Post by oksaradt on Aug 22, 2009 15:16:37 GMT -5
Sometimes I take for granted part of what I expect of my dogs and only realize when discussing a typical search with someone else that I've left out a major component.
When working at seminars, we almost always focus on scent work. If the handler doesn't have control on their dog yet, they can work on-lead. If the dog hasn't ever done stairs or buildings, we can work through that. But, rarely are the students subjected to the reality of some of the typical searches that I see.
Dogs are often called in after people have been searching for days, weeks, months, or even years. People have looked everywhere. Course, rarely do people search in the areas that are just difficult to get into like dense woods, piles of junk, rocky craggs, etc. If the missing don't get found, could be that the crappy places are good possibilities.
Soooo, let the dog do it. Ok. Has the dog been in areas like this before? Does the dog feel comfortable going through, over, under, etc. in such areas? Yea? Ok, is the dog comfortable working scent in such areas? Hmmmm....yea....that means whomever puts the scent out has to go their first and will at some point in time have to go back in to recover the scent source.
Penetration is the term I've always heard describe the dog going into uncomfortable areas (in our mind) in the pursuit of scent. Often that means the handler following the dog (to some degree) into the uncomfortable areas. If remains are found, it most certainly means someone has to go all the way in to bring the missing back out.
So, why discuss this. It should be a no-brainer. ....well, I agree, but....
Part of this depends on the dog becoming more independent of the handler when working scent to problem solve through the nasty areas. Even if the source is in a nice place, the scent may travel through "hell and high water" to where the dog discovers it. The way I described it recently is "at this point, the dog becomes the boss and the handler becomes the hired help, following and sometimes assisting the dog to get through the nasty stuff as it follows scent."
In the past, discussing with other area teams on good training and testing areas we talked about a particular section we all know. I had a google map and pointed to the area. Some of the other dog teams blanched and called the area "little vietnam" and thought we were crazy for wanting to test in there. Course, it turned out the style of searching they did required the dog walking everywhere the handler did. Basically, the handler gridded the area and if the dog tripped over the body then a find was made. Of course, searches take a very long time this way and...well, again we're limited to where the human would normally go, not where the scent takes us. Dog teams that search this way appear to me to basically use the dog as an excuse for them to go search.
When working with my dog(s), it's common that I'll work an area such that the air flow is coming out of the nasty area. If remains are there, I expect the dog to follow it into the nasty area. If the dog enters, well, I tend to as well but I do so from a distance. By this point, I expect the dog to have the committment to work the problem out to the end. I expect the dog to problem solve. A dog that stands at the border of the nasty stuff and barks just won't cut it for me unless that "nasty stuff" is something that would harm us both ...like lava, a 100 ft drop, you get the point. A 30-foot drop down a steep sandy grade....that's doable, especially if the dog shames me by going head first down the grade. I have a lead after all. I rarely use it on the dog, but it makes a great rope to help myself down.
If the dog enters a thorned blackberry patch....I might lay down and watch the dog to see if he comes back out. If the dog indicates in there, I heave a big sigh and get out the machete. The point to all this is the dog goes in, PENETRATES, because scent drove it to deal with uncomfortable but doable environments.
So, am I advocating you take that cracker jack search dog and throw it into a swamp when it's never dealt with such before? Noooo
As with all my training philosophies, baby steps are the way to a solid foundation. I'm looking for penetration with the puppy from the very start when I set up a maze for the puppy to solve to get to the human remains. Once the puppy/dog's scent foundation solidifies, I add little steps of difficulty for the puppy to get to the scent source to have that big party. While I could say it's because my dogs are Airedales that are rough, tough, and scrappy....well, I've seen my share of Airedales that don't want to step out in a light summer rain, let alone wade through a swamp. (Oh, and yea, I've been known to dance a jig in the middle of thunderstorms with lightning firing all around me...sanity is optional for the handler if no one else notices. Mother Nature and I have a love/hate relationship. She can be such a darlin' at times.)
I am advocating that even the experienced scent dog can be given gradually more difficult/awkard problems to solve to get to the scent source whether it be piles of cardboard boxes in a building search, then piled furniture, then some garbage bags tossed in for good measure, etc. (no snacking) OR putting the scent source in first a small wood pile, the a debris pile, then maybe something like my deadfall that's 80 feet in diameter with rabbits, possums, methane from anything I cut tossed on OR starting with your local clean creek, to a mucky creek, to that wildlife area that only the hunters muck into when they want to find a deer (I advise doing this area when it's not any hunting season....it's usually more fun with mosquitos, snakes, clinging vines, sticktites...ya know, like a real search....).
If the HRD and Live-find dog handler doesn't train this on their dogs, then finds will go unfound. Areas will be declared clear when the find might be yards away in that truly knarly area of dense vegetation that no one in their right mind would go into.....the point is that we often search for those that are not always in their right mind....aye?
Regards,
Jim
When working at seminars, we almost always focus on scent work. If the handler doesn't have control on their dog yet, they can work on-lead. If the dog hasn't ever done stairs or buildings, we can work through that. But, rarely are the students subjected to the reality of some of the typical searches that I see.
Dogs are often called in after people have been searching for days, weeks, months, or even years. People have looked everywhere. Course, rarely do people search in the areas that are just difficult to get into like dense woods, piles of junk, rocky craggs, etc. If the missing don't get found, could be that the crappy places are good possibilities.
Soooo, let the dog do it. Ok. Has the dog been in areas like this before? Does the dog feel comfortable going through, over, under, etc. in such areas? Yea? Ok, is the dog comfortable working scent in such areas? Hmmmm....yea....that means whomever puts the scent out has to go their first and will at some point in time have to go back in to recover the scent source.
Penetration is the term I've always heard describe the dog going into uncomfortable areas (in our mind) in the pursuit of scent. Often that means the handler following the dog (to some degree) into the uncomfortable areas. If remains are found, it most certainly means someone has to go all the way in to bring the missing back out.
So, why discuss this. It should be a no-brainer. ....well, I agree, but....
Part of this depends on the dog becoming more independent of the handler when working scent to problem solve through the nasty areas. Even if the source is in a nice place, the scent may travel through "hell and high water" to where the dog discovers it. The way I described it recently is "at this point, the dog becomes the boss and the handler becomes the hired help, following and sometimes assisting the dog to get through the nasty stuff as it follows scent."
In the past, discussing with other area teams on good training and testing areas we talked about a particular section we all know. I had a google map and pointed to the area. Some of the other dog teams blanched and called the area "little vietnam" and thought we were crazy for wanting to test in there. Course, it turned out the style of searching they did required the dog walking everywhere the handler did. Basically, the handler gridded the area and if the dog tripped over the body then a find was made. Of course, searches take a very long time this way and...well, again we're limited to where the human would normally go, not where the scent takes us. Dog teams that search this way appear to me to basically use the dog as an excuse for them to go search.
When working with my dog(s), it's common that I'll work an area such that the air flow is coming out of the nasty area. If remains are there, I expect the dog to follow it into the nasty area. If the dog enters, well, I tend to as well but I do so from a distance. By this point, I expect the dog to have the committment to work the problem out to the end. I expect the dog to problem solve. A dog that stands at the border of the nasty stuff and barks just won't cut it for me unless that "nasty stuff" is something that would harm us both ...like lava, a 100 ft drop, you get the point. A 30-foot drop down a steep sandy grade....that's doable, especially if the dog shames me by going head first down the grade. I have a lead after all. I rarely use it on the dog, but it makes a great rope to help myself down.
If the dog enters a thorned blackberry patch....I might lay down and watch the dog to see if he comes back out. If the dog indicates in there, I heave a big sigh and get out the machete. The point to all this is the dog goes in, PENETRATES, because scent drove it to deal with uncomfortable but doable environments.
So, am I advocating you take that cracker jack search dog and throw it into a swamp when it's never dealt with such before? Noooo
As with all my training philosophies, baby steps are the way to a solid foundation. I'm looking for penetration with the puppy from the very start when I set up a maze for the puppy to solve to get to the human remains. Once the puppy/dog's scent foundation solidifies, I add little steps of difficulty for the puppy to get to the scent source to have that big party. While I could say it's because my dogs are Airedales that are rough, tough, and scrappy....well, I've seen my share of Airedales that don't want to step out in a light summer rain, let alone wade through a swamp. (Oh, and yea, I've been known to dance a jig in the middle of thunderstorms with lightning firing all around me...sanity is optional for the handler if no one else notices. Mother Nature and I have a love/hate relationship. She can be such a darlin' at times.)
I am advocating that even the experienced scent dog can be given gradually more difficult/awkard problems to solve to get to the scent source whether it be piles of cardboard boxes in a building search, then piled furniture, then some garbage bags tossed in for good measure, etc. (no snacking) OR putting the scent source in first a small wood pile, the a debris pile, then maybe something like my deadfall that's 80 feet in diameter with rabbits, possums, methane from anything I cut tossed on OR starting with your local clean creek, to a mucky creek, to that wildlife area that only the hunters muck into when they want to find a deer (I advise doing this area when it's not any hunting season....it's usually more fun with mosquitos, snakes, clinging vines, sticktites...ya know, like a real search....).
If the HRD and Live-find dog handler doesn't train this on their dogs, then finds will go unfound. Areas will be declared clear when the find might be yards away in that truly knarly area of dense vegetation that no one in their right mind would go into.....the point is that we often search for those that are not always in their right mind....aye?
Regards,
Jim