Duece had an interesting day. First he ate the wrist band on my watch, then he had to dodge the vacuum cleaner and then another trip to town.
The cat knocks things off the counter and the dogs check those things out. Luckily I had another watch band. Duece doesn't like the vacuum cleaner and will give it a wide berth even when it's shut off. (Maybe I should hang my watch on the vacuum cleaner)
I put a smaller crate in the suburban, just behind the front seats hoping it would be a smoother ride than the rear crate. One of the bloodhounds came along too. We were gone a couple of hours and made a number of stops in town. Duece drooled all over, soaking his chest and front legs again but no vomit. As soon as we got home he was back rolling in the snow.
Later on we blocked off the kitchen and tried a little "find the bone." We have some bone in a glass jar with holes poked in the lid (we cover the 'holy' lid with a good lid to seal the jar and take it off when we use it). Duece spent a very little extra time sniffing the jar with the bone in it compared to the empty jars. The bone just doesn't have the strong scent like the other material so it's going to take a lot more work.
We finished the day with some sit, down, wait and some 'git up' in the basement. Duece is really food driven once he figures out what you want or I should say once I communicate to him what we want him to do. :-)
Friday, February 27, 2009
Thursday, February 26, 2009
02-26-2009
The family has been sick so Duece's training has been somewhat on the backburner. I had to make a trip into town today so Duece rode along. He just doesn't like the crate in the back of the suburban or maybe it's the movement of the vehicle while he rides in the crate. He starts salivating so bad his chest and front legs get soaked. Then he ends up vomiting if the trip gets too long. Today's trip was too long.
When he unloads from the suburban he rolls in the snow looking like he's trying to clean off his chest and legs. When we got home today, Duece got a bath. He was about as impressed with the bath tub as he is about going for a ride. The Aussie can store a lot of water in their hair, even after we thought he was fairly dry. He then ran around the living room rolling over on the rugs and dog pillows trying to dry himself off. We had to keep him in the house until he dried as the outside temp was hanging around the zero to a degree above or below and the wind was howling.
Later on we locked the other dogs upstairs and we played in the basement. 'Sit', 'down', 'wait' were the games. We tried to walk around him in a "down - wait" and it went fairly good. He just won't sit still if I try to step over him. We did do game where he was in the "down - wait" mode and a treat was placed on the floor about a foot or so from his nose. He thought it was okay to crawl over to it and I had to place my hand on his back to keep him there a couple of times, but we did get about 3 or 4 minutes of him staring at the treat or giving me the evil-eye.
Once he finally got to eat the well-watched-treat, we walked around the basement playing "Check" and "Git up" where I held a treat out of his reach and he had to either stand up with his paws up on something, or jump up on something to get the treat. Some dogs are pretty wary of things they aren't accustomed to, so we jumped up on the treadmill (shut off of course), some Rubbermaid storage containers and other things. One place had a small square stool in front of it and he got a treat for putting his front legs on it. Then he actually climbed up on it with all 4 paws and stood with his front paws up on a large box to get his treat. I can see we're going to need some agility type equipment to keep Duece and his friend Ziva, the incorrigible corgi busy and out of trouble this summer.
When he unloads from the suburban he rolls in the snow looking like he's trying to clean off his chest and legs. When we got home today, Duece got a bath. He was about as impressed with the bath tub as he is about going for a ride. The Aussie can store a lot of water in their hair, even after we thought he was fairly dry. He then ran around the living room rolling over on the rugs and dog pillows trying to dry himself off. We had to keep him in the house until he dried as the outside temp was hanging around the zero to a degree above or below and the wind was howling.
Later on we locked the other dogs upstairs and we played in the basement. 'Sit', 'down', 'wait' were the games. We tried to walk around him in a "down - wait" and it went fairly good. He just won't sit still if I try to step over him. We did do game where he was in the "down - wait" mode and a treat was placed on the floor about a foot or so from his nose. He thought it was okay to crawl over to it and I had to place my hand on his back to keep him there a couple of times, but we did get about 3 or 4 minutes of him staring at the treat or giving me the evil-eye.
Once he finally got to eat the well-watched-treat, we walked around the basement playing "Check" and "Git up" where I held a treat out of his reach and he had to either stand up with his paws up on something, or jump up on something to get the treat. Some dogs are pretty wary of things they aren't accustomed to, so we jumped up on the treadmill (shut off of course), some Rubbermaid storage containers and other things. One place had a small square stool in front of it and he got a treat for putting his front legs on it. Then he actually climbed up on it with all 4 paws and stood with his front paws up on a large box to get his treat. I can see we're going to need some agility type equipment to keep Duece and his friend Ziva, the incorrigible corgi busy and out of trouble this summer.
