I have a question regarding sniffer dogs. Say the ones used in airports or border security or police.. The dog does not find the contraband 99% of the times. A dog may make a find may be 10 times in it's service life , if it is a bomb dog. So how does one keep the motivation of the dog high?

So is there a staged "find" for the dog? If so, how often does it happen?

The reason why I am asking this is because, my girl helga , she has immense search drive. She LOVES to search and search. But right now it is just a ball or an article with my scent on it.

I am a civilian and do not have access to controlled substances. But I am planning to train her to sniff out currency notes. You see every time there is an election literally lorry loads of cash is moved across constituencies to "persuade" voters. The election commission currently uses , manual checks by police who themselves can be "persuaded" to let a load through.

I see an opportunity for training money sniffing dogs. But I want to know how long they can be worked before a staged "find".

How do they keep up the motivation of a sniffer dog.

I would think a lot of finds at first would be best, kinda like winning at tug,
but I actually replied to complicate the issue, would each of the different bills bave different scents? one guy had it in his pocket, another had his money in a coffee can, one guy had it in a sock, or is it more the paper and ink that defines money's smell.
Thought your scent discrimination video was cool, which is what made me think that money would smell different from bill to bill, I could be wrong, but for sure it would add an extra challange to finding currancy

Edited by Dave Owen (11/25/2011 09:31 AM)
Edit reason: typo

 Quote: Dave Owen

one guy had it in his pocket, another had his money in a coffee can, one guy had it in a sock,

The dog is trained to find money.

All those other things are just smells they aren't trained to find.

No matter where the money was previously held, it is still money.

Ram, I'd also like to hear about how often others set up "sure things", but I'd be inclined to think it has more to do with the dog itself.

Training is training, and I'd think scent work would be worked on periodically the same as any other obedience.

Some dogs don't need to find something to have a blast looking for it, though.

Michael>>I think helga is one of those dogs who just like to look for things. When she knows that I am going to ask her to find some thing, she gets excited and I have to physically restrain her from taking off to search. I am pretty sure I can teach her to find piles of money easily. We are not talking about a few notes in a wallet or even 100 notes. We are talking about huge bag loads of cash that move just before elections. Imagine transporting 200000 USD , but in Indian money. 200000 x 50 = 10000000 Rupees. Even if you say they carry it it 1000 Rupee notes that is 10000 Notes. A bundle has 100 notes. So that makes it 100 bundles. Usually it is carried in 100 Rupee notes or 500 rupee notes. It should not be hard to find.

My only question is how often do police/airport/border control set up fake "finds" to keep them motivated on the job. I mean training is training, and I understand that we have to keep training the target scent. But I am asking about setting it up when the dog is in it's work environment.


Dave>> It is the paper and the ink that give the smell to the notes. The other things the dog has to ignore.

If you don't get an answer soon, PM David Frost to this thread.

 Quote: Ramachandran Subramanian

I have a question regarding sniffer dogs. Say the ones used in airports or border security or police.. The dog does not find the contraband 99% of the times. A dog may make a find may be 10 times in it's service life , if it is a bomb dog. So how does one keep the motivation of the dog high?

So is there a staged "find" for the dog? If so, how often does it happen?

Any time you work a detector dog of any type, there are two important factors in maintaining proficiency.

1. Training: Using the dog in your example, a trained and working detector dot, regular maintenance training is crucial. The length of time a dog works is established during training. We use a variable schedule. Meaning, the dog learns that it will be successful between x time and y time. The trainer determines what x and y are depending on the type of searches a dog is expected to complete.

2. Working: During a shift or days work, knowing what x and Y are, most handlers will, at some point, use what we call a reinforcement aid. Something that allows the dog to find an odor he was trained to detect, respond and obtain his reinforcement. This however is not really considered training. It is more of a reinforcement for the dog.

Basically, if you consistently set up training scenarios that use 5 vehicles then the dog finds something, that is what you will teach the dog. If, however you train on 60 vehicles and the dog may find something on vehicle 4 this time, vehicle number 60 next time or no finds at all until the second set of vehicle on vehicl 75, you are teaching the dog; You will find something. It could be soon, it could be later, but you will find something.

Make sense?

DFrost

David C Frost>> Thank you for your kind reply. It was very helpful. I have a follow up question. How do you determine the value of X and Y. Is X can be vehicle number 1 but Y can be 5 if the dog cannot search for long. But if the dog has a lot of search in it then Y can be even 100 , correct?

 Quote: Ramachandran Subramanian

How do you determine the value of X and Y. Is X can be vehicle number 1 but Y can be 5 if the dog cannot search for long. But if the dog has a lot of search in it then Y can be even 100 , correct?

The value of x and y is determined and set, during training. It's the maintenance training that maintains the proficiency and rewards for long searches. Look at X and Y as more of a "from-to" type equation. It can be either time or objects. Such as vehicle, pieces of luggage or long searches in buildings. With vehicles for example; the dog would learn that he will be successful at some point. That point may be on the 5th vehicle or could be as long as vehicle 200. Of course you would not start by doing 200 vehicles. Just like building muscle to lift 300 pounds, you start smaller and work your way up.

Make sense?

DFrost

Yes , Understood. Thank you for your kind explanation.