Ah, well that comes from learning the trigger signsfor instance, with Cadbury, if he sees something or someone interesting his head goes up and he stares for a second, his tail goes still and he is perfectly motionless, then he will suddenly run. So I catch him just as he goes into that pause...
With scents it is harder, and means scoping the land to see likely tracks he might follow. He is very predictable once you learn the signs.
I appreciate that response. Now I understand your concept more fully. One of the things I learned some time ago is that the fact that I view words differently than others do. It causes me to interpret concepts differently, hence the nit picky nature to many of my questions. (That's not an apology for the way that I think, just a realization of my boundaries).
I thought I was tuned into what you were saying, but I wasn't sure. To me, before means just that, before. What I hear you saying with your explanation is not before (necessarily) your companion senses something, but certainly before he reacts to the stimulus. Once he reacts, the difficulty of him responding to commands successfully increases. Got it!
BTW, I also appreciated the distinctions you drew re the greater difficulty of dealing with scent triggers. Realizing that it is more a matter of knowing your dog rather than of reading his signs means more time spent with being aware of his world.
