Learning the high scent

I decided that it was time to start training Senator to alert to the high blood sugar scent.  I made a sample when I was at about 220 and began on a Tuesday evening.  I did the same procedure that we did when I started the low scent.  I had him smell the low scent in a small plastic cup and then gave him a treat.  I did this several times.  Next, I had the scent in the cup in my left hand and another scent in a small plastic container with holes in my right hand.  I told him to " find the high".  We did this several times and called it a day.

I repeated this same procedure the next morning.

Then on that Wed evening, I was putting on my shoes to go for a walk after dinner.  Senator came over and alerted me.  I backed away and said "I don't think so"  thinking that this was a false alert for a low.  Then I started wondering if maybe my insulin beat my food to my blood stream and I really was low.  So, I checked.  I was 184.  Was he alerting to my high?  By then it was too late to reward him and I still wasn't convinced that he could learn that quickly.

After our walk, I did some more training with the high scent, but went to the next level to see how he would do.  I hid the scent in different rooms in our house.  He found them quickly.  I had Gary hide the scent in a more difficult place.  He found it right away.  I hid the scent in my pocket and he found that.  He did have it.  Amazing!  He learned the high scent in less than 24 hrs with only two training sessions.  I had read that the high scent was easier to train, but I never would have believed this.

I have been continuing his training with both the highs and the lows for a few weeks now.  He really does have it.  I'm still not sure how I want him to distinguish them.  I've been having him alert me by pawing for both.  I say good high or good low depending on which scent I use or am experiencing.  What a smart puppy!