Post by oksaradt on Apr 6, 2009 17:27:41 GMT -5
Most of the experienced handlers I've had the benefit of comparing notes with all (as I) detest the phrase, "My dog had interest." We don't like it because it's not definitive. Some handlers use it as an excuse when their dog exhibited scent behavior towards a location, but didn't commit to either it was human remains or it wasn't. I decided to wade into this debacle because there seems to be a sufficient number of dog teams out there that dabble in human remains without having a trained alert or indication. These terms flip back and forth depending on whether you are in one part of the country or another, so I used them at the same time.
For me, an alert/indication is a trained behavior response triggered by my desired stimulus, i.e. the presence of human remains. Murphy's natural indication is a touch. When he's located scent, he invariably will touch a paw to the location he has decided the source is at. As I can't see this touch if he's head-deep in poison ivy, I've also got a trained indication, the bark. If Murphy can see me, this often comes out like a chuf. If he can't see me, this comes out as a full bark. He's consistently unique, so I accept it as it is. The key is CONSISTENT. Once I get closer, I can ask for a "touch" or a "show me" and he'll do the touch again. If I think he's unsure, I might ask for a "check", and he'll put his nose around to make sure then repeat the touch in his location of choice, his judgement as to where the strongest scent is(in the case of buried).
NOTE: If you ask your dog to check on a real search then you better do it in training. You better do it in training when you know he's right, when you know he's wrong, and when you just don't know. You don't always ask for it, but asking the dog to check can not be allowed to become a cue in itself to alert or to leave a source...... oh, and please, don't nag your dog by constantly going, "check check check" as you cover an area. If the dog doesn't know it's job, it shouldn't be there. Nagging isn't going to help. END OF NOTE.
This trained response can be read by all. Once an officer knows what my dog does, it's as readily apparent to the officer as it is to me. If any officer goes on more than one search with me and my dogs, they know what a find looks like as it is always the same. I take it as the highest form of compliment if an officer gets excited and tells me that my dog just made a find like I didn't know it myself.
So, what's the deal with Interest, Jim?
There appears to be a lot of handlers under the misconception that they can get away with simply reading their dog's scent behavior, i.e. the dog smells somthing, this scent draws its attention into it....it must be HRs! Must it?
While the perfect dog will totally ignore the dead critter, the McDonalds hamburger, the deer bone, etc., on the long searches, they (like most of us) are happy to come upon anything unusual. If my dog exhibits interest, yea, I'll watch him to see what happens, but if he checks it and moves on then I must have confidence in the countless training sessions we've done to convince him to produce a trained indication on HRs and to move on for anything else.
Too many handlers watch their dog on a search exhibit interest and their response is "whatcha got? whatcha got boy?!" Their vocal tone goes up and the dog suddenly wonders, "is this what he wants me to find?" It's been hours, I'll make him happy and agree with him.
But, the worst case is where the handler is under the egotistical belief that they can tell the difference in their dog's posture if its human remains or if it's not. They make the call simply off the dog's body language. They don't bother with backchaining in an indication/alert with a scent stimulus; Thus, the dog may have made a valid find, but without any consistent communciation tool to let the handler know they often just move on. So, we hear later, "yeaaaa, my dog had interest in that spot. Guess it just wasn't to be." I'm more concerned with the HRs that never get found because the authorities believe in full honesty that they ran "cadaver dogs" through the area and they didn't find anything, so it must be clear.
The solution is again the handlers have to subject themselves to routine blinds to build confidence in their dog's abilities to make the right call when it comes across the acceptable scent stimulus. The handler has to build that solid alert/indication that the dog performs without thinking once all the tumblers in its head come up "DEAD HUMAN! I WON THE LOTTERY!" The dog should know it's going to get rewarded and be bouncing up and down with excitement, "pay me! pay me! pay me right now!"
Now on a real search, we often have to pay the dog with a "good dog, keep searching" as we flag it and move on. We'll move the dog in from another direction and see what happens. We'll call another dog in and tell the handler, could you run over this area? You don't tell the other handler that you have a find as you want them to work the area objectively. You want to see if their dog comes up Jackpot. And, you only trust their dog because YOU KNOW it has a solid alert/indication as well that everyone can read.
