Jackie Nosework: Items and Interior Multiple Room Searches

Jackie is enjoying playing nosework.

Jackie did a great job searching two scent finds hidden in a circle of baby socks. She searched larger rooms for the first time and a multiple-room search that included a challenging bathroom. 

Jackie searched three different multi-room areas and after struggling a bit in the first two rooms did a great job quickly finding the scent sources in the final room search. 

Pearls:

• I am learning to recognize Jackie's alert body language and continuing to reinforce Jackie freezing in place and holding her nose directly on source.

• Once Jackie finds a source in a multiple-hide search, pay at source then gently pat Jackie twice on the hindquarter saying "Find more!" to cue Jackie to continue searching for additional hides. 

• Never pay twice if Jackie returns to the same source after being paid for finding it initially. If she struggles with returning to an already found hide during training, simply remove that hide from the search area and start the search again. 

Jackie at the startline in front of her search area of baby socks.

Basic Manners Week Three with Meggie

Meggie is brilliant in basic manners. 

Meggie clinching "Leave it!"

Pearls:

• This week we reinforced name recognition and played nose touch, where Meggie touches a target (my hand) when cued "Touch!"  

• Meggie did exceptionally with the challenging sit-stay while the handler circles around the dog.

• We advanced to playing phase three of "Leave it!" where Meggie ignores cookies tossed on the floor.

• We practiced greeting a friendly stranger by playing "Get it!" where Meggie eats cookies scattered on the floor while a stranger pets her.

• Meggie aced loose leash walking with distractions including people and puppies nearby.

• We learned phase one of emergency recall, using a special cue "Lucky! Lucky! Lucky!" and jackpot with a million-dollar treat once, and ONLY once, daily.

• We practiced "Place!" by reinforcing Meggie settling calmly on her mat.

Beginner Treibball with Jackie

Jackie graduated to Beginner Treibball. In this new six-week class, we'll continue learning skills such as "Walk up!" "Get back!" and build on Jackie's previously learned herding cues.

Pearls:

• Play "Walk up!" by asking Jackie to walk a step or two, then say "Whoah!" for her to halt, and reward. Gradually work to reward once for every three walk-ups offered.

• Continue building distance for the "Go out!" target cue.

• Play "Go out!" with an object, such as a basket or hassock, in front of the target so Jackie gets used to positioning herself with the ball between her and the handler.

• Begin to fade the "Front!" cue and allow Jackie to organically arrange herself facing the handler with the ball in between, ready to be pushed toward the handler. 

Brief clip of Jackie playing "Push!"

Meggie Basic Manners Week Two

Meggie is acing Basic Manners at Lucky Dog Training! She's rocking nose touches, sits, "Leave it!" and down stays,  -- all while turning it into a tasty game. Adding recall fun and perfecting loose leash walking, it's all about rewarding that calm and settled vibe!

Pearls:

• Meggie is continuing to rock in basic manners group class at Lucky Dog Training Center. This week we warmed up with nose touches, short sit stays, and releases. We practiced brief down-stays adding duration while the handler steps or turns away. 

• We introduced the "Leave it!" cue, where the dog avoids taking a dropped piece of food. Phase one of leave it is while your hand is closed, you cue "Leave it!" and as soon as Meggie relaxes off of worrying the treat in my closed hand, I reward her with a cookie from my other hand. Phase two is the same but having a treat in my open hand while Meggie leaves it and is rewarded with a cookie from my other hand.

• Continue to reinforce calm, settled behavior when Meggie is relaxed on the floor.

• We played recall for the first time, using "Meggie here!" as our cue. Always reward both cued recalls and captured check-ins. 

• Loose leash walking is coming along nicely, with added steps and using the marker word "Yes!"

Meggie Freedom Run

Freeeeeeeeeee! Wheeeeeeeeeeeeee!

After 121 long days of activity restriction due to ongoing heartworm treatment, Meggie is medically cleared by her veterinarian Dr. Jenny Elkins to resume normal, vigorous, physical activity.

To celebrate we went for a romp!

This sweet girl is available for adoption through BCSAVE.

Meggie's freedom run:

Jackie Exterior Nosework

Jackie did her first exterior finds, first on a vehicle and then from a group of objects. The vehicle search came easily for Jackie, quickly alerting all three hides on the truck. 

In the group of outdoor objects Jackie found the first of two hides easily, then struggled to pinpoint the alert on the second hide. She eventually found it and did a great job overall for her first exterior searches. 

Pearls:

• For outdoor searches, follow the format: 1) potty, 2) wind, 3) plan.

• Potty = be sure your dog potties before starting an exterior search.  Sniffing outdoors, especially in grass, can make them want to go so be sure they eliminate before starting your exterior search.

• Wind = carefully assess how the wind is behaving in the search area. Wind behaves differently between buildings and around vehicles. Watching your dog's fur or tossing a few strands of grass up and watching how it falls are simple ways to assess wind movement. 

• Plan = base your search on how the wind is behaving and what environment you're searching. For vehicles, it's best to search with the wind, due to the way wind behaves around vehicles, getting stopped, moved, or caught in wheel wells or underneath vehicles for example. For out-in-the-open groups of item searches, it is best to search against the wind so your dog can evaluate the odor as they approach the objects. 

• Once your dog has found a hide in a multiple-hide search, after paying at source say "Find more!" to cue the dog to continue searching for more hides. 

• When searching multiple hides, only ever pay once for each hide. While training, if your dog struggles by returning to an already found hide, remove that hide from the search area and then continue by cueing "Find more!"

My dog has a nose job

Jackie Graduation from Intro to Treibball

Jackie graduated from Intro to Treibball class at Lucky Dog Training. She did a great job learning "Go out!", "Come by!", "Away!", "Push!", and "That'll do!"

Pearls:

• "Go out!" is the cue where the dog leaves the handler's side and goes out to a target. Eventually we'll fade the target and the dog will go out to the indicated ball.

• "Come by!" is the cue that directs the dog to move clockwise.

• "Away!" is the cue that directs the dog to move anti-clockwise.

• "Push!" is the cue that directs the dog to herd the target toward the handler.

• "That'll do!" is the recall cue that directs the dog to return to the handler. The dog comes to recognize "That'll do!" as a form of praise and recognition of a job well done.

Video clip of Jackie learning urban herding in Intro to Treibball class:

Nosework with Jackie

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

Basic Manners with Meggie

Meggie in her travel crate

Meggie was an absolute superstar in her first Basic Manners group class. She loved greeting our teacher Rachel Simmons and the other friendly staff at Lucky Dog Training Center. Meggie aced the first week's agenda of name recognition, nose touch targeting, sit and release cues, and loose leash walking. 

Meggie travels perfectly in the car, immediately settling quietly in her crate. She pottied on command when we got to our destination and conducted herself brilliantly for the entire class, including some very stimulating distractions. I'm very proud of her.

Apply to adopt Meggie through Border Collie Save and Rescue.

Meggie will be learning in Basic Manners:

Treibball with Jackie

Jackie is doing a great job learning urban herding. Pearls this week include:

• Gradually increase distance to Jackie's "Go out!" target. Start close with a single target, then incrementally increase reinforcing further distances.

• Collie Ball is a resource for yoga ball covers.

• We will eventually fade the target and have Jackie go out to a ball. For now, continue using the target to let Jackie know exactly what the handler is asking.