Post by oksaradt on Jun 21, 2008 15:23:56 GMT -5
An interesting day for young Murphy, some 9 months and 5 days old. The local team I belong to is being courted by another team to merge, so we're wasting a lot of good training time discussing how we'll accept them into our group....I hate politics of any kind.
Anyway, even though we got an 0700 start, I didn't get to put out the wet remains for the area search teams and the over 1 year old cadaver dogs till nearly 0800. Today was very humid, absolutely no wind, and promised to be a warm day. Temperature was 81'F, Sunny, 75% RH, Calm(at 0800) From time to time I picked up convection air currents on my face from the west when I was down in the woods.
I placed a large wet source next to a small pond on a rise in 1 foot tall grass out in a 20 acre wooded field with 2 inch to 24 inch grass. The intent was to let the blood diffuse out onto the water of that pond and another to the south approximately 110 feet. Let's see, the source was a cavity wipe with fresh blood, adipose tissue on a guaze wipe, and a part of a hip bone with the marrow still with blood. It took up about 1 ft square in area.
The area search dog team asked for a 10-acre problem, so I gave them boundaries accordingly that put the source in the middle of the area. The dog handler is very experienced, so I didn't ask what his search strategy was and followed along. After his initial plan didn't produce anything, then we discussed possible search strategies. I recommended (with no wind) that with such an area known to contain recently dead that he should consider a perimeter search first to see if his dog picks up scent and to scope out his area as to how he'll grid search it if he comes up empty. As was his choice, he did otherwise. His dog picked up scent in cedars downhill from the pond in the shade and lost scent when it went into sun. I simply reminded him to remember that in the cadaver scent world that shade is his friend. He chose to ignore me...which is fine...I had no where to be and nowhere to go. I was in the woods, enjoying nature, good conversation, life is good. He gave me rude gesture. I laughed. To his credit, his gridded throughout his area and his dog got into the pond and made the find. The dog had to show him three times even though the handler stood less than three feet from the sources. This took them about 23 minutes.
We discussed how to improve and moved on. I left the sources out there for the cadaver dog teams to work.
I'd set out a 150 sq foot flagged area for someone to set out 0-2 skeletal/dental for Murphy. It was 300 feet southwest of the pond where the fresh remains were. In Oklahoma we tend to get south winds this time of year except for when fronts come through.
We went out and ran a GSD on a road blind skeletal. The dog I discussed in the "milk for free" post. The handler has cut out the table scraps and now starts a search by showing the dog the treats and then says, "go to work." The dog did very well, nice improvment.
So, it's now Murphy's turn to work this field blind. We're still working on his directionals, but he's doing well enough that I felt we could deal with this area. Murphy starts to work it and suddenly his head goes up in what I've learned to recognize as that "oooo, I smell something very good." and starts running to the NE. I called back. He looked back and gave me the finger. At this point I realize I'm in a precarious place, so I run after him no longer correcting. He didn't follow our tracks, but followed scent. We went through cedars, ran through the first pond, and came up the ridge right to the source, checked it with obvious excitement, touched it once, then yipped at me. .....Hell, I rewarded his butt. He'd done in 1 minute 40 seconds what it took another dog team 23 minutes to work out.
The Good: I think he has the idea. Other than the initial testing, he had the previous self-initiated finds to the fresh remains twice. He's obsessed with the scent.
The Bad: He left our area we were assigned to search to go work someone else's area. In the SAR world this is considered unprofessional as you basically leave your own area uncovered/unsearched to invade someone else's search. In evidence collection (which (face it) is what my dogs and I really do) complete search coverage is compromised.
We did go back and he had to work the 150 ft by 150 ft blind. We did find the teeth and the skeletal and he did do a nice grid search off my walking step.
The Ugly: I wanted him to go ahead and do the road problem the GSD had worked. He was hot. I'd watered him. The fibula was in the sun. He went right to it, ran his nose along it, and went into the shade as we were now in the upper 80s. Obviously, I have some endurence building to do with him. I did force the issue and he did indicate on it before we left as I won't let a dog leave a source without finishing.
Now, I'm sharing this because Murphy is moving into a precarious time in his development. Some label it 8-12 month teenage flakiness. I tend to look for it at 10 months on and call it "brain fart." The handler has to realize these times are coming and respond accordingly. The wrong thing to do is to buckle-down on the dog. Many handlers just decide their dog is broken and start looking for another dog. I've always simply gone back to foundation work and rode it out. Each dog works through it at their own pace. I looked back an my logs. Dax was doing area search and suddenly we had to step back in training at 10 months. Tempe's episode was at 11 months along with her last fear period. The key is not to over-react. If the handler just rides it out, it's been my experience that the dog comes out of it onto the next level of skills. Get out the e-collar, the choke chain, get harsh, etc. and the dog can be stunted for a much longer time if not ruined. This is a time for the handler to hold his/her breath and just pace.
