Post by oksaradt on May 20, 2008 10:27:57 GMT -5
Sooner or later, HRD dog handlers have to teach their dogs "highs" or elevated sources. Many organizations test/certify to six feet up (no higher). This tends to be unrealistic and has the effect that the handlers stop at this height with the attitude of "well, I've passed the test....."
Real life searches for human remains don't include highs that often, but when they do it can be at any height. Causes of highs tend to be centrifigul and/or kinetic forces, explosions, suicides, intentional placement, and nature (with nature including all the elements and critters). If the elements has you wondering, this can be tornadoes, floods movig remains from taller heights down into trees below, etc. Mother Nature has a way of being the ultimate evaluator.
Many times the structure the high is on helps conduct the scent down and the handler can use this to teach the concept of the high to the dog. Why this is such a big deal is that we want to continue to keep the dog's nose focused on the ground to seek scent when ever possible. Those handlers that come from an area search background work this just the opposite and the dog oftens picks up the high quicker than the cadaver dog, but the area search dog often times fails to be able to target unless it also has a trailing background because ultimately to target the dog has to get under the source rather than downwind.
To convey to my dogs the concept of a high, I train in baby steps just like buried by placing sources slightly off the ground (say 4 inches), then double the height each time after 10 consective successful finds. I try to vary the structure the high is on as often as possible to increase the experience level of the dog. This means I'll place highs on trees, rocks, debris piles, buildings of all kinds, playground equipment (the new plastic stuff is great for teaching highs, problem solving, and practical agility).
What I want to see from the dog in training as we progress up is the dog picks up scent off the ground, follows the scent to the structure, and the nose pulls the dog's head up towards the source. In this way it's fairly self-evident to all watching your dog work that the scent is up.
I prefer to avoid containers as often as I can in highs as (from experience) I know this creates a dog that decides it has a high and then begins looking for the container. While this means you have indeed a smart dog, but it can also burn you on locating the remains.
Once the highs reach over five feet or so, the dog's nose should no longer be able to reach the source. This is where highs can take on the same relationship as burieds. Once the dog has followed the scent to its strongest point of origin, the dog has to decide if that is where to target. This is where I slow down my training expectation of 10 consecutive highs and will be looking more for 10 consecutive highs per structure type. Why is this such a big deal?
Highs can teach a handler a lot about scent diffusion and scent travel. For example, when sun light hits most tree barks a thermal is created that causes air to flow upwards along the bark. A common name for this is the "chimney effect". It's not uncommon for a hander to think their dog is "broken" when they know the dog has worked similar highs many times, but the dog acts like there is no scent there. A cloud comes along or the sun moves causing shade to hit the tree and suddenly the dog is "all better." A lot of times when I set up problems for advanced cadaver dog handlers I pay very close attention to what the sun is doing when I set the problem up and what I anticipate it will be doing when they work the problem. If the handler can read their dog is in scent, but can't target, then a great learning opportunity presents itself.
The final goal of working highs is to work (what I call) "a high with no scent leader". This means there is no structure to assist the dog in targeting the high. There is no structure for the scent to flow down against. Situations like this can arise from hanging suicides where they were really determined not to be found, construction work with scaffolding overhead, a body in the attic where the scent is coming down a light fixture, .....you get the point. These are real life situations and it's up to you to teach the dog how to handle them. Once the dog has highs against structures over six feet (and I'll consider my highs good at about 20 feet up), then the problem is altered to find overhanging branches at 4-5 feet with no nearby tree. The dog finds scent on the ground, should circle till it finds the strongest scent stream falling down, and then traces it up to the source. Once the dog gets the concept, I'll again begin raising the source height. When doing this, the wind direction and speed needs to be taken into account to decide where the most realistic target is.
When I set up "highs with no scent leaders" for students, I try to minimize environmental factors to give them and their dogs the opportunity to be right under the source.
Ok, so much for all you wanted to know about highs 101. And, yea, I do all this with teeth and bone till Murphy hits 1 years old.
The Ephiphany:
As an instructor, my biggest reward is to be part of the epiphany when the student suddenly "gets it." With people it can be very subdued. With dogs, having an epiphany is always very cool to participate in.
