement) later. Watch...

I went back to find the second article, a SchH wood square, and we took this photo. It was cracked by the truck tire. BAD placement Donna! Bad girl! It was a Sunday and when I laid this track, the parking lot was empty! Urban lesson for everyone. Jet says, "You're an idiot for putting the article here. You set me up!"

Where the concrete walkway drops off, she drifts to the left, possibly because passing cars were moving the scent here, but comes back and finds the treat I left for her at the top of the concrete stairs. She had one more turn here, to the left, with her last article on the veg, a plastic margarine lid (below).

I would like more preciseness than she shows here, and will work on that. Considering her poor start and sore tooth, she just impressed the heck out of me. I can hardly wait to get her trial ready. I'll need some blind tracks next spring! Hint Hint Jolene, if you are reading this LOL!

River's Urban Track - Mostly non-veg and she did great

I have enough material to blog for a week! I tracked with all four dogs this afternoon. It took 2 hours to do that, and 3 hours to upload the video! I would rather be tracking, but it is so worth it for me to relive moments on the track and think more about what happened. I will talk about River's track tonight. Over the next few days I'll post about the other dogs. Everyone did a great job, Caden did a short nv leg, Ted did a nice job, and Jet blew my mind today, doing a fanastic track, even with a sore tooth. She is something else - and will be my next CKC urban dog.

Here is the map showing River's track - the parking lots are numbered to correspond with the video below. I laid River's first, then cut through the College to lay Jet's out front. Then I laid Caden's. I ran them in reverse order, so River's was 1.5 hours old, which could compare to an older rack in ideal weather. River's track was 540 m with about 200 veg and the rest non-veg.

First leg



Since last July I have been working on River's starts. Today I could see the fruit of my labours. I worked on just scent pads, and then just a short straight line from the start for nearly a month to encourage better focus. She casts too much and wastes energy which, at age 9, and in this heat, she simply can't afford to waste. A better start helps her remember the scent she is following and stick to it more closely. This retraining was done using the SchH footstep method. She will never be a footstep tracker, but it really did help.

First parking lot (of 3) and nv turn to first article



River cuts the corner and zeroes in on the sock


Crossing the second parking lot to turn on veg



Here River goes up onto a boulevard and works her way up to a left turn, to cross the road into the third parking lot. I placed some dried liver in strategic places for her along this track.

Turn on 3rd parking lot



At this point I wished I had brought water. It was only about 2 C but of course, a dog uses a lot of energy tracking, and she was showing it here. She did get a bit flustered on this parking lot. A student walked by and at one point she got sidetracked on his fresh scent. But she came back to turn between two concrete barriers - not where I went through, one too soon - then she goes over to where I passed through. She has the 'general direction' in her head, but is unfocused here for some reason, even seeing something and going to check it out. Thank heavens for a little piece of liver that really brightened her up.

This was definitely the low point of the track. If it had been a test and I was nervous, I am sure this would be where we would be strugging. If I was checking out sites for test plotting, I would probably recommend an article here. I tried not to interfere too much today. River will work at it, she never quits. I have been stepping in a lot in the last few months and it is time for me to back off again and let her work it out.

From parking lot to wood chips



After checking the veg briefly, River focused right in on the wood chips and you can see her nose dip, a sign I watch for. We rarely track on this surface but it was not an issue, until she decides to go potty out of the blue. Knowing she was stressed a few moments before I almost wonder if it was because she had to go - even though she had ample opportunity before her track - it would explain that lack of focus. Hmmmm....


Going into the new open air garage and the 2nd article - metal




The garage was as interesting as I hoped! But there was a huge FAN blowing, which was not on when I checked it out a few nights ago. I have no idea if this impacted anything. I chose to put a metal article here, in a slight depression in the gravel. River KNOWS there is an article but she takes a few passes before she zeroes in on it! Again, lots of nose dips here. I was quite proud of her because she kept searching for it. I threw in some encouragement, which I would also do in a test.


From the garage to the end of the track

River cuts a corner again, following the curve of the pavement (I did an L to the right). She misses a small serpentine on the gravel, but backs up and catches it the second time on her own. As she is working, a student passes us. Earlier when I laid the track, he opened the locked door so I could cut through the building. River barely looks at people when she tracks. She crosses gravel and wire mesh, grass, and brick here to get to the final article. The entire track took her nearly 18 minutes.

Good Girl! You worked so hard!



Tomorrow: Jet's Urban track

Today's planned track and my new toy!

