Post by oksaradt on Mar 8, 2008 20:17:57 GMT -5
I just returned last night from a great seminar in Scottsville, TX. If for nothing else, the food at this seminar was 4-star quality versus the common camp seminars that serve cheese sandwiches and fish sticks.
I should preface the list below with the caveat that very few of the issues below are intentional. Dog handling in this type of scent work can be very intense. Sub-conscious routines can develop and handlers go to seminars and/or work blind problems to discover and eliminate behaviors that inhibit rock solid performance. All of the issues below are fixable and doing so invariably makes better handlers and better dog teams.
Working with the teams reminded me of many issues that can be seen in search dog teams:
Shopping:
Dog is self-rewarding on scent and playing its own game. You observe the dog going from source to source in a scent overlap environment without telling the hanlder of its finds. Many times dogs in this game won't start indicating on scent sources till they either believe they've found them all or find the strongest one.
This is usually corrected by committment exercises with the dog where it's trained not to leave the scent source it finds until released/rewarded by the handler.
Alerting at Scent Pool:
The dog enters a strong scent pool and begins it's indication/alert at that point rather than working to the source. This tends to be more obvious with scent sources with a high blood or fat content. This requires the handler to not accept any indication/alert until the dog is at source (or as close as is physically possible) in training. I've seen this a lot in cross-trained dogs that are primarily air scent dogs that the handler decides to add cadaver work on.
Dog requires Handler cueing:
This tends to be obvious to all but the handler as it involves a long standing relationship between the handler and his/her dog. The dog appears to work great to the handler when the handler knows where all the scent sources are, but struggles when the handler has to work the problems blind. The dog makes the find and then waits for the handler to give the proper agreed upon cue (that usually the handler doesn't realize they do). If the handler guesses right, the dog indicates at the right place. If the handler guesses wrong, the dog is wrong.
The handler fixes this by becoming patient with the dog and convince the dog that no "answers in the back of the book" are coming. This issue is as much emotional for both as it is technical. Usually the handler/dog bond is very very tight and both enjoy the need the other has for it. The handler's biggest challenge is learning to treat their canine companion as an employee when working scent. Handlers have to get into the mindset that for the dog this is always a game, but for the handler it's serious work. We have to break the dog's dependence on us for the answer. Many times this same phenomena occurs if the handler lingers on imprinting where the dog and the handler establish a routine. The hanlder becomes insecure that the dog can not do the work without the handler helping and so this can become self-sustaining.
Micro-managing:
This occurs when the handler doesn't believe the dog performs at the level (usually speed) the handler would like the dog to work scent. This usually rears it's head mainly in blinds as the handler has no clue what the scent problem is and doesn't realize how difficult it might be to solve. Many times this occurs with decent handlers that succumb to pressure (for what ever reason...they create the pressure). Almost always this has a detrimental effect on the dog as it could have been working scent and the handler directs it out of scent. I've seen this time and time again. Heck, I suffered (still do at times) from this. The more control you have over your dog the easier it is for you to direct your dog out of scent. This is one reason I really like hard dogs that love the scent over anything else. This makes them "jim proof". This dilemma is all on the handler. The handler has to make that next step up in their dog training to TRUST THEIR DOG to be working scent and the handler becomes an area manager. The handler has to know their dog such that they can recognize when the dog is working scent versus the dog is seeking scent. The more dogs you get to watch, the more you can recognize this. So, this is one of those issues where the dog handler should take every opportunity they can to watch other people work their dogs.
A Hopped-up Porche driven by a teenager:
I don't get to see this often, but it does come up sometimes. I tend to see this when a dog is purchased pre-trained and the handler is lacking experience. Usually the dog is a wonder to watch and you feel the handler's pain. The dog team I saw this occur with I really have no worries about as the handler appears to be catching up to speed fast. The main handicap with this dog was the original owners decided it could multi-task and this might be an issue down the road in searches when the dog's various scent work training could be conflict with the justice system. It will be the handler's call whether to eliminate the multi-skills by no longer training anything but HRD.
I truly do believe that HRD training is so complex and has potentially serious ramifications with the finds that it should be all a scent work dog focuses on......truely, this is only my opinion.
Handler likes to talk:
I was trained where someone was always talking to me while I was working a blind. I had to learn that no matter what the conversation was that my eyes had to be glued on my dog. This is also why I enjoy having a flanker to save my butt from stepping into the gully or slapping my head against a branch as I am paying attention to my dog.
When working complex scent scenarios, the handler must keep their eyes on the dog to note whenever the dog's body posture demonstrates it found more or different scent. If the handler is paying more attention to what I'm blathering about while their dog is working, they will miss what their dog is doing. I, as the instructor, am playing the role of the curious fireman, the inquisitive detective, the pestering reporter, or the knowledge-hungry flanker. I have no problem with the handler that asks me to be quiet while they watch their dog. Rarely does this option occur to the handlers.
It's my opinion that a seminar should help a dog team improve known weak spots and to possibly identify other issues they need to address. Advanced dog teams come to seminars to find their weaknesses, to get familiar with other scent sources their dogs might not have had to work, to network with the community, and to, hopefully, get assistance on how to become even better.
Fortunately, for me, at 10 plus years Dax can still demonstrate that the booger problems are workable. I don't blame my students for wanting to watch my dog work. If you are a student at a seminar, you always want to see the instructor prove to you that they can work their dog at the level they expect you and your dog to work as well. I did get a real treat. Dax and I got to work a night skeletal blind and I appreciate my students for setting it up. My dogs were stuck in the truck for the bulk of the seminar as my students worked my ass off.
