Ah! This makes a lot of sense to me as well and gives me something else to mull over when I'm supposed to be focusing on homework. Thank you for posting in such detail!

 Quote: matthew grubb

Then I would work on pairing the bark alert with the search command, with the continued with the exact same body positioning.

I have been thinking about this way of training the alert since I first read it yesterday. I have been trying to visualize how this would go and I want to be sure that I'm understanding this the way you intended it. Do you mean that you alone with the dog tell him to "search", while already holding his toy up above your head?

 Quote: matthew grubb

I like to change only one variable at a time in my training so I would now bring in a “victim” who will now become the vessel for the toy reward. The victim will stand in the same position I was standing and we will again elicit the bark alert for the toy… mark… reward….. and repeat

Then, still standing in the same place (as in not doing a puppy runaway) you have the victim hold the toy as you were doing before, you give the "search" command, and when the dog barks at the victim you mark and reward with the toy? Are you holding the dog and facing the victim when he does this?

 Quote: matthew grubb

Again…we will only change one variable at a time…this time I will pick distance. I will increase the distance between my team and the victim. The victim is still holding the toy reward in the same manner as I held it. The command will be given, the dog released…bark alert… marker…reward.

Then you do essentially a puppy runaway and have the victim stand with the toy in plain sight, in the same position as you've been working in before?

Then you eventually add all of this to the actual search for the person because now the dog has been taught to bark to alert you that he's found the victim and you will expect him to do that before he gets rewarded?

And so that I'm clear on what it means to backchain this to the search itself, do you mean you're teaching it "backwards"? The very first thing you teach is the alert and work backwards to the dog searching for the victim?

Edited by Jasmine Dillon (07/03/2009 12:02 PM)
Edit reason: Added a question

 Quote: Matthew Grubb

Konnie.. just looked at the blog you wrote on the focused scenting.. GREAT stuff.

Yes, I must agree with Matt! Thanks for sharing that!

I worked on getting bark=reward solid with my dog before starting any sort of search work. So his alert had pretty much become a default behavior before we even started runaways. That bark=reward is what I'd practice in a variety of situations with distractions, with the victim in different positions, etc.

When we plugged in runaways it was pretty natural to my dog to bark when reaching the victim because it had been ingrained that when he barked at the person with the toy, he'd get it. If he didn't bark for some reason, it was simple for the victim to cue him to bark before rewarding him because it had been practiced so much.

 Quote: Mara Jessup

If he didn't bark for some reason, it was simple for the victim to cue him to bark before rewarding him because it had been practiced so much.

Cueing a dog to bark is something we never do. It's generally considered a big no-no for USAR dogs. For our dogs, the cue for the bark alert from the very beginning is target odor. One of the reasons we don't do this (cueing) is because we found that some dogs would wait for the cue before alerting/barking. Another reason is that, since we switched to our new style of training, we haven't had a single situation where the dog reached the helper and didn't bark.

I have been thinking about this way of training the alert since I first read it yesterday. I have been trying to visualize how this would go and I want to be sure that I'm understanding this the way you intended it. Do you mean that you alone with the dog tell him to "search", while already holding his toy up above your head?

Yes.. that’s how I would start it. I want the dog to understand the game through playing with me before we go on to a second party offering the reward for the bark alert.

Then, still standing in the same place (as in not doing a puppy runaway) you have the victim hold the toy as you were doing before, you give the "search" command, and when the dog barks at the victim you mark and reward with the toy? Are you holding the dog and facing the victim when he does this?

Yes… I have the victim hold the toy in the exact same manner I was holding it, it the exact same spot we did our training. I will now be holding the dog and facing the victim.

Then you do essentially a puppy runaway and have the victim stand with the toy in plain sight, in the same position as you've been working in before?

Before I would get into the run aways I would work on the alert without the toy being visible and work on the alert with the victim in different positions…. Sitting… lying down…ect.
Once the alert is solid you can start working on teaching the search itself.