Focusing on the low scent

On my next meeting with John, we decided to limit the target scent to only my low scent.  I had collected a few samples while I was around 60.  Food was only used as the reward this day.

We began as we had before with Senator searching for the low scent which was hidden under a container with holes poked in it.  We used 3 others as decoys and spread them around the room.

The first part again was to have Senator smell the low scent in a separate container.  I would say "find it" and he would begin to search it out.  He did this well.  We tried this a few more times and he could always find it.  Putting it on a chair as opposed to the floor was again more difficult and required additional prompts.

Then we tried hiding the scent with me.  We kept the containers on the floor, but I just held the gauze soaked with the low scent in my hand.  He was able to find it in my hand.  We did this a few times with me changing where I was sitting each time.

Next, we had two other people join us to add more of a distraction.  We repeated this sequence with John leading Senator by each of the people and then to me last.  He would find the scent and perform the alert behavior.

I tried hiding behind a door so that he couldn't see me.  I left it open about 4 in. and had the scent in my hand in the opening.  Senator was able to find me and the scent.  He pushed the door open and did the alert behavior.

Senator was seeming a little agitated.  He kept wanting to go up the basement stairs.  So we stopped there and let him out for a romp.  Afterwards, we went to a nearby nursing home for an outing.  John observed Senator as part of a fulfillment for a Therapy Dog certification.  Senator was able to calm down and behaved well.


At home, I am continuing to use only the low scent.  I put the scent into some little plastic containers that I found that Gary had drilled some holes into.  Gary hides the scent in the living room or hall while I distract Senator in the kitchen.  He seems to be doing well with this.  His alert signal is good too.  We practice this every evening.

I've had a few lows during this time and I've tried to use them to continue the training.  The first few times, I would blow on Senator's nose and give him treats.  The last time I tried this I decided that having the treats within reach was too distracting for Senator.  He was concentrating more on them.  So I have stopped that approach.  The next time, I made a gauze pad from the low and put it into one of the containers.  Then, I had Gary start him off by smelling that and saying the "find it".  I sat in the living room.  Senator came directly to me.  I blew on his nose and he alerted.

Its still hard to say how much of this he is "getting"  and how much is just his natural inclination to come to me anyway, but it sure looks good.  If nothing else, its good practice behavior for when it really does click with him.

More scent training

I had the good fortune to meet someone with some experience in the scent training of dogs.  He has spent most of his time training dogs as hunting dogs and just recently is getting interested in training dogs in ways that will benefit people.

I had a training session with John and he showed me how he begins training dogs for scent work.  His approach was very similar to what we had been doing with Senator with a few additions.

We worked in stages.
John began with holding a treat in both hands.  He had Senator sniff the treat in his right hand and said "find it".  When Senator found it in his left hand, he would click and treat.  He repeated this several times so that Senator would learn this command.

Senator was on a leash for the rest of this.

Next, he put the treat about 20 feet away in the room.  Again, he would have Senator smell the treat in his hand and said "find it".  Senator would look around the room and find the treat.  Again he would click and treat, but not let Senator have the treat that was the target.

Then, we put the treat under a plastic container that had holes punched in it and repeated the above routine.  We did this several times.

Then we put 2 or 3 decoy plastic containers in the room.  These didn't have any treats under them.  He led Senator through a path that would go by the decoys and end with the loaded container.  At this point, we added the alert behavior which is to paw me.  When Senator found the treat loaded container, he was told to sit and then to "touch". He was treated at the point of the touch.  He learned this remarkably quickly.  Now, when he found the treat, he would immediately sit and paw John.

Next we added different smells for Senator to find.  We used peanut butter on little pieces of paper as the target.  We began from the beginning and went through all of the above steps.  He adapted to this new scent well.  Next we tried cheese.  Both were in squeeze containers and the paper was gun cleaning paper and was about one square inch in size.

I tried this next.  I wasn't quite as smooth as John, but eventually caught on.  I wasn't quick enough to stop Senator from getting some of the bait treats to eat.  I think that I wasn't as confident that he was actually smelling the target.  Its hard to say when he smells it and when he is near it.  I think thats the skill in this, is knowing when Senator "gets it".  John could tell when Senator was on the scent path.  He would say "he's working now".  It was interesting and I could begin to see when he was doing this.

We tried putting the loaded container on a chair.  This was more difficult and Senator needed some additional cues to find it.  Then we went outside and tried this routine in the back yard.  Again, it was a bit more difficult.  We didn't use the containers this time.  We just hid a treat, had Senator sniff one just like it and hunt for the hidden one.  He did well with this too.

It was a very enjoyable and interesting day.  I think we wore Senator out.