07-26-2009

I put out some scent this evening and waited about 30 minutes. It was hidden in an old 4 wheeled horse cart in the back yard where we had walked before so he couldn't just follow my tracks to find it. This time I tried not to lead him in anyway and tried to follow him as he worked. I also didn't talk to him except to reinforce the command and call him when he took off too far ahead on some 'goose chase'. I think it confused him a little bit and he got a little sidetracked until I called him back and gave the command again. Once he was down wind of where the scent was and he did a little circling and at one time I thought he would head right for it but he checked something else out and then moved on. I didn't stop when he moved on and followed him around the yard again. It appeared that he was hitting the scent but wasn't sure and I continued walking until he circled back. Then I stopped away from the hidden scent and almost ignored him. He jumped up against the back of the wagon but didn't go into his sit indication. He circled around and came over to me and I asked "Where is it?" and stayed where I was at. He went back to the cart and stuck his nose right in the area where it was hidden and then sat down. Once he was 'firmly planted' I went over and gave him a lot of praise and massage and then gave him a treat. We played around a little and I took off his vest and he turned around and jumped clear up on the cart, the scent was hidden under the seat where he couldn't reach it. He just looked at me and waited for another treat.
I changed some scent containers around and put two unscented/aired out tennis balls in a container (where they cannot contact any material) for some ball scented work. I use a plastic handle to throw the balls and let the dog find it. He can't bring it back and has to sit when he finds it. What's nice about it is there is no track left by me leading up to the scent.

07-23-2009

We took our longest trip today, over 3 hours each way. Actually went real well. I set up a barrier that let the dogs have the area directly behind the front seats but couldn't go back into the cargo area and get into anything. (I once had a cell phone antenna, among other things, chewed up when I let a dog run free in the suburban.) On the first leg we left the dogs (Ziva & Duece) in the running vehicle while in a store, and they did fine. I took them both for a little walk before we left and then we had a 10 minute stop about 30 minutes from our destination and somewhere between there and the destination Duece threw up. For some reason he gets an anxiety attack when we leave him for long in the vehicle. We had a lot of fun while visiting our friends who have two Dachshunds. Duece slept most of the way home and Ziva slept a little as she doesn't want to miss anything. We stopped about 1/2 way home and left the dogs alone for awhile and it didn't seem to bother Duece. All were happy when we got home.

07-19-2009

Today Duece rode along again. He isn't real excited about getting in the suburban but he doesn't run away either. I left it running with the radio on when I was inside the store and again when I made a quick stop for groceries. I forgot to mention in the last post that we stopped at McDonald's on the way home and Duece sat up and stared at the person in the window but didn't care once he got some pieces of a hamburger. I forgot about the ketchup and pickles but he ate every piece. Today we had some cheese dogs on the way home. Those aren't bribes, they're rewards. :-)
This evening we were playing with Ziva on the couple pieces of 'agility' equipment we built in the back yard. There's a couple of jumps, a tire jump and 4 weave poles. It's funny watching Ziva & Duece go through the tire jump at the same time to get their treat. They haven't quite figured out the weave poles yet, but neither have I. We have the jumps set high enough for Duece and Ziva jumps over the bottom post that holds the uprights together. We haven't tied the individual items into a 'run ' yet as we're just learning the hand signals and item commands.

07-18-2009

I've been slacking - with the blog and with Duece. Last week we tried something new with someone driving the suburban while Duece & I rode in the back seat. We put 30 miles on and Duece did great. I gave him a lot of attention and he would sit up and look around when we slowed to turn, etc. Other times he lay on the seat and almost fell asleep. Now a week later, I had to make a trip into town so I put the blanket on the seat and brought Duece along. He looked around at times and almost slept the rest of the time. I was worried about leaving him alone as that has brought on a bunch of panting and drooling, but today I left the suburban running with the radio on and he was just fine. Even when I had to retrieve a part from the rear of vehicle, he just sat up and then curled up on the seat when I went back inside the store. I did give him a small piece of teriyaki beef jerky a couple of times. When I was done with business and we were headed to another store, I offered him an Alpo Snap and he just turned away, probably knowing the beef jerky wasn't all gone. He got a piece of jerky. The next other store was an outside warehouse place so Duece was able to watch me walk around and only disappear for a short time. I didn't even try the Alpo Snap and went straight for the jerky when we left. He doesn't bother the bag laying on the floor but knows what's up when I pick up the bag.
We've done a couple cadaver scent hides during this time as well. I'm trying to be farther away from Duece when he finds it so he pays less attention to me. Tonight he actually had his nose a few inches from the container but he looked around and moved on instead of doing his sit indication. I just walked on and made a circle and this time he found it and sat like he is supposed to. I was a ways away and took my time getting there and he stayed until I got there. I did a bunch of praise before the treat as when he sees the treat coming he leaves and come to me instead of staying there. I try to get him to refind it for me but it isn't going real well right now. Little steps at a time. :-)

07-02-2009

Duece had a new experience this evening. Our neighbors have a fairly large horse barn and they let us hide some scent. When Duece saw me carrying his vest there was no stopping him. I had to go get a collar & lead to settle him down a notch or two. He wasn't too sure about going into the barn door but only briefly hesitated. I should have let him run around a little before we started as there were so many new smells and noises. He would barely sit still while getting his vest and command to work. When he started he wasn't sure about where to begin. He moved all over and doubled back and checked out areas he had already been. Nothing wrong with that but there were still areas that didn't get checked. He startled the first time a horse snorted but seemed to ignore them later on. One thing I didn't notice until we were about 1/2 way into the search was the 4 large ceiling fans running on high speed. I'm sure they had to really stir up the scent Duece was looking for and mix it in with all the new smells. There was a large stack of fresh hay along one wall and one little "Get up" and he was climbing over it. After a bit he seemed a little confused so I gave the search command again and did a little "check" with a hand motion and that got him back on track. I had placed the scent under an old traffic cone that was propped up to hold a door open and the lid for the container was about 5 feet away and about 6 feet above the ground wedged behind an electrical wire. Duece stopped below the lid about 1/2 way between the scent and where the lid was hidden. He did his indication, sitting down and staring at me. I wasn't sure what to do as he really wasn't at the source - or was he with the fans blowing? He stared at me and then whined which is something new, so I rewarded him and then gave him the command again and did the "check" with hand motion again. This time he climbed the hay stack again, only from the side facing the scent. He checked it out and then jumped on a bale I thought was going to fall over which would have dumped him from about 5 feet above ground. Duece must have thought the same thing as he stopped and went into a down and then jumped off the bale into a small pile of hay on the ground. It didn't seem to faze him at all and he continued searching and this time got near the hidden scent. He circled it a couple of times like he was trying to find the source. He stuck his nose at the top of the cone and then sat down. When he went into a down he stuck his nose under the cone and waited for his treat and praise.
Duece did well, but I have a couple of concerns. First was his first indication. I don't think the container lid would have enough scent for him to think it was a source unless the fans were moving air down along the wall to the floor. The second concern is, I was the one that hid the scent and I stood in this area while hiding it and was Duece hitting on my scent as well as the source scent? Guess I need to have someone else hide the source and I need to have a clean, empty source container for a decoy and make sure he isn't hitting on that too.