Sunday, February 22, 2009
02-22-2009
Duece's visit to the vet hardly slowed him down and he had to be told to ease up a bit while playing with Ziva.
Yesterday we set up a training session as we learned on the e-training for dogs webinar. At first we set up with bone which Duece has never been introduced to. He didn't show any interest in it at all. I'm thinking it could be due to the bone stored in the cold and we were doing our session in the cold garage. Or it could have been due to our impatience and not giving him enough time to get his nose into the scratch box. We then switched to material he was familiar with and he was hitting on it quickly.
One of the main things we learned was to have the dog's handler (me) stay out of the training and have someone else reward Duece for finding the scent. The reason is to have the dog 'hunt' the scent without depending on the handler for anything. When we started Duece came to me looking for instructions and I had to ignore him and as a normal curious dog, he sniffed around and things worked out.
We put three scratch boxes on the floor and when Duece's nose went to the hole in the box, he was told "Good" and rewarded with a treat. He was a little confused as I'm the one usually treating him but he did things just like we were told it would work. I moved the boxes around when it seemed like Duece was just going to stand in one place and dip his head to the scent and get his reward. The dipping is a good thing but we also want him to 'hunt' for the scent as well.
The first video gives an idea how it is supposed to work. The next video shows how Duece is supposed to do his 'hunt.' We also want him to sit at the source and he is starting to do it. The video is right after we moved the boxes around.
Today we set up for a short session and this time I dropped a little hot water on the bone before we started. This seemed to work and Duece was dipping his nose on the right box and getting his treat. We were happy that he was working with the bone and neglected to move the box quick enough because Duece decided to save time and he went into a 'down' and rested his head on the box with his nose over the hole. We are going to have to work with the bone a lot more to really feel comfortable with it.
Yesterday we set up a training session as we learned on the e-training for dogs webinar. At first we set up with bone which Duece has never been introduced to. He didn't show any interest in it at all. I'm thinking it could be due to the bone stored in the cold and we were doing our session in the cold garage. Or it could have been due to our impatience and not giving him enough time to get his nose into the scratch box. We then switched to material he was familiar with and he was hitting on it quickly.
One of the main things we learned was to have the dog's handler (me) stay out of the training and have someone else reward Duece for finding the scent. The reason is to have the dog 'hunt' the scent without depending on the handler for anything. When we started Duece came to me looking for instructions and I had to ignore him and as a normal curious dog, he sniffed around and things worked out.
We put three scratch boxes on the floor and when Duece's nose went to the hole in the box, he was told "Good" and rewarded with a treat. He was a little confused as I'm the one usually treating him but he did things just like we were told it would work. I moved the boxes around when it seemed like Duece was just going to stand in one place and dip his head to the scent and get his reward. The dipping is a good thing but we also want him to 'hunt' for the scent as well.
The first video gives an idea how it is supposed to work. The next video shows how Duece is supposed to do his 'hunt.' We also want him to sit at the source and he is starting to do it. The video is right after we moved the boxes around.
Today we set up for a short session and this time I dropped a little hot water on the bone before we started. This seemed to work and Duece was dipping his nose on the right box and getting his treat. We were happy that he was working with the bone and neglected to move the box quick enough because Duece decided to save time and he went into a 'down' and rested his head on the box with his nose over the hole. We are going to have to work with the bone a lot more to really feel comfortable with it.
Friday, February 20, 2009
02-20-2009
Duece is visiting the vet today for the once in a lifetime neutering. We don't know enough about Duece's background to do any breeding.
We expect this to slow down his training a little but I think we can still try what we learned on e-training for dogs webinar we 'attended' Wednesday evening. This is a great learning experience without the expense of traveling. The first night I attended we had students from the Dominican Republic, Arizona, and Alabama being taught by an instructor in Wyoming. It's all live and the instructor can answer questions in real time. We can also submit video for critique.
I hope Duece is in the mood to try some of the methods this weekend after today. (if he's still talking to me after this trip to the vet)
UPDATE:
Duece is doing fine, not even a collar as he isn't licking the stiches. When we got home his chest and front legs were wet again from his drooling due to motion sickness. At home he wanted to do his usual rolling in the snow but couldn't. Later when Duece & Ziva (the incorrigible corgi) went outside, Duece was able to roll in the snow a few times but probably shouldn't have, as he was favoring a back leg when he came into the house. Now he's sleeping under my chair as I type this. Tomorrow, we're going to try out what we learned on the e-training for dogs webinar.