Today I am heading out to track and will lay this one for River, in that new area of the College (scroll down to see the photos in a previous post). I have a new Wacom Bamboo Pen that lets you draw on your computer so was anxious to try it on my map! This is my first crude attempt to use my pen. I will get better at it, I promise. I drew in the outline of the new parking lot and new open air garage, as well as the new road. I'll end in that courtyard. It will be lots of non-veg but quite a good variety of pavement (concrete and asphalt), gravel, gravel with wire mesh and brick. Stay tuned for the report! The other dogs will also do beginner's tracks. Jet will also do a short urban track, and Ted and Caden will do shorter veg tracks. I better RUN!

Alberta Girls. Jet and Me

To let everyone know Jet is feeling OK, I asked her to be a model tonight for my new COWGIRL boots. I was at the Agri-Trade show today, the largest agriculture trade show in western Canada. A friend talked me into these, and she also bought a pair. What can I say, they were half price for the show! Jet models my hat, but as you can see from the look on her face, she would rather be elsewhere. She asks - how could I possibly make a dog with a sore tooth suffer such humiliation?

Well, hopefully I will have these worn in for an actual stockdog trial next year, so she better get used to lying beside them and think about outruns! Maybe this makes me an official Albertan.

Curse that ball!

Like I do every night, I came home today and played with the dogs. Jet brings me a ball to throw, and everyone runs for it. Caden and River run with their own balls in their mouths, as if they can pick up another one. Ted herds everyone back. So Jet, who is a fierce, tough girl really runs for it and tonight she either collided with another dog or the fence and badly hurt her tooth. I just came home from the vet.

This is a picture - the pulp and nerve are exposed so lucky Jet gets to go see a canine dentist in Calgary to talk about a filling of some kind. Luckily it is not broken, but the enamel split off. I just feel numb that something could happen so fast, and wish I could turn back the clock tonight! It doesn't seem to bother her, but she is so tough, she might not let on if it did. She has antibiotics and a bit of Metacam to tide her over for the next few days. I know lots of Border Collies have tooth injuries - they are just such gung ho dogs. The vet said to be glad it wasn't a joint or neck or shoulder injury as that would have been far worse. I guess that is a blessing.

Still....curse that ball!

Sparkly and Sparky the Urban Tracking Detectives

OK, I'll put it right out there. Tracking IS a sickness. I had River and Caden in the car with me tonight, and as I drove past Red Deer College, I noticed that the construction barriers were down and I peeled into the college to see the new building, new parking lot and new road configuration.

I walked nearly two kilometers around the College in the dark investigating new places to track, and took pictures with my cell phone, thinking they would be a good "scientific" file showing features to remember when plannng urban tracks. Well, check out this one...I laughed so hard when I downloaded it...especially because in my mind I wanted to point out the neat brick walkway and swirls leading to a manhole in one of the courtyards.

Seriously, River looks like Al Jolson!

I saw a NEW "open air" garage affair and headed straight for it, in a sort of "tracking trance." It is attached to the College's new Trades and Technology Centre. Construction on this started the month I moved here, August 2008. In the picture below it looks like a tracking "Taj Mahal" all lit up and white!

Below is my photo of the dogs pulling through. The surface is very nice, round white gravel.

Here is a Google Map showing the east half of the grounds and our path. The top yellow placemarker shows where the new building is located. We went through the garage, and into a courtyard that I have never seen before because of the construction barriers. I was so excited, as I thought it might actually be an opening between buildings. The centre placeholder shows the deadend courtyard. The bottom placeholder marks the sidewalk behind the residence. From the courtyard I took this photo looking back towards the new addition - that bright opening that is a white square. This is where I took the photo of River and Caden. You can see the nice brick surface here. You also pass over alternating grass and gravel. Caden has his reflective collar on.

Maybe it is because of the construction, but there is a wire mesh under the gravel that made for an interesting surface - as I tried to take a photo, River and Caden were sniffing away - they always think we are tracking...it is ridiculous to "go for a walk" sometimes.
There is only one place where you can go between two buildings, in the older residence area. Otherwise the college is just a huge blob that you circle around. Not great for serious training if you plan to trial elsewhere. I like Olds College much better for the individual buildings and ability to go through them back and forth.

This is the west half of the walk tonight. I have tracked in these areas a lot, using the soccer field and parking lots and lawns on this side of the college. The east side is much more hard surface. This side of the college has the automatic doors - when we track down that sidewalk, they open - and once, River tried to go into the building! I have only done one track using the neat set of stairs going uphill to a parking lot - marked by a placeholder.

Now I can start Googling new configurations to practice, which is nice because the west side was getting too "samey."

Below: "Sit, Sparkly, Stay Sparky!" They look like aliens, glowing inside a dog form. I LOVE the eyes!!!!!!!!

What is interesting is that Caden's eyes have way more reflection because he is younger. River at age nine has less "thingamajiggy stuff" so less reflection (what is that stuff? I will have to Google it). I wonder if that makes a difference with her night vision?