Re: Merla's training log Hey, lovely to hear from you, sounds to be going great... Lovely picture! [quote author=Merla link=topic=9558.msg154602#msg154602 date=1428260960] Of course, I'm going to have to remortgage my house at the rate I'm getting through Sea Wraps, put you can't have everything ;D ;D ;D [/quote] I know that feeling.... ;D ;D ;D
Re: Merla's training log Well, exciting things happening in the World of Merla this week! I've interviewed and enlisted a dog walker! 'Fascinating, but not really a training issue', you may say , but it turns out it is. I've been a bit precious about the concept of dog walkers, and it's taken nearly to Merla's second birthday and a bit of a shove for me to get my act together with it. Prior to this I've driven M each work-day a few miles to my parents' house (they're in their 80s) where she's given them smiles and cuddles, and they've given her way too many biscuits ;D. Then my dad has dropped her back after lunch and popped her in her crate for a few hours while they all have an afternoon nap ;D ;D But much as they all love this, my parents are not getting any fitter, and they are about to embark on building works at their house to make the bathroom more accessible, and they really don't need a Labrador running off with essential plumbing components , so a dog-walker it is. I looked at loads, and most had nothing that really stood out, but finally managed to find a lady who is a positive reinforcement trainer in the early stages of her training/career who also does walking. She seemed really good and actually talks the same dog-language as we do (woo hoo!). She came round to meet us early this week, and we took M out together and I showed her recalls, stops and retrieves, and then she came back today and took M out with one of her own dogs who she thought would be a good match. M clearly remembered her when she arrived and was raring to go as soon as I put her harness on (I figure this is a much better bet than my slip-lead in a multi-dog situation) and went off happily . All good apparently, good loose-lead-walking and recalls, played nicely with her dog and returned tired and happy. So I'm optimistic. She's happy to do a block of time each weekday while the bathroom's being done, but I might keep her on for a couple of walks a week long term as I don't know really how long my parents will be able to help out. So hopefully a step in the right direction, and interesting from a training perspective as I feel I'm now comfortable enough with Merla's loose-lead walking and recall from other dogs to not feel I'm handing the walker a loaded gun! I would definitely not have said this a year ago. The other bit of excitement this week was our first Search Dog lesson (squeak!). But I'm going to have to eat something before I write that up......
Re: Merla's training log I interviewed 8 dog walkers before I found one I liked. So many don't allow them off lead, some didn't do positive reinforcement, some told me I needed to use a slip lead to get Harley walking to heel and some told me my dig was highly strung. The one I settled on is amazing......she walks Harley twice a week and has her on the odd day for day care. I would be lost without her......she has really really helped with Harleys lead walking and is always so positive about Harley Good walkers are hard to come by. Might be worth even doung 1 walk a week ongoing to give your parents a break, plus it will do Merla good to walk with someone different x
Re: Merla's training log [quote author=Naya link=topic=9558.msg155410#msg155410 date=1428610336] Might be worth even doung 1 walk a week ongoing to give your parents a break, plus it will do Merla good to walk with someone different x [/quote] Yes, I think you're right. Such a minefield though, isn't it?
Re: Merla's training log Soooo.... Search Dog training.... As I mentioned previously, we have a local volunteer SAR group who run 'beginners' courses as a neat way of supplementing their income and raising their profile. I signed up at Christmas for the beginners' course which just started. My main motive for this was learning more about using play as a reward, as they do lots of this, but also just general interest. I'm not sure, if I had to choose, whether I'd ditch the Gundog stuff to follow a purely SAR route or not. Anyway, the first session definitely didn't disappoint. Merla basically thought all her Chritsmases had come at once ;D ;D ;D Seemlessly well organised, with lots of instructors and helpers, we had an initial briefing and demo with dogs in the cars, then divided into groups of 4 learners, each with an instructor and mostly a helper too, and got one dog out at a time to practise the initial exercise: We had been told to bring a new, 'special' toy, which would only be used for SAR training- a Kong wubba was suggested. It needed to squeak, and possibly also have tugging potential for tuggy dogs. A member of the group was nominated as 'body to find'. The handler gave their toy to the 'body', who then proceeded to jump up and down in excitement in front of the dog, squeaking the toy. They then sprinted off a short distance and curled up on the floor, at first in the middle of the path (sorry, should have said we were in woodland), and then later just off the path. The handler watched them go, holding onto their dog, and making 'isn't this exciting' noises, then gave the dog a 'go find' cue and let them sprint off. Then, at this early stage in the training, the handler had to follow in hot pursuit and when the handler arrived at the body the 'body' gave the toy to the handler, and then the handler played enthusiastically with the dog, joined by the body and indeed the other members of the group. All the dogs in our group got the hang of it really quickly and had a great time. Interesting points to note: [li]I hadn't expected to be doing so much running myself! I think my cardiovascular fitness needs some improvement ;D[/li] [li]So startlingly different from most gundog training sessions I've been to. No problem with whining or barking, and the nuttier and louder the praise from the handler the better! [/li] [li]They took great pains to stress that you had to play the game your dog found most rewarding, and not the one you, the handler, were most comfortable with! It didn't matter if this was tug, chasing your dog around, or fetch (although if fetch, the toy had to go to the dog first, before the first throw) [/li] [li]Each short search was followed by a protracted period of play with the dog, when the whole team had to make the dog feel they'd done the most wonderful thing ever[/li] Really interesting to see how things were done. It was pretty exhausting, physically and mentally as if your dog wasn't on you were taking turns to be 'body'. It certainly showed up any flaws in basic obedience too (like recall!), as the dogs were off lead when they were searching. Another session next week, but we move to a different location so we don't get complacent Homework to do in the meanwhile to practice
Re: Merla's training log Ooo! Love reading about your SAR stuff! Super exciting