We expect this to slow down his training a little but I think we can still try what we learned on e-training for dogs webinar we 'attended' Wednesday evening. This is a great learning experience without the expense of traveling. The first night I attended we had students from the Dominican Republic, Arizona, and Alabama being taught by an instructor in Wyoming. It's all live and the instructor can answer questions in real time. We can also submit video for critique.
I hope Duece is in the mood to try some of the methods this weekend after today. (if he's still talking to me after this trip to the vet)
UPDATE:
Duece is doing fine, not even a collar as he isn't licking the stiches. When we got home his chest and front legs were wet again from his drooling due to motion sickness. At home he wanted to do his usual rolling in the snow but couldn't. Later when Duece & Ziva (the incorrigible corgi) went outside, Duece was able to roll in the snow a few times but probably shouldn't have, as he was favoring a back leg when he came into the house. Now he's sleeping under my chair as I type this. Tomorrow, we're going to try out what we learned on the e-training for dogs webinar.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
02-17-2009
Today we went to the GF Kennel Club for the Basic Obedience class. Tonight was our 5 time and Duece was doing really well for about 45-50 minutes of the class. About that time he realizes his play-buddy, Ziva, was in the same class and he wanted to play. Add that to his realization there were some dog treats on the floor and he hadn't eaten for about 14 hours and his concentration was waning. The GFKC has been a great experience for me (and the dogs) as it helps socialize the dogs and it's always good to have someone else advise you on what you are doing. Mattie was the first dog that took me to the GFKC and it saved both of us a lot of time, mainly when they corrected me on the mistakes I was making.
This was the first trip Duece has made where he didn't throw up from motion sickness traveling in the suburban. He doesn't like to travel and starts with drooling until his chest is soaked and usually throws up before we get home. Last weekend I took him out for about a 2 hour drive. We started out by driving about a half mile from home, stopping alongside the road and letting him relax. Then we drove a little and then pulled over again. We went about 12 miles in that 2 hours. I would watch him in the mirror and when he was drooling a lot, we pulled over. When I pushed it and drove a 2 mile stretch he threw up when we stopped. We've been told to take him on little trips and make it fun for him. We'll try do get a few of those done because if we want him to be a working cad dog he needs to travel.
This was the first trip Duece has made where he didn't throw up from motion sickness traveling in the suburban. He doesn't like to travel and starts with drooling until his chest is soaked and usually throws up before we get home. Last weekend I took him out for about a 2 hour drive. We started out by driving about a half mile from home, stopping alongside the road and letting him relax. Then we drove a little and then pulled over again. We went about 12 miles in that 2 hours. I would watch him in the mirror and when he was drooling a lot, we pulled over. When I pushed it and drove a 2 mile stretch he threw up when we stopped. We've been told to take him on little trips and make it fun for him. We'll try do get a few of those done because if we want him to be a working cad dog he needs to travel.
Monday, February 16, 2009
02-16-2009
Today I put the pill bottle/zip-lock under the snow in a planter in the yard. The planter is in an area where snow is piled up with the snow blade on the UTV so I was able to walk along the snow banks and make decoy holes. Even though the scent was in the planter Duece has become accustomed to finding scent in snow banks and I want to expose him to different kinds of hides.
Duece tried on his orange vest for the first time today. He is quite a bit smaller than Mattie who wore the vest before. We use the vest to let the dog know we are going to work. Duece was so excited about getting to work I cold barely get him to come to me so I could give the search command even though it probably wasn't needed. Gotta keep things consistent!
Duece doesn't have 'search pattern' that I can see, but right now I'm happy that he wants to search. He does clue off of my position to a point, but he lets his memory and his nose be his guide and that's what we want. I've been told to keep my mouth shut and my hands in my pockets by those with a lot more experience than I have so I don't try to influence him except when I know he's checking for rabbit droppings instead of working.
Duece was sticking his nose, clear up to his eyes, in the holes in the snow as he was working his way along the snow bank. Once he got down wind of the planter, he continued to look for holes in the snow, but was able to turn and climb up a snowbank and get into the planter where praise and teasing with the container kept him excited for awhile.
Last week had I wedged the scent container in the bracket for the spare tire on a trailer. It was fun watching Duece as he got into the scent cone and him looking for a hole in the snow. He moved around a bit and finally stuck his head between the rail and the trailer bed and attempted to climb up on the trailer. He was almost perfectly downwind of the hide and I used my hand to hold his rear paw so he could climb up on the trailer. With some encouragement and lots of praise he was pretty excited about finding it.
