Scent work with both girls

Can you find a tea bag?

I just read an article of different nose work things from Canis magazine. I have done some track work with all of my dogs but the idea of scent search in a room or car sounded just fantastic. So I took two tea bags, glass jar and clicker. I teach the dogs to smell from the glass jar to get a scent what they needed to find. First hiding places were really easy so that the dog almost founded immediately. As soon as the dog sniffed the target tea bag, I clicked and rewarded. After few tries Freya got the idea. Pixie and Louise had a problem of offering different tricks at first. It took few tries before they really started to search the scent.

After my dogs got the idea, I started to hide the tea bag to harder and harder places. I used sofa cushions as hiding place. I put the tea bag between them in different places and also under sofa pillows. These were pretty easy places. On our second day I started to use closed hiding places like cupboards and pen sharpener. In these cases dogs needed show me that they had found the target. I used laying down as a marker position. For this I gave a cue to the dog as she sniffed the target smell. Here are some videos of our work as girls have done this few times:

Nose Work and scent discrimination

This work also made me interested in a dog sport called Nose Work. This sport has been invented in the US and its coming to Finland. In Nose Work dog needs find certain scents from four different scenarios - car, box search, room search and open area. Dog needs to show it has found to scent and there can be more than one hide. This sport sounds super interesting so I have started our work in scent discrimination. At this point I have used tea smell and spices as scents. I just want to sold the idea to my dogs. On our first training I used two different scents and one scent as distraction. I built our set up from glass jars and holders. Here is video from our first training:



As we trained we used our new samples of freeze tried food from Orijen. Girls just loved it!! It very easy to use and hands were clean the whole time. Next we will try in training as energy food Orijen Adult Freeze dried food that you can solve in water. Here are girls with their super treats:

That's for now.. Our Nose Work scent are ordered so that work will start soon!! 

MLPF

So far story of Freya's running contact

Freya’s running contact project

I wanted make Freya a true running contact dog. I had tried to build running contact with Pixie but her strong 2on2off messed up the whole process. Freya was my empty canvas that didn't have any history on the contact obstacles. I had done work with box method and Silvia Trkman method. More or less I saw weak parts on both of them. Then I saw a video of Jenny Damm and Miss Lily’s contact training and their competition contacts, I was totally sold. They had fast contact but still a control after a contact zone. I started to watch their story from her YouTube Channel. Jenny had work on the contacts with little steps and change the reward ways on the way. This seemed to me our way too. Work little by little our in mind.

First problem I had that I didn't have access to planks or dog walk that I could lower alone. So I started everything with one contact piece and started to make her run the contact plank. I did this few times and then I changed it to a full size dog walk. Firsts few times I just made her climb the contact obstacle so that Freya could get used to it. Next I started make her run half of the dog walk and started to shaping her running style. I was first only on the front so that I could control rewards.  At first I used treats and a bowl. This way Freya has a bowl target but she got treats only from right performance. After her running was nice and low I added new criteria – she had to hit the contact zone as low as possible. I rewarded the right performances even if the speed wasn't super. I only change one criterion at the time. Speed wasn't my big concern I just waited it to build up later on when Freya gets more confidence.

Soon as she started to hit the contact zone from half of the dog walk I started to do the whole obstacle. This change rhythm a bit and we needed to clear the criterion a little bit. At this point I started to make straight runs on the whole dog walk to a toy target so that Freya would start build up speed. Second thing I started was turning cues to left and right. I used long jump mark poles in the in the dog walk to help her got the idea and also stop her from jumping of too early from the contact zone. I used the same turning cue that I had used jumping. This made easy for her to catch the idea.

When she learned run full dog walk, I also started to work on the A-frame. In A-frame work I just watched first her natural rhythm on the obstacle. This turned out to be a perfect two canter technique. Only thing I needed to do was not reward her too crazy contact performances. This meant jump from contact zone to contact zone with one leap. Right now I have been working on Freya rc performance in course work and also worked on different obstacle combination.  I do also do every now and then some run trough work with basic set ups so that I can click for sharp and accurate turn and hits on the contact zone. We will see how these contacts will last in competition drive. I have tried to do every different contact in new places to make her used to different situations. So far so good…… 

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That's all for now!!

MPLF

Training between sick days

It has been a very long time since an update to my blog. I have been sick for 1,5 months and I still have some symptoms of a flu. I hope it will start getting better and we get to finally start our agility season. I have lost a lot time of getting myself fit again. Dogs have also had again some vacation from work but we have done some progress in obedience with both of them.

Freya’s ob depute

It was so exciting to take another a new dog to its first trial. Freya had worked pretty well in training. She had had a problem with guidance person giving commands in standing in heel work.  I hoped that the problem was solved but it turned out to be our only mistake. Freya worked really well in the ring even though she really pulled me in with the leash. Ring entry really was our biggest homework from our first ob trial. Overall I was very pleased to see that Freya worked really well the whole time. 

Our next goal is a National Champion Ships. Freya will be part of team and she will compete again in the beginner class. We have been working on with our problem areas and also done some work with higher level tasks. It has been a pure joy working with her. She just wants to do her best and she learns super fast. I think this route to ob champion will be a cool one.

Scent discrimination

Freya has started her scent discrimination work with looking for a one bar that has been hidden in a grass or snow. Next step was to put more bars around own one. I did this first with a net so that the untouched ones were under a net. This went pretty well. Next I just tried what she would do if I put a lot bars on a sand field. Not a good idea! Freya took 3 bars at the same time in her mouth. I really needed reset the situation. Then I put the bars on a grass and hid the own bar. This time time she brought me first a wrong bar. This one I just ignored and I send her again to find the right one. This time she found the right one and I was trilled!!! Still a lot of work to do but I think I'm clearing the idea of scent discrimination to her. I hope at least.

Agility training

Both girls have worked on agility a little bit. Freya has done contact and jump work. In jumping we have sharped our skills in different handling maneuvers. She has had a little bit of problem of jumping smoothly in German turn. Her jumping from left canter is a little bit different but when changed her reward spot I could get the jumping technique that I wanted. Lots of little things to improve but Freya is doing agility courses pretty well. She starts to really feel like a competition dog.


Pixie has improved with her start line stays a lot. She have had a problem of leaving too early and I made her stop running courses every time she took too early. I used negative punishment as technique this means I took some that she wants away from her. I needed to do this in competitions and it cost me some serious money but we have finally results. She has been sitting nicely for a few competition weekends. This has been a very waited change. Our next target is bar work. I have planning of stopping her runs every time she drops bar. Pixie can be a little too careless with bar work. She has a super jumping style but sometimes she just don't take time to make a neat jump. So lots of work on that area.

Here is video of Pixie doing a nice run with one bar down:





That's all for now!! Just quick note after long brake!

MLPF