So, if a handler tells me their dog had interest in a spot, I'll often ask them, "So, was it human remains or not?" If they can't tell me, then they didn't do their job to it's fullest extent. They didn't fully train their dog. They don't trust their dog....
And, if I'm with a handler that places a flag without their dog doing something definitive.....I just don't trust the dog team after that.
Regards,
Jim
For me, an alert/indication is a trained behavior response triggered by my desired stimulus, i.e. the presence of human remains. Murphy's natural indication is a touch. When he's located scent, he invariably will touch a paw to the location he has decided the source is at. As I can't see this touch if he's head-deep in poison ivy, I've also got a trained indication, the bark. If Murphy can see me, this often comes out like a chuf. If he can't see me, this comes out as a full bark. He's consistently unique, so I accept it as it is. The key is CONSISTENT. Once I get closer, I can ask for a "touch" or a "show me" and he'll do the touch again. If I think he's unsure, I might ask for a "check", and he'll put his nose around to make sure then repeat the touch in his location of choice, his judgement as to where the strongest scent is(in the case of buried).
NOTE: If you ask your dog to check on a real search then you better do it in training. You better do it in training when you know he's right, when you know he's wrong, and when you just don't know. You don't always ask for it, but asking the dog to check can not be allowed to become a cue in itself to alert or to leave a source...... oh, and please, don't nag your dog by constantly going, "check check check" as you cover an area. If the dog doesn't know it's job, it shouldn't be there. Nagging isn't going to help. END OF NOTE.
This trained response can be read by all. Once an officer knows what my dog does, it's as readily apparent to the officer as it is to me. If any officer goes on more than one search with me and my dogs, they know what a find looks like as it is always the same. I take it as the highest form of compliment if an officer gets excited and tells me that my dog just made a find like I didn't know it myself.
So, what's the deal with Interest, Jim?
There appears to be a lot of handlers under the misconception that they can get away with simply reading their dog's scent behavior, i.e. the dog smells somthing, this scent draws its attention into it....it must be HRs! Must it?
While the perfect dog will totally ignore the dead critter, the McDonalds hamburger, the deer bone, etc., on the long searches, they (like most of us) are happy to come upon anything unusual. If my dog exhibits interest, yea, I'll watch him to see what happens, but if he checks it and moves on then I must have confidence in the countless training sessions we've done to convince him to produce a trained indication on HRs and to move on for anything else.
Too many handlers watch their dog on a search exhibit interest and their response is "whatcha got? whatcha got boy?!" Their vocal tone goes up and the dog suddenly wonders, "is this what he wants me to find?" It's been hours, I'll make him happy and agree with him.
But, the worst case is where the handler is under the egotistical belief that they can tell the difference in their dog's posture if its human remains or if it's not. They make the call simply off the dog's body language. They don't bother with backchaining in an indication/alert with a scent stimulus; Thus, the dog may have made a valid find, but without any consistent communciation tool to let the handler know they often just move on. So, we hear later, "yeaaaa, my dog had interest in that spot. Guess it just wasn't to be." I'm more concerned with the HRs that never get found because the authorities believe in full honesty that they ran "cadaver dogs" through the area and they didn't find anything, so it must be clear.
The solution is again the handlers have to subject themselves to routine blinds to build confidence in their dog's abilities to make the right call when it comes across the acceptable scent stimulus. The handler has to build that solid alert/indication that the dog performs without thinking once all the tumblers in its head come up "DEAD HUMAN! I WON THE LOTTERY!" The dog should know it's going to get rewarded and be bouncing up and down with excitement, "pay me! pay me! pay me right now!"
Now on a real search, we often have to pay the dog with a "good dog, keep searching" as we flag it and move on. We'll move the dog in from another direction and see what happens. We'll call another dog in and tell the handler, could you run over this area? You don't tell the other handler that you have a find as you want them to work the area objectively. You want to see if their dog comes up Jackpot. And, you only trust their dog because YOU KNOW it has a solid alert/indication as well that everyone can read.
So, if a handler tells me their dog had interest in a spot, I'll often ask them, "So, was it human remains or not?" If they can't tell me, then they didn't do their job to it's fullest extent. They didn't fully train their dog. They don't trust their dog....
And, if I'm with a handler that places a flag without their dog doing something definitive.....I just don't trust the dog team after that.
Regards,
Jim