Jackie learning to freeze and hold her nose on source
Today Jackie did her first buried find in nosework class. Jackie searched birch scent on a cotton tip inside a tea ball shallowly buried in sand.
Jackie did her first handler discrimination search. I handled a new clean cotton glove for a few minutes, then Jackie learned to find the box containing a glove with my scent versus empty boxes or boxes containing gloves with strangers' scent.
This was an entertaining game that Jackie took to immediately.
Pearls:
- Continue to reinforce Jackie's correct alerting behavior. Jackie should freeze with her nose at source for a quick count of two, then the handler marks and goes in to pay at source. If Jackie looks up at the handler after freezing and holding her nose at source for a couple beats, simply wait her out until she returns her nose to source again for a couple beats and then quickly move in and pay while Jackie's nose is at source.
- The end goal behavior is that when the dog finds the source of the odor being searched, she freezes and holds her nose directly at source, keeping her focus and nose on source while the handler calls "Alert!" and the judge says "Yes!" and the handler moves in to pay at source.
- Buried hides are typically challenging because of how scent moves from within the sand out to the edges of the container. Often smaller/shorter dogs have an advantage over larger/taller dogs in buried finds because smaller dogs tend to sniff the edges of the containers where scent travels up from the sand and along the container's edge. Larger dogs tend to sniff the open grid of the container from above and sometimes have to re-follow the scent where it has moved.
- Store your handler discrimination glove in a glass jar, rather than plastic which can absorb odor. It's a good idea to saturate your glove with your scent by wearing and handling it often.
Jackie learning her handler discrimination glove that I previously handled