Two weeks ago I was the only HRD dog handler at a search training. I set up some fresh remains for the cross-dog area search teams. For Muphy, I threw bones in four directions. Two landed in trees about five feet up or so. As we'd been working up highs, I decided to let them lie where they were and see what he did. It was windy morning and one tree was more a sapling out by itself in the wind, but it was very heavily leafed out. The bone was no where to be seen.
Murphy got to work this about 30 minutes later during a lull between going into the field. Murphy was searching through all the thick underbrush, nose down. He got about 6 feet downwind and suddenly turns hard, his nose rising up towards the tree. He heads toward the tree and checks the side in the sun, no scent, he moves on. He circles back around and again gets scent downwind and gives me this look of "what have you come up with now?" He follows the scent as much as he can before it is too high for him to reach. He then puts his nose down and searches around the tree until he hits the shady side and experiences his epiphany. His eyes widen, he looks at me in excitement, he races out to the down wind spot, confirms scent, races back and checks the sunny side then the shady side. He works up the tree to as close as he can get. Only then does he give me the excited yip that he now does when working HRD as his indication. I ask him to "show me". He places a paw on the trunk. I rewarded. It was very cool.
With any good story of my dogs, I prefer to present both sides. Murphy loves cat poo. He considers it the same as I do when I come across wild blackberries in the woods. Murphy knows I get ticked when he decides to "self reward". As one area I train in is rich in feral feline poo, it is always a contest for him to see if he can snag at least one without me interceding. Murphy is learning how accurate I can be with a ring of keys. I could avoid the area, but I have to keep the mindset that in the future on a real search for L.E., there is always the chance there will be feline "berries" in the area. I have to be able to read my dog as to how he reacts to the distractions as well as to what I want him to find. So, eventually I hope to create an "aversion" with Murphy to cat poo to where when he smells it, he'll first look at me and then move around it. Once I've achieved that, then I'll have to hide sources very close to the cat poo such that he'll find the sources and leave the cat poo. Why go to these exremes? People die, animals eat dead people, said animals often poop teeth and bones from said people, .....my dogs have to find said human remains in the poop without snarfing the poop....just one of the joys of this specialty. ...*grin*
Regards,
Jim
Real life searches for human remains don't include highs that often, but when they do it can be at any height. Causes of highs tend to be centrifigul and/or kinetic forces, explosions, suicides, intentional placement, and nature (with nature including all the elements and critters). If the elements has you wondering, this can be tornadoes, floods movig remains from taller heights down into trees below, etc. Mother Nature has a way of being the ultimate evaluator.
Many times the structure the high is on helps conduct the scent down and the handler can use this to teach the concept of the high to the dog. Why this is such a big deal is that we want to continue to keep the dog's nose focused on the ground to seek scent when ever possible. Those handlers that come from an area search background work this just the opposite and the dog oftens picks up the high quicker than the cadaver dog, but the area search dog often times fails to be able to target unless it also has a trailing background because ultimately to target the dog has to get under the source rather than downwind.
To convey to my dogs the concept of a high, I train in baby steps just like buried by placing sources slightly off the ground (say 4 inches), then double the height each time after 10 consective successful finds. I try to vary the structure the high is on as often as possible to increase the experience level of the dog. This means I'll place highs on trees, rocks, debris piles, buildings of all kinds, playground equipment (the new plastic stuff is great for teaching highs, problem solving, and practical agility).
What I want to see from the dog in training as we progress up is the dog picks up scent off the ground, follows the scent to the structure, and the nose pulls the dog's head up towards the source. In this way it's fairly self-evident to all watching your dog work that the scent is up.
I prefer to avoid containers as often as I can in highs as (from experience) I know this creates a dog that decides it has a high and then begins looking for the container. While this means you have indeed a smart dog, but it can also burn you on locating the remains.
Once the highs reach over five feet or so, the dog's nose should no longer be able to reach the source. This is where highs can take on the same relationship as burieds. Once the dog has followed the scent to its strongest point of origin, the dog has to decide if that is where to target. This is where I slow down my training expectation of 10 consecutive highs and will be looking more for 10 consecutive highs per structure type. Why is this such a big deal?
