Detection training essentials:
Detection training simplified is broken into 3 categories, hunting, odor imprinting, and indication. At its root, detection is a discipline that relies on the unique abilities of a dog to find the odor signature of materials that we cannot easily find. In order for the dog to be functional in this purpose the dog must have a strong drive to hunt. If the dog does not want to search for anything then we will have a very difficult time teaching the dog to hunt for a novel odor that has no inherent value to the dog. Through conditioning principles we can teach a dog a response or indication to an odor but if the dog does not hunt it is what I would call an “Alert dog”. If I have to walk a dog around and put its nose in different places for it to alert to an odor then it’s a completely underutilized tool.
When selecting or training a detection dog the first thing I look at and the first thing I train is the hunt. Without getting too deep into the weeds of differing methodologies, the idea here is to work the most important part of the detection process first and continue working the hunt until you like the intensity and stamina the dog has in the hunt. The great part about this is it doesn’t have to be complicated and the dogs love it. Start by throwing the dog’s toy into some high grass, progress to more difficult cover and larger areas. A key thing to remember when doing hunting drills is not to make the reward too difficult to find too fast. If you see the dog getting frustrated or giving up, try holding the dog back and utilize a second person to go steal the toy and tease the dog with it then try again. Or you could put the dog away feeling frustrated without a chance to do another rep. I want to avoid the handler going to help the dog find it at all costs. By doing the hunts in tall grass the dog won’t be able to see much as they search and will learn to follow odor in the air. When the dog does not give up in the grass hunt I will move on to searching more challenging environments like vehicles, rooms, luggage, the exterior of a building, basically any environment you can think of or have access to. Most of the time I can find a garage, a shed, or storage building that has lots of clutter in it for the dog to search and it’s not a big deal if the dog jumps on things or makes a mess.
I always prefer to do these drills with the help of a second person but they can be done alone. The benefit of a second person is they can tease the dog with the toy while the handler holds them back on a line, so they begin the exercise with very high drive. Also the handler may not know where the helper hid the toy and therefore won’t be influencing the dog to search in a specific area where they know it’s hidden. We all want to see our dogs succeed and even if it’s not intentional will stare at a place where the hide is, will linger in front of it too long, restrict the dog from searching elsewhere , and praise the dog too early for simply getting near the toy. These are all bad practices that you’ll want to avoid. Dogs are very good at picking up nonverbal cues and detection should be a skill the dog could perform without any input from the handler.
When first beginning to hunt rooms, start with low hides because that is what the dog practiced in the grass, process to nose level and higher hides. Don’t panic if the dog struggles at first, odors will move a lot different in these man made environments. The dog may take a few reps to understand they’re allowed to show drive and express themselves in these environments, especially dogs that live free in the house and have a lot of rules inside. Something I’m always asked is “how long should I do this for?” The answer is , until you’re happy with the dogs' searching intensity and stamina. Keep in mind American Schutzhund searches can last 6 minutes. So it is a good idea to prepare for longer than that. When I was selling a lot of bomb dogs to the military, one of the requirements was that the dog would search for a minimum of 30 minutes. So assessing a dog’s hunt was very important before putting a lot of training into them for that job. Every dog has a nose and can learn odors, not every dog has great genetic hunting. If you want to start detection training, grab a toy and get started increasing your dog’s hunting intensity and stamina!
Kommentarer