After spending many sessions having him smell the low scent that I had put onto the cotton ball, I decided to go to the next step to see if he could distinguish its smell from another that I created.
I made the second smell by making a cotton ball with a normal glucose scent on it. I didn't check to see exactly what it was, but it was not low. Fortunately, I can now feel the lows. :)
I started as before, having Senator smell the low in a pill container and clicking and treating him as he did this several times. Then, I introduced a second pill container with the normal scent cotton ball. I'd like to say that he went right for the low scent, but it was about 50/50. He did learn that he only got a treat for smelling the correct container eventually. I did this several time in a row and then moved both containers to another location. At times he would get stymied and just stare at the containers. I tried prompting him by saying "find the low". Sometimes this helped get him going again. If it didn't, I removed the decoy and we practiced with rewards for smelling the low scent container again for awhile.
I have been doing this for two days now, and will continue with this for awhile. At least until I am convinced that he can discriminate the smell, or until I think he doesn't understand or can't discriminate. Then, I would go back to just having him sniff it for a reward for awhile again.
I've been waiting for a vest that I had ordered to get here to take him on outings. It finally came on Thursday, so on Friday, I took him to our small and deserted mall. Its perfect for him because I can control when he comes into contact with other people. We can walk in the mall for awhile until he feels acclimated, and then I take him into a few of the stores. There is a sporting goods store that we like and that is where we spend most of the time. Yesterday, as we turned a corner int this store, he started to bark. There was a picture of a duck on the wall and I'm pretty sure thats what was bothering him. So after a quick retreat, I started getting him back closer to it. He would look at it and growl sometimes, but eventually I got him next to it and calm.
I can tell that its been awhile since our last outing. It took longer to get him acclimated and he wasn't paying quite as close attention to me as he had been. We will be doing many outings in the near future.
I made the second smell by making a cotton ball with a normal glucose scent on it. I didn't check to see exactly what it was, but it was not low. Fortunately, I can now feel the lows. :)
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| Mr. I'm not allowed on the couch! |
I have been doing this for two days now, and will continue with this for awhile. At least until I am convinced that he can discriminate the smell, or until I think he doesn't understand or can't discriminate. Then, I would go back to just having him sniff it for a reward for awhile again.
I've been waiting for a vest that I had ordered to get here to take him on outings. It finally came on Thursday, so on Friday, I took him to our small and deserted mall. Its perfect for him because I can control when he comes into contact with other people. We can walk in the mall for awhile until he feels acclimated, and then I take him into a few of the stores. There is a sporting goods store that we like and that is where we spend most of the time. Yesterday, as we turned a corner int this store, he started to bark. There was a picture of a duck on the wall and I'm pretty sure thats what was bothering him. So after a quick retreat, I started getting him back closer to it. He would look at it and growl sometimes, but eventually I got him next to it and calm.
I can tell that its been awhile since our last outing. It took longer to get him acclimated and he wasn't paying quite as close attention to me as he had been. We will be doing many outings in the near future.
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