Highs can teach a handler a lot about scent diffusion and scent travel. For example, when sun light hits most tree barks a thermal is created that causes air to flow upwards along the bark. A common name for this is the "chimney effect". It's not uncommon for a hander to think their dog is "broken" when they know the dog has worked similar highs many times, but the dog acts like there is no scent there. A cloud comes along or the sun moves causing shade to hit the tree and suddenly the dog is "all better." A lot of times when I set up problems for advanced cadaver dog handlers I pay very close attention to what the sun is doing when I set the problem up and what I anticipate it will be doing when they work the problem. If the handler can read their dog is in scent, but can't target, then a great learning opportunity presents itself.
The final goal of working highs is to work (what I call) "a high with no scent leader". This means there is no structure to assist the dog in targeting the high. There is no structure for the scent to flow down against. Situations like this can arise from hanging suicides where they were really determined not to be found, construction work with scaffolding overhead, a body in the attic where the scent is coming down a light fixture, .....you get the point. These are real life situations and it's up to you to teach the dog how to handle them. Once the dog has highs against structures over six feet (and I'll consider my highs good at about 20 feet up), then the problem is altered to find overhanging branches at 4-5 feet with no nearby tree. The dog finds scent on the ground, should circle till it finds the strongest scent stream falling down, and then traces it up to the source. Once the dog gets the concept, I'll again begin raising the source height. When doing this, the wind direction and speed needs to be taken into account to decide where the most realistic target is.
When I set up "highs with no scent leaders" for students, I try to minimize environmental factors to give them and their dogs the opportunity to be right under the source.
Ok, so much for all you wanted to know about highs 101. And, yea, I do all this with teeth and bone till Murphy hits 1 years old.
The Ephiphany:
As an instructor, my biggest reward is to be part of the epiphany when the student suddenly "gets it." With people it can be very subdued. With dogs, having an epiphany is always very cool to participate in.
Two weeks ago I was the only HRD dog handler at a search training. I set up some fresh remains for the cross-dog area search teams. For Muphy, I threw bones in four directions. Two landed in trees about five feet up or so. As we'd been working up highs, I decided to let them lie where they were and see what he did. It was windy morning and one tree was more a sapling out by itself in the wind, but it was very heavily leafed out. The bone was no where to be seen.
Murphy got to work this about 30 minutes later during a lull between going into the field. Murphy was searching through all the thick underbrush, nose down. He got about 6 feet downwind and suddenly turns hard, his nose rising up towards the tree. He heads toward the tree and checks the side in the sun, no scent, he moves on. He circles back around and again gets scent downwind and gives me this look of "what have you come up with now?" He follows the scent as much as he can before it is too high for him to reach. He then puts his nose down and searches around the tree until he hits the shady side and experiences his epiphany. His eyes widen, he looks at me in excitement, he races out to the down wind spot, confirms scent, races back and checks the sunny side then the shady side. He works up the tree to as close as he can get. Only then does he give me the excited yip that he now does when working HRD as his indication. I ask him to "show me". He places a paw on the trunk. I rewarded. It was very cool.
With any good story of my dogs, I prefer to present both sides. Murphy loves cat poo. He considers it the same as I do when I come across wild blackberries in the woods. Murphy knows I get ticked when he decides to "self reward". As one area I train in is rich in feral feline poo, it is always a contest for him to see if he can snag at least one without me interceding. Murphy is learning how accurate I can be with a ring of keys. I could avoid the area, but I have to keep the mindset that in the future on a real search for L.E., there is always the chance there will be feline "berries" in the area. I have to be able to read my dog as to how he reacts to the distractions as well as to what I want him to find. So, eventually I hope to create an "aversion" with Murphy to cat poo to where when he smells it, he'll first look at me and then move around it. Once I've achieved that, then I'll have to hide sources very close to the cat poo such that he'll find the sources and leave the cat poo. Why go to these exremes? People die, animals eat dead people, said animals often poop teeth and bones from said people, .....my dogs have to find said human remains in the poop without snarfing the poop....just one of the joys of this specialty. ...*grin*
Regards,
Jim