I got the pleasure of working with some very good dog handlers. It was a joy to get to screw with their world in the attempt to better prepare them for what real life throws at us.
Jim
I should preface the list below with the caveat that very few of the issues below are intentional. Dog handling in this type of scent work can be very intense. Sub-conscious routines can develop and handlers go to seminars and/or work blind problems to discover and eliminate behaviors that inhibit rock solid performance. All of the issues below are fixable and doing so invariably makes better handlers and better dog teams.
Working with the teams reminded me of many issues that can be seen in search dog teams:
Shopping:
Dog is self-rewarding on scent and playing its own game. You observe the dog going from source to source in a scent overlap environment without telling the hanlder of its finds. Many times dogs in this game won't start indicating on scent sources till they either believe they've found them all or find the strongest one.
This is usually corrected by committment exercises with the dog where it's trained not to leave the scent source it finds until released/rewarded by the handler.
Alerting at Scent Pool:
The dog enters a strong scent pool and begins it's indication/alert at that point rather than working to the source. This tends to be more obvious with scent sources with a high blood or fat content. This requires the handler to not accept any indication/alert until the dog is at source (or as close as is physically possible) in training. I've seen this a lot in cross-trained dogs that are primarily air scent dogs that the handler decides to add cadaver work on.
Dog requires Handler cueing:
This tends to be obvious to all but the handler as it involves a long standing relationship between the handler and his/her dog. The dog appears to work great to the handler when the handler knows where all the scent sources are, but struggles when the handler has to work the problems blind. The dog makes the find and then waits for the handler to give the proper agreed upon cue (that usually the handler doesn't realize they do). If the handler guesses right, the dog indicates at the right place. If the handler guesses wrong, the dog is wrong.
The handler fixes this by becoming patient with the dog and convince the dog that no "answers in the back of the book" are coming. This issue is as much emotional for both as it is technical. Usually the handler/dog bond is very very tight and both enjoy the need the other has for it. The handler's biggest challenge is learning to treat their canine companion as an employee when working scent. Handlers have to get into the mindset that for the dog this is always a game, but for the handler it's serious work. We have to break the dog's dependence on us for the answer. Many times this same phenomena occurs if the handler lingers on imprinting where the dog and the handler establish a routine. The hanlder becomes insecure that the dog can not do the work without the handler helping and so this can become self-sustaining.
Micro-managing:
This occurs when the handler doesn't believe the dog performs at the level (usually speed) the handler would like the dog to work scent. This usually rears it's head mainly in blinds as the handler has no clue what the scent problem is and doesn't realize how difficult it might be to solve. Many times this occurs with decent handlers that succumb to pressure (for what ever reason...they create the pressure). Almost always this has a detrimental effect on the dog as it could have been working scent and the handler directs it out of scent. I've seen this time and time again. Heck, I suffered (still do at times) from this. The more control you have over your dog the easier it is for you to direct your dog out of scent. This is one reason I really like hard dogs that love the scent over anything else. This makes them "jim proof". This dilemma is all on the handler. The handler has to make that next step up in their dog training to TRUST THEIR DOG to be working scent and the handler becomes an area manager. The handler has to know their dog such that they can recognize when the dog is working scent versus the dog is seeking scent. The more dogs you get to watch, the more you can recognize this. So, this is one of those issues where the dog handler should take every opportunity they can to watch other people work their dogs.
A Hopped-up Porche driven by a teenager:
I don't get to see this often, but it does come up sometimes. I tend to see this when a dog is purchased pre-trained and the handler is lacking experience. Usually the dog is a wonder to watch and you feel the handler's pain. The dog team I saw this occur with I really have no worries about as the handler appears to be catching up to speed fast. The main handicap with this dog was the original owners decided it could multi-task and this might be an issue down the road in searches when the dog's various scent work training could be conflict with the justice system. It will be the handler's call whether to eliminate the multi-skills by no longer training anything but HRD.
I truly do believe that HRD training is so complex and has potentially serious ramifications with the finds that it should be all a scent work dog focuses on......truely, this is only my opinion.
Handler likes to talk:
I was trained where someone was always talking to me while I was working a blind. I had to learn that no matter what the conversation was that my eyes had to be glued on my dog. This is also why I enjoy having a flanker to save my butt from stepping into the gully or slapping my head against a branch as I am paying attention to my dog.
When working complex scent scenarios, the handler must keep their eyes on the dog to note whenever the dog's body posture demonstrates it found more or different scent. If the handler is paying more attention to what I'm blathering about while their dog is working, they will miss what their dog is doing. I, as the instructor, am playing the role of the curious fireman, the inquisitive detective, the pestering reporter, or the knowledge-hungry flanker. I have no problem with the handler that asks me to be quiet while they watch their dog. Rarely does this option occur to the handlers.
It's my opinion that a seminar should help a dog team improve known weak spots and to possibly identify other issues they need to address. Advanced dog teams come to seminars to find their weaknesses, to get familiar with other scent sources their dogs might not have had to work, to network with the community, and to, hopefully, get assistance on how to become even better.
Fortunately, for me, at 10 plus years Dax can still demonstrate that the booger problems are workable. I don't blame my students for wanting to watch my dog work. If you are a student at a seminar, you always want to see the instructor prove to you that they can work their dog at the level they expect you and your dog to work as well. I did get a real treat. Dax and I got to work a night skeletal blind and I appreciate my students for setting it up. My dogs were stuck in the truck for the bulk of the seminar as my students worked my ass off.
I got the pleasure of working with some very good dog handlers. It was a joy to get to screw with their world in the attempt to better prepare them for what real life throws at us.
Jim