I have a 3 year old Labrador that I have been training with Sigma Pseudo. I have both a white rag I use and a tennis ball that I have sitting in a tennis ball tube with the powder. I am trying to train a passive response of sit and bark.

The dog is great at finding the scent! She is really good at finding either psuedo infused toy. I am training her off leash. The problem is the sit indication. This dog is more driven by a toy than she is by food. When she finds the scent she will knock over the contrainer, stick her head into or dig out to get the toy, and then she runs around with it, once she gets access to it. She does this even if I click as soon as she finds it. She does, however, listen to the release command after a once around the yard with the target. I should add that there is another lab (much older)co-located, that she really wants to get to chase her, or to have a tug with if I am using the rag.

To try to fix this problem, I have been working on click training. I have her working pretty well with the clicker to sit and then a get a treat. But if during a search if she smells the target, I can't get her to sit. She prefers to get at the the target.

How do I deal with this? I need her to have a passive indication. I am not married to sit, but I do need something passive.

My second question deals with Real vs psuedo. I have only been training with psueudo since I have no source for real marijuana. I am not a police officer, although I am a federal agent, and thus can't chance being arrested for possessing the real thing (and wouldn't know where to get it anyhow). Since I am not trying to train this dog for use in situations with the court, do I need to be concerned that the psuedo is not "real enough"?

Now that she can identify scent, and she is so toy driven, I would eliminate the toy and just use the scent. Also, do not allow her to self reward - make sure the scent is not accessible and begin training for the passive response. Once you receive the alert you want, throw her toy for reward since food is not her preference. She can carry the toy around the yard - not the scent!

As for your second question - that I can't help you with. I suggest contacting Andrew Ramsey.

 Quote: R Bernstein

My second question deals with Real vs psuedo. I have only been training with psueudo since I have no source for real marijuana. I am not a police officer, although I am a federal agent, and thus can't chance being arrested for possessing the real thing (and wouldn't know where to get it anyhow). Since I am not trying to train this dog for use in situations with the court, do I need to be concerned that the psuedo is not "real enough"?

There is no case law that would prevent the use of pseudo. If you are a federal agent, would you not have a duty to report or take action if you found the real stuff? How would you avoid court?

DFrost

different agency. I look for financial crimes. Pot never even comes up. But your point is well taken and I need to do some reading on my responsibilities in an area that I don't work in.

I should add that I am not doing this for work. So it is not a training problem with psuedo?

Also, I have transfered from using a ball or a rag to using a plastic container (containing the rag). My dog still wants to dig it out (an possible open the container). When she finds (and I still can't get her to sit with the click at this time) I throw a clean rag at her. Only after waiving in front of her can I get her to forget the target.

I might get rid of the rag completely and use something new with the psuedo on it like a small sponge.

I won't go into my usual rant about pseudo. As for the response; if the dog is finding the target odor, then you don't need an odor soaked reward. If you want the dog to respond by sitting, then only pay that behavior. Make him sit before giving the reward. Digging in and of itself can be reinforcing to the dog. Allowing him to dig only reinforces that behavior. Remember, in dog training we don't determine the value of a reward, only the dog can do that.

DFrost

Out of curiosity, since you are training this dog for personal use, why would you select a restricted substance to imprint the dog? If you are training for pleasure or sport, why not use cloves or cilantro or something that is easy to come by and not a controlled substance?