I am facing a challenge in the scent discrimination exercise. When I send my dog out to search for the scented article, he will go and pick up (take) articles instead of using his nose to sniff the articles, until he finds the scented aricle then he will return to me.
I would like to pref him to use his nose to sniff the article, if not scented then move on to sniff the next article. Is that a way to correct this habit or a better way to train the dog ?
Will Rambeau Moderator Reg: 01-25-2003
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Loc: Idaho
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Well, the old way to train this was to have just the scented article placed and the retrieve done for many repetitions of the exercise to get the association between your scent and the article firmly established in the dog's mind.
Then you would take a piece of particle board ( the type with holes every square inch of the board ) and tie down all the other articles for that group ( metal or leather ) except for your scented one, of course.
You then place the scented article onto the board in the middle of the non-scented, tied-down articles and send the dog.
The tie-downs basically prevent the dog from being able to bring the incorrect article to you. With many repetitions of this exercise, the dog will usually trial ready.
That's the method that I was using. However this doesn't give him a clear indicator that he should use his nose to sniff the articles instead of using his mouth to "taste" it.
Because of the way that he picks up the articles, it rather messy sometimes and the articles will be moved all over the place, which I don't like and scores will be deducted during the trial
I wish to teach him to more claim way, sniff the article, if no scented, move on to the next one but can't think of a better way. Perhaps someone can give me some tips to correct this habit.
Will Rambeau Moderator Reg: 01-25-2003
Posts: 5983
Loc: Idaho
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I've some trainers set up the exercise as we discussed above, but bring the dog to the scent board on a very short leash - if the dog mouths the wrong article it receives a "no" and is brought via the leash to the correct article with a "yes, good!" when the dog takes the correct article. This is obviously more time consuming and requires good timing but it works well ( just a form of marker training with your vocal "yes" as the marker ).
I'm working on Thunder's UD right now and I'm using a larger piece of peg board so the extra articles will be tied down further away at first. I'm also putting out only two extra articles place further away. Add articles and get closer as the dog increases understanding.
Thunder's previous scent work for SAR and article indication for tracking has been both a help and a hinderance. He's always been able to select a stick out of a pile of stick because of my scent.
With the SchHI I had to wean him off of scent other then mine, then had to reintroduce other people's scent for the II and III.
Now, with the UD, I'm asking him to select an article I've handled along side articles someone else has handled.
These dogs are amazing!!
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Scent Discrimination
#227888 - 02/16/2009 07:36 PM 
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Re: Scent Discrimination
[Re: Stanley Yee ]
#227890 - 02/16/2009 08:26 PM 
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