Today, I finally talked him into going into the house so I could re-hide the scent container as he wanted to stay out and search some more. This time I hid the container in some bricks and then walked around some areas so he hopefully isn't using my tracks to lead him to the scent. It was breezy today so I was hoping to see him do a hard turn into the scent as we were downwind but he didn't. I just let him do his thing and I walked an easy circle through the yard as he checked out different areas. A couple times I repeated the search command as he seemed to be paying too much attention to rabbit droppings. He was checking out an area around the hiding spot and his body language indicated he was interested and he continued on and turned back, giving a neon sign type of indication that is neat to watch.
Duece tried on his orange vest for the first time today. He is quite a bit smaller than Mattie who wore the vest before. We use the vest to let the dog know we are going to work. Duece was so excited about getting to work I cold barely get him to come to me so I could give the search command even though it probably wasn't needed. Gotta keep things consistent!
Duece doesn't have 'search pattern' that I can see, but right now I'm happy that he wants to search. He does clue off of my position to a point, but he lets his memory and his nose be his guide and that's what we want. I've been told to keep my mouth shut and my hands in my pockets by those with a lot more experience than I have so I don't try to influence him except when I know he's checking for rabbit droppings instead of working.
Duece was sticking his nose, clear up to his eyes, in the holes in the snow as he was working his way along the snow bank. Once he got down wind of the planter, he continued to look for holes in the snow, but was able to turn and climb up a snowbank and get into the planter where praise and teasing with the container kept him excited for awhile.
Last week had I wedged the scent container in the bracket for the spare tire on a trailer. It was fun watching Duece as he got into the scent cone and him looking for a hole in the snow. He moved around a bit and finally stuck his head between the rail and the trailer bed and attempted to climb up on the trailer. He was almost perfectly downwind of the hide and I used my hand to hold his rear paw so he could climb up on the trailer. With some encouragement and lots of praise he was pretty excited about finding it.
Today, I finally talked him into going into the house so I could re-hide the scent container as he wanted to stay out and search some more. This time I hid the container in some bricks and then walked around some areas so he hopefully isn't using my tracks to lead him to the scent. It was breezy today so I was hoping to see him do a hard turn into the scent as we were downwind but he didn't. I just let him do his thing and I walked an easy circle through the yard as he checked out different areas. A couple times I repeated the search command as he seemed to be paying too much attention to rabbit droppings. He was checking out an area around the hiding spot and his body language indicated he was interested and he continued on and turned back, giving a neon sign type of indication that is neat to watch.
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Addition to first post
Due to the extreme cold we've had, Duece did some searching in the basement. We have some scented tennis balls that I hide and then let Duece find them. I let Duece sniff the container so he knew what we were doing and he was on a leash tied up so he couldn't follow into where I was hiding the ball. I use one of those plastic arm things that is normally used to add distance to a thrown tennis ball so I don't have to touch it and leave my scent on it. The ball is stored in a way that it cannot come in contact with the scent material but only gathers the smells. Having Duece tied up in the other room helps build some anticipation on his part and he can barely wait for the search command when I'm unhooking his leash. He doesn't have much of a search pattern yet and skips around a lot but I'm just happy to have him know what to search for. We're still not using a treat and so far the lavish, boisterous praise seems to be working.
First post
Duece was exposed to cadaver scent when he was about 4 months old.
We had some scent in a pill bottle in a zip-locked bag that I teased him with a few times but wouldn't let him have it, all the while repeating the search command. Then I would ram it into a snow bank while he watched. When my hand came back empty he checked out the hole in the snow and when he dug for it, repeated the search command. When he pulled the zip-lock bag out, he got the most praise in the highest voice I could muster, and he was so excited ! ! !
Later, when his attention was distracted, I would stuck it in a snow bank a little farther from where he was standing and gave him the search command. We did this every couple of days and made sure we stopped when he was still excited about finding it.
We progressed to making a bunch of identical holes in the snow banks and letting him check out all of them to learn his body language when he hit on the correct hole. We also want to make sure he doesn't just go to a place I happened to leave scent or where the snow was disturbed.
We had some scent in a pill bottle in a zip-locked bag that I teased him with a few times but wouldn't let him have it, all the while repeating the search command. Then I would ram it into a snow bank while he watched. When my hand came back empty he checked out the hole in the snow and when he dug for it, repeated the search command. When he pulled the zip-lock bag out, he got the most praise in the highest voice I could muster, and he was so excited ! ! !
Later, when his attention was distracted, I would stuck it in a snow bank a little farther from where he was standing and gave him the search command. We did this every couple of days and made sure we stopped when he was still excited about finding it.
We progressed to making a bunch of identical holes in the snow banks and letting him check out all of them to learn his body language when he hit on the correct hole. We also want to make sure he doesn't just go to a place I happened to leave scent or where the snow was disturbed.
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