Post by oksaradt on Oct 3, 2008 9:47:50 GMT -5
A self-proclaimed expert in the search dog world tried to zing me recently because I won't deploy a dog like Murphy until his head is right, i.e. mature and that this can take up to 2 years. I believe her remark was, "Two YEARS! The dog should be a brain surgeon by then!"
I didn't reply, but in a way I agreed with her.
When I got my bachelors and entered graduate school, my graduate advisor smiled and said, "NOW, you are ready to learn!" When I got my sandan (1st degre black belt), the sensei stated, "NOW, you are ready to learn!" When I went to work at a corporation armed with my degrees, my employer stated, "NOW, you are ready to learn THE RIGHT WAY." (yea yea, employers tend to have tunnel vision, but this is how most corporations think. They want a young engineer fresh off the college turnip truck so they can mold him/her into their style of engineer.)
See, a pattern forming?
For the past year, Murphy has been systematically building a tool set of the basics. So, he can find buried teeth up to 22 inches plus deep.....yea, big deal. To instill target precision, those were all placed in situations where I had control of the situaiton with flags placed at outer borders such that I'd know if he had to be told to get closer. Now the gloves come off. Murphy's problems today included a bone placed in a gopher mound amongst 8 other gopher mounds nearby and a vertebra buried 4 inches deep with 2 inches of leaf mulch over that as was natural in the area and all this was under a cedar tree. For those considering doing this to their dogs, do not go into this the first time with the "test mode" in your head going. We SHOULD train first and test after. Many dog handlers going through a continuous cycle of "my dog is broke" to "my dog is super!" faster than some bi-polar personalities.
Murphy passed up the gopher mound the first time and this was my fault as he found blood poured into the soil a week ago and his head switched search gears. I don't fault him in the least. We simply moved on to other areas and came back in from a different direction while I slapped myself repeatedly on the back of the head, muttering, "STOOPID HANDLER!" On his way back through, he caught scent and checked the ground, the scent pulled him to THE gopher mound as I'd muttered quietly on each mound, "no critter." Gotta be consistent. Murphy blew me off and told me there was a human bone in this one. I challenged him with, "you sure?!!!" He put his nose back to the mound, looked at me defiantly and barked. (I was so proud, my boy has realized that his human is a scent moron.)
The second buried was intended to be a booger. Cedars hold scent down. Mulch diffuses scent in all directions once the scent is released from the soil and goes into the mulch bed. My job was to keep Murphy to within a 40 feet radius of the buried and let him struggle to work it out. Murphy barked 3 feet away from the source. I asked for closer. He went back to work, so I guess he didn't have it, aye? He got to a foot away and indicated. "Closer, Murph!" He gave me a look of exasperation. He went back to work and nailed it. I rewarded. He brought the ball back to me. I asked him, "Show me?" (I know this is almost as tough as the first find when I ask it on a problem like this.) He got to close to it, brushed some mulch aside, put his nose down, and nailed it again. I rewarded a 2nd time, thus reinforcing the find.
So, yea, I expect my dogs to become scent brain surgeons to locate that bone in a large area after a laborious evidence search.
Would it be prudent for the dog team training a dog on 4 inch buried to replicate this problem in their first progression? I think they'll end up confusing the dog and (most likely) themselves.
Notes:
(1) Bones had been in placed 13 hours. My scent was all over area as I'd walked all over the area the night before and again before I worked Murphy. So, no, the dog didn't track me to the sources.
(2) Dog was worked early in the morning to take advantage of warm soil temperature (versus air temperature) and dew as well as avoiding direct sunlight over scent sources which would have made them more difficult.
(3) While I believe we should always prepare our dogs before throwing tests at them in OUR training programs, I believe the honest certifications are those performed before a training seminar is held. Otherwise, I believe the dog team becomes comfortable with the new area, the sources of the hosts, and the sort of problems the hosts like to set up such that a certification after a seminar basically proves the dog team paid attention.
Hope this helps,
Jim
I didn't reply, but in a way I agreed with her.
When I got my bachelors and entered graduate school, my graduate advisor smiled and said, "NOW, you are ready to learn!" When I got my sandan (1st degre black belt), the sensei stated, "NOW, you are ready to learn!" When I went to work at a corporation armed with my degrees, my employer stated, "NOW, you are ready to learn THE RIGHT WAY." (yea yea, employers tend to have tunnel vision, but this is how most corporations think. They want a young engineer fresh off the college turnip truck so they can mold him/her into their style of engineer.)
See, a pattern forming?
For the past year, Murphy has been systematically building a tool set of the basics. So, he can find buried teeth up to 22 inches plus deep.....yea, big deal. To instill target precision, those were all placed in situations where I had control of the situaiton with flags placed at outer borders such that I'd know if he had to be told to get closer. Now the gloves come off. Murphy's problems today included a bone placed in a gopher mound amongst 8 other gopher mounds nearby and a vertebra buried 4 inches deep with 2 inches of leaf mulch over that as was natural in the area and all this was under a cedar tree. For those considering doing this to their dogs, do not go into this the first time with the "test mode" in your head going. We SHOULD train first and test after. Many dog handlers going through a continuous cycle of "my dog is broke" to "my dog is super!" faster than some bi-polar personalities.
Murphy passed up the gopher mound the first time and this was my fault as he found blood poured into the soil a week ago and his head switched search gears. I don't fault him in the least. We simply moved on to other areas and came back in from a different direction while I slapped myself repeatedly on the back of the head, muttering, "STOOPID HANDLER!" On his way back through, he caught scent and checked the ground, the scent pulled him to THE gopher mound as I'd muttered quietly on each mound, "no critter." Gotta be consistent. Murphy blew me off and told me there was a human bone in this one. I challenged him with, "you sure?!!!" He put his nose back to the mound, looked at me defiantly and barked. (I was so proud, my boy has realized that his human is a scent moron.)
The second buried was intended to be a booger. Cedars hold scent down. Mulch diffuses scent in all directions once the scent is released from the soil and goes into the mulch bed. My job was to keep Murphy to within a 40 feet radius of the buried and let him struggle to work it out. Murphy barked 3 feet away from the source. I asked for closer. He went back to work, so I guess he didn't have it, aye? He got to a foot away and indicated. "Closer, Murph!" He gave me a look of exasperation. He went back to work and nailed it. I rewarded. He brought the ball back to me. I asked him, "Show me?" (I know this is almost as tough as the first find when I ask it on a problem like this.) He got to close to it, brushed some mulch aside, put his nose down, and nailed it again. I rewarded a 2nd time, thus reinforcing the find.
So, yea, I expect my dogs to become scent brain surgeons to locate that bone in a large area after a laborious evidence search.
Would it be prudent for the dog team training a dog on 4 inch buried to replicate this problem in their first progression? I think they'll end up confusing the dog and (most likely) themselves.
Notes:
(1) Bones had been in placed 13 hours. My scent was all over area as I'd walked all over the area the night before and again before I worked Murphy. So, no, the dog didn't track me to the sources.
(2) Dog was worked early in the morning to take advantage of warm soil temperature (versus air temperature) and dew as well as avoiding direct sunlight over scent sources which would have made them more difficult.
(3) While I believe we should always prepare our dogs before throwing tests at them in OUR training programs, I believe the honest certifications are those performed before a training seminar is held. Otherwise, I believe the dog team becomes comfortable with the new area, the sources of the hosts, and the sort of problems the hosts like to set up such that a certification after a seminar basically proves the dog team paid attention.
Hope this helps,
Jim