Tuesday, March 31, 2009

03-31-2009

Training has been set back a little since we went to 12 hour shifts during the flood. We've done some agility things like jump up on this and jump up on that for a reward. I should probably be doing a bunch more pigeon hole board work but there hasn't been time to set things up. Two days ago I put out some scent in a high flower pot out in the yard and then got called away for about 30 - 45 minutes. Then with a faint breeze, Duece and I went for a walk in the dark. He was showing interest in the scent but had problems finding the source. I had to call him back twice as he was way off looking into footprint holes in the snow. He did circle the source and was looking up towards it and finally got frustrated and sat down. His indication is to sit and he got lots of praise and treats at the source. Tonight I put out a quick source and he did find it but needed to be reminded to sit. Then I put another one next to a flower pot in a concrete block slightly buried in the snow. We went for another walk quite a ways down wind like we might do for a search. We don't want Duece to pay any attention to me other than not to run away, so I don't say anything to him except call him off of the road. Duece made a turn into the wind where he should have been directly downwind a couple of different times. He was definitely interested in the scent and ran through the snowbank to get to the source. Again he forgot to just sit at the source and dug it out and wanted to take off with the container. It took a little persuasion but we were able to treat him at the source. In order for me to hide the source, I had to use a short leash and hook Duece up in the garage where he couldn't watch me. (He cheats!) He was so excited knowing what we were going to do, I could hardly snap him on or off the leash and give the command to search.

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

03-24-2009

Duece & Ziva & I went to town yesterday to test the "aconitum napellus 30c" that was to help with motion sickness. He threw up before we were 6 miles down the road. I feel sorry for him but we need to travel so we'll have to keep working on it. A few days ago we sat in the suburban for a few hours. Ziva & Duece had favorite toys and I read my copy of "Buzzards and Butterflies" about cadaver/HRD dogs. Once Duece figured out we weren't going anywhere he was fine. He didn't like it when I moved up to the driver's seat to install a GPS as he thought we would be going somewhere. Once in awhile I would rock the vehicle and shake his crate a little.

Today, Duece got some more time on the pigeon hole board. He's nailing the source very well. He does have a problem with the higher holes and once in awhile he'll sit at the decoy but not for long. On the high holes he will start to walk around the room a little bit but does get back at it with some encouragement from behind the board. A couple times he just sat down at the base of the board and looked around a little but got bored and went back to searching. I did try some "Check" and tapping near the high holes but he hasn't caught on to that yet and I don't want him dependent on me. I need to get some more "T"s and start proofing him on food, animal bones, clothing, etc. to make sure he knows to only indicate on source.


Monday, March 16, 2009

03-16-2009

Duece got to use his 'pigeon hole board' this past weekend. It was/is a learning experience for Duece and for us. We have to be able to move the container fairly quick and without Duece cheating (watching) as he would just run to the new location. We have to get our 'stuff' together to keep Duece learning to sit at the source so we have to watch our timing. It can be hard because the person doing all the work behind the board can't see over it. The first time we tried this he was more interested in running behind the board to visit with Helen who spoils him all the time. :-)


In the first picture Duece is either waiting for his treat or was just given his treat and is waiting for another. One problem with the multiple boards is the space between them where Duece watches what is going on behind the board. You can also see the plywood at the end of the board we had to put up so Duece wouldn't run behind it. The next video shows how well that worked.



Since Duece watches to see where the material is moved to, I had to go into a big praise and move him around so he couldn't watch. Then when the person behind the board gives the word, he is released to search the board. We also found out that if the material is too high, he will scratch at it instead of sit when he finds it. We need to work until he sits instinctively instead of look for his treat and sit sometimes. I think getting the treat right at the source is a big help too. We did bone and material so he had experience with both.


We had set it up on Saturday but we didn't have a chance to video as we were learning how things work. On Sunday, we left the board set up all day and ran him through the drills three separate times and he improved each time. We are going to put a few more decoys on the back as when things got difficult Duece would temporarily sit at a decoy, but move on. We also learned not to put the materiel too high for him as that is where the most false indications happened. (where he had to actually jump to get his nose near the hole) We can go higher as his training progresses.

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

03-10-2009

Duece got his 'pigeon hole board' today.


There are three of these boards and they will fit on a bracket so they will be one above the other for a total of 24 holes. The backside will have the tee placed on one hole with scent in it and it can be moved around the board.


Duece's job will be to find the hole with the scent in it and indicate by sitting and we can reach through the tee and give Duece his treat right at the scent source.
Now we just need room to set it up so we can use them!

Sunday, March 8, 2009

03-08-2009

We didn't work enough with Duece the past couple of days as he told us by chewing on a pillow, some cardboard boxes and tearing up some of his toys. We did a little sit, down, wait and some 'get up' where he jumps up on what is indicated.

Today we did some more jar work and Duece is catching on. He remembers to sit and is getting better at waiting for the treat. He still wants to move if the treat isn't fast enough, but he definitely is hitting on the bone in the jar. We had four jars out and he would be checking all of them out and would go back and hit the correct jar and then sit.

Finally got the salvage wood home so we can get started on the pigeon hole board for further training.

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

03-04-2009

We did some more 'jar work' with Duece this afternoon. We mixed his Beggin Strips with some cheese to raise his interest a little. We did it before he ate so he was really interested in getting his treat. I was moving the jars around while Helen did the treat and praise. We did have one instance of a false alert but I think it was because he was more into the treat than what he was doing. It didn't take him long to getup and move to the correct jar. We still have to work on his indication and sit close to the source, but he's really catching on.

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

03-03-2009

On Sunday, March 1 we did some more imprint with alert with Duece. We continued with the bone and he was starting to acknowledge it. He seemed a little confused since it doesn't smell anything like the other material. There were 3 jars on the floor, two had white lids - one was the bone - one just had the brass colored lid. Duece would just pass over the brass one and checked out both of the white lids.

On Monday evening we did the same thing, only all three jars had white lids. The white lids have holes punched in them and the brass lids don't. We store the jars with brass lids over the white ones to seal them. We use the "jelly' jars with rough exteriors making it hard to see inside of them. The jars were new and washed and rinsed in hot water and allowed to air dry. Duece checked out all the jars and definitely indicated on the bone jar. We want him to "sit" or "down" at the source for an indication. Now he is turning around at the jar and looking at Helen for his treat. We don't tell him to sit anymore as he won't get his treat unless he is sitting. It will work out, we just need to do it a lot more.

Now I'm trying to figure out how to make a 'pigeon hole board' to advance his training.