Quote:

Originally posted by Jerry Cudahy:

This should keep all real busy for awhile.

Jerry, are you trying to tell us all to just shut up already?!? <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

Thanks for all the info.

LOL Beth, you really have only come to know me recently haven't you. I have a real reputation for when the moment moves me to tell someone to "Shut Up Already" I am not shy about doing that.

No fact is I am really enjoying this board as there are for the most part (99.99%) really good info being traded here.

Van Camp you asked****

Use it or lose it type of imprinting? What do you think?

Bingo, you only have a very narrow window to imprint and make you training later on less difficult.

Jerry

Jason:

Your confusion on the difference between imprinting and training is a valid one because they interrelate. Imprinting is nothing more then training without a correction phase. A dog cannot go through a correction phase at an early age without hurting his drive and temperament. So you have two choices. One is to hold off until then or two is to use all positive training methods that will get your dog prepared for later training when a correction phase can be applied. You use the same methods as in the learning phase but with a little more care.

Jerry:

Was that a joke about the tracking? If not wow.


Beth:

Forgetting your Leerburg videos. Shame on you. LOL.

Vince,

I know this is slightly off the subject, but in your opinion, what is an appropriate age that one can implement a correction phase without adversly affecting the dog's drive? I suppose it would vary depending on each dog's individual temperament?

Sorry...tail between my legs. I'll go watch them again now. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />

Vince, are you saying that all that crap I posted above is wrong? Imprinting isn't pre-cognitive learning?

Why is it called imprinting and not positive training? And why do dogs tend to remember their earliest imprinted associations for their whole lives? Or, am I way off here.
<img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />

Like humans dogs go through different learning stages. By imprinting at an early age we take advantage of the earlier stages that could not have been otherwise with standard training.

So what I said is correct?

Vince, No Joke. The little brats use the olfactory system as it's very first sense in the world. They are born with the ability to decipher and isolate scent and seek out the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow the moment they take the first breath of air. Being the first sense to be activated neans that they have more control of that sense 4 weeks down the road than any other of the senses and scent is the one they have come to trust to get them back to momma and her milk which is why you begin this imprint with her milk as part of the track along with the scurf custom mixture which you quickly as eash session comes about you are using less of the moms and more of yours.

The pup when it begins to catch on and realises that the visual tape leads to a reward of some kind you have to begin lowering the light in the area that the dog is imprinting in so that it becomes even more fixated with using the nose to the ground and not the eyes. The whole point is nose to the ground.

I was taught this trick by one of the leading Campagne and Police Service Dog Handler/Trainers in France. It is something that was developed to help Malinois in particular because of their tracking fast with too much vision and trailing and not the nose to the ground.

They also advised that most of the dogs real introduction to tracking beyond the fun imprint stuff is to train at night in the darkest part of the evening. Again manipulating the dog to develope the need to use the olfactory system and not the eyes.

In Campagne there is a track that has been aged, extreamly long with several turns and the dog must do it by itself, no lead or harness and the handler does not go with the dog but stays at the departure scent pad while the dog must do nose to ground all the way to the end of this track, not blowing corners to where there will be an object scented by the track layer and the dog must bring this object back to the handler. This is also timed.

Let me put it to you this way. Do you believe that a puppy can bite at say 6 weeks.

The answer is yes. So why can it not track then also.

Bits of Smoked Herring makes a great addition to the track scent that is presented for the puppy to also help keep the dog on the bit.

The herring makes for a good reward at the end of the imprint track once you have begun to lessen the amount of obvious eatable material along the track to teach this to the dog.

Jerry

Hey Jerry more power to you. Can't blame the strange look. I'll stick to hotdogs. Good luck!