I hope all enjoy the longest day of the year doing something fun,
Jim
Anyway, even though we got an 0700 start, I didn't get to put out the wet remains for the area search teams and the over 1 year old cadaver dogs till nearly 0800. Today was very humid, absolutely no wind, and promised to be a warm day. Temperature was 81'F, Sunny, 75% RH, Calm(at 0800) From time to time I picked up convection air currents on my face from the west when I was down in the woods.
I placed a large wet source next to a small pond on a rise in 1 foot tall grass out in a 20 acre wooded field with 2 inch to 24 inch grass. The intent was to let the blood diffuse out onto the water of that pond and another to the south approximately 110 feet. Let's see, the source was a cavity wipe with fresh blood, adipose tissue on a guaze wipe, and a part of a hip bone with the marrow still with blood. It took up about 1 ft square in area.
The area search dog team asked for a 10-acre problem, so I gave them boundaries accordingly that put the source in the middle of the area. The dog handler is very experienced, so I didn't ask what his search strategy was and followed along. After his initial plan didn't produce anything, then we discussed possible search strategies. I recommended (with no wind) that with such an area known to contain recently dead that he should consider a perimeter search first to see if his dog picks up scent and to scope out his area as to how he'll grid search it if he comes up empty. As was his choice, he did otherwise. His dog picked up scent in cedars downhill from the pond in the shade and lost scent when it went into sun. I simply reminded him to remember that in the cadaver scent world that shade is his friend. He chose to ignore me...which is fine...I had no where to be and nowhere to go. I was in the woods, enjoying nature, good conversation, life is good. He gave me rude gesture. I laughed. To his credit, his gridded throughout his area and his dog got into the pond and made the find. The dog had to show him three times even though the handler stood less than three feet from the sources. This took them about 23 minutes.
We discussed how to improve and moved on. I left the sources out there for the cadaver dog teams to work.
I'd set out a 150 sq foot flagged area for someone to set out 0-2 skeletal/dental for Murphy. It was 300 feet southwest of the pond where the fresh remains were. In Oklahoma we tend to get south winds this time of year except for when fronts come through.
We went out and ran a GSD on a road blind skeletal. The dog I discussed in the "milk for free" post. The handler has cut out the table scraps and now starts a search by showing the dog the treats and then says, "go to work." The dog did very well, nice improvment.
So, it's now Murphy's turn to work this field blind. We're still working on his directionals, but he's doing well enough that I felt we could deal with this area. Murphy starts to work it and suddenly his head goes up in what I've learned to recognize as that "oooo, I smell something very good." and starts running to the NE. I called back. He looked back and gave me the finger. At this point I realize I'm in a precarious place, so I run after him no longer correcting. He didn't follow our tracks, but followed scent. We went through cedars, ran through the first pond, and came up the ridge right to the source, checked it with obvious excitement, touched it once, then yipped at me. .....Hell, I rewarded his butt. He'd done in 1 minute 40 seconds what it took another dog team 23 minutes to work out.
The Good: I think he has the idea. Other than the initial testing, he had the previous self-initiated finds to the fresh remains twice. He's obsessed with the scent.
The Bad: He left our area we were assigned to search to go work someone else's area. In the SAR world this is considered unprofessional as you basically leave your own area uncovered/unsearched to invade someone else's search. In evidence collection (which (face it) is what my dogs and I really do) complete search coverage is compromised.
We did go back and he had to work the 150 ft by 150 ft blind. We did find the teeth and the skeletal and he did do a nice grid search off my walking step.
The Ugly: I wanted him to go ahead and do the road problem the GSD had worked. He was hot. I'd watered him. The fibula was in the sun. He went right to it, ran his nose along it, and went into the shade as we were now in the upper 80s. Obviously, I have some endurence building to do with him. I did force the issue and he did indicate on it before we left as I won't let a dog leave a source without finishing.
Now, I'm sharing this because Murphy is moving into a precarious time in his development. Some label it 8-12 month teenage flakiness. I tend to look for it at 10 months on and call it "brain fart." The handler has to realize these times are coming and respond accordingly. The wrong thing to do is to buckle-down on the dog. Many handlers just decide their dog is broken and start looking for another dog. I've always simply gone back to foundation work and rode it out. Each dog works through it at their own pace. I looked back an my logs. Dax was doing area search and suddenly we had to step back in training at 10 months. Tempe's episode was at 11 months along with her last fear period. The key is not to over-react. If the handler just rides it out, it's been my experience that the dog comes out of it onto the next level of skills. Get out the e-collar, the choke chain, get harsh, etc. and the dog can be stunted for a much longer time if not ruined. This is a time for the handler to hold his/her breath and just pace.
I hope all enjoy the longest day of the year doing something fun,
Jim