Post by oksaradt on Apr 30, 2008 16:50:54 GMT -5
Going away for 17 days gives an opportunity that most HRD dog trainers just don't apply. It gives a chance to present a more realistic search scenario to your dog. There is no reason not to set up aged problems for your dogs, but most of us just don't have the patience for it. I have to do it with buried to allow for diffusion and don't have to worry about critters taking off with the buried remains. Before leaving, I set up five transitional problems, i.e. semi-buried in heavy mulch/leaves/debris.
Many novice trainers always make accusations that the dogs key off the human scent of whomever planted the sources. My attitude on this is to put my scent everywhere and it's no longer becomes an issue. With the time delay, again this becomes a non-issue.
Spring: I personally prefer to start a puppy in late fall/winter if possible because the scent distractions are drastically minimized. Decomposition of anything slows down. Micro-enviroments are minimized. Scent problems tend to be more straight forward to build the puppy's foundation on. Of course, this is not always a choice and you work with what you have.
So, in those weeks I was gone, the just-budding plants that were all around my sources are now fully-leafed out underbrush. So, why is this an issue?
Micro-environments are thermal variations that are caused due variations in shade, wind currents, moisture, etc. Does the dog sit down and say, "hmmmm, new underbrush will cause a temperature drop minimizing scent diffusion due to warmer air outside expanding in?" Of course not. Does the dog have to deal with repurcussions and develop new hunting skills to target the scent sources? You betcha.
So, having had months of cold temperatures and no leaves to train around, Murphy got to focus on minimized variations in diffusion. Suddenly, I throw 18 days of diffusion with 3 inches of rain with new scent traps and voids creating by nature. Being Oklahoma, he had to deal with our typical 28-33 mph winds in pursuit of scent. Variations of sun/shade also caused some scent to chimney up trees with sun on the bark and to drop in the shade.
Murphy exhibited several looks my way that I like to term as the "You S.O.B.!!" look which tends to give me warm fuzzies as he continues to work out the scent problem. This is part of problem solving at its finest. Where was I while he was working out these problems, no closer than 20 feet at any time till he made the finds.
I time these problems to get a sense of how hard the dog is having to work as handlers often experience time distortion when working their dogs. What can seem like hours is usually minutes when you are focused on your dog's every behavior. This also gives me a way to compare experience levels. On the three skeletal problems that both Dax and Murphy worked, Dax did the same finds in half the time. Murphy definitely worked harder. Dax has been doing this for over 10 years in all sorts of conditions. My attitude was Murphy only took twice as long as Dax, not too shabby.
Now, in real world, skattered skeletal remains are often where they lie for months or down in the mulch for years. So 18 days still isn't real life. Setting out bones and working them an hour later is an easier problem as the diffusion doesn't have time to spread as far out for the dog to work through.
Jim
Many novice trainers always make accusations that the dogs key off the human scent of whomever planted the sources. My attitude on this is to put my scent everywhere and it's no longer becomes an issue. With the time delay, again this becomes a non-issue.
Spring: I personally prefer to start a puppy in late fall/winter if possible because the scent distractions are drastically minimized. Decomposition of anything slows down. Micro-enviroments are minimized. Scent problems tend to be more straight forward to build the puppy's foundation on. Of course, this is not always a choice and you work with what you have.
So, in those weeks I was gone, the just-budding plants that were all around my sources are now fully-leafed out underbrush. So, why is this an issue?
Micro-environments are thermal variations that are caused due variations in shade, wind currents, moisture, etc. Does the dog sit down and say, "hmmmm, new underbrush will cause a temperature drop minimizing scent diffusion due to warmer air outside expanding in?" Of course not. Does the dog have to deal with repurcussions and develop new hunting skills to target the scent sources? You betcha.
So, having had months of cold temperatures and no leaves to train around, Murphy got to focus on minimized variations in diffusion. Suddenly, I throw 18 days of diffusion with 3 inches of rain with new scent traps and voids creating by nature. Being Oklahoma, he had to deal with our typical 28-33 mph winds in pursuit of scent. Variations of sun/shade also caused some scent to chimney up trees with sun on the bark and to drop in the shade.
Murphy exhibited several looks my way that I like to term as the "You S.O.B.!!" look which tends to give me warm fuzzies as he continues to work out the scent problem. This is part of problem solving at its finest. Where was I while he was working out these problems, no closer than 20 feet at any time till he made the finds.
I time these problems to get a sense of how hard the dog is having to work as handlers often experience time distortion when working their dogs. What can seem like hours is usually minutes when you are focused on your dog's every behavior. This also gives me a way to compare experience levels. On the three skeletal problems that both Dax and Murphy worked, Dax did the same finds in half the time. Murphy definitely worked harder. Dax has been doing this for over 10 years in all sorts of conditions. My attitude was Murphy only took twice as long as Dax, not too shabby.
Now, in real world, skattered skeletal remains are often where they lie for months or down in the mulch for years. So 18 days still isn't real life. Setting out bones and working them an hour later is an easier problem as the diffusion doesn't have time to spread as far out for the dog to work through.
Jim