Post by oksaradt on Dec 10, 2010 13:07:56 GMT -5
Throughout the dog world are training experts that convey their way of teaching a dog what they want it to do. The methods range from clicker trainers that reward the dog for either performing a desired action or guessing at what the handler wants until the click comes TO the trainers with the stim collars that irritate the dog until it does the right thing. In between is a whole gamut of methods.
Part of what I do when training a canine partner is observing what the dogs likes to use to communicate to me. Sometimes the dog's natural inclination becomes my targeting tool. Sometimes the dog's natural inclination becomes the dog's alert.
With the one year old puppy, Thorpe, he told me early on that his natural reaction to finding the source of human remains was to touch. I was good with that and we did only that with scent training for months. With a touch, I like a bark alert to tell me where the dog is if it has made a find. I've trained it successfully on two of my dogs and on lots of others. For many dogs that bark incessantly, the bark alert can still become a distraction to find process. You can see the dog thinking through the bark and sometimes the bark doesn't come out even though you can see the dog feels it completed the process.
This reaction is common to a lot of alerts. I sympathised with a handler last weekend whose dog gave her "the look" after its rub past her rather than the pronounced bump expected. This dog is nearly ready to certify, so we had to ignore the rub and act like we didn't know what the dog implied. It came back and did the correct alert and then took us into the "victim". We had to wait the dog out because it could have been dark instead of noon, the handler wouldn't be able to see the "look" or be able to decide the "rub" was all she was going to get.
So, Thorpe was going to have a bark alert. I worked with hiim every day on barks and he did so-so, but never sterling as compared to what it should be. Thorpe barks at times naturally, but overall is a lot quieter dog than my others. I patiently stuck with it because the worst thing a handler can do is go through a string of alerts in the dog's foundation such that the dog picks the "alert of the day". When Thorpe went into his "blond period", I had to ease back on training problems while still slowly progressing forward. I rewarded mainly the touch and rarely asked for the bark during this time.
In the past three weeks, Thorpe has been slowly coming out of his teenage phase. I haven't observed any fear period episodes, so I've felt pretty good about this phase.
Starting two weeks ago, Thorpe has begun to play bow at finds. I asked for the bark and he repeated the play bow. I rewarded the play bow. In the past two weeks, the play bow has solidified as Thorpe's alert with the targeting touch still solid and in place.
For historic purposes when one works a cemetery with lots of finds, the play bow is more desirable than the down as the dog can quickly wear itself out downing at grave after grave.
So, my plan is now to no longer ask for the bark, to solidify the downs as an obedience command, and to reward the play bow on finds. It's a pronounced act where he bows to the source.
So rather than force the dog into communicating with my "speech", I accept what works best for him and the outcome should be solid through out his career.
Jim
Part of what I do when training a canine partner is observing what the dogs likes to use to communicate to me. Sometimes the dog's natural inclination becomes my targeting tool. Sometimes the dog's natural inclination becomes the dog's alert.
With the one year old puppy, Thorpe, he told me early on that his natural reaction to finding the source of human remains was to touch. I was good with that and we did only that with scent training for months. With a touch, I like a bark alert to tell me where the dog is if it has made a find. I've trained it successfully on two of my dogs and on lots of others. For many dogs that bark incessantly, the bark alert can still become a distraction to find process. You can see the dog thinking through the bark and sometimes the bark doesn't come out even though you can see the dog feels it completed the process.
This reaction is common to a lot of alerts. I sympathised with a handler last weekend whose dog gave her "the look" after its rub past her rather than the pronounced bump expected. This dog is nearly ready to certify, so we had to ignore the rub and act like we didn't know what the dog implied. It came back and did the correct alert and then took us into the "victim". We had to wait the dog out because it could have been dark instead of noon, the handler wouldn't be able to see the "look" or be able to decide the "rub" was all she was going to get.
So, Thorpe was going to have a bark alert. I worked with hiim every day on barks and he did so-so, but never sterling as compared to what it should be. Thorpe barks at times naturally, but overall is a lot quieter dog than my others. I patiently stuck with it because the worst thing a handler can do is go through a string of alerts in the dog's foundation such that the dog picks the "alert of the day". When Thorpe went into his "blond period", I had to ease back on training problems while still slowly progressing forward. I rewarded mainly the touch and rarely asked for the bark during this time.
In the past three weeks, Thorpe has been slowly coming out of his teenage phase. I haven't observed any fear period episodes, so I've felt pretty good about this phase.
Starting two weeks ago, Thorpe has begun to play bow at finds. I asked for the bark and he repeated the play bow. I rewarded the play bow. In the past two weeks, the play bow has solidified as Thorpe's alert with the targeting touch still solid and in place.
For historic purposes when one works a cemetery with lots of finds, the play bow is more desirable than the down as the dog can quickly wear itself out downing at grave after grave.
So, my plan is now to no longer ask for the bark, to solidify the downs as an obedience command, and to reward the play bow on finds. It's a pronounced act where he bows to the source.
So rather than force the dog into communicating with my "speech", I accept what works best for him and the outcome should be solid through out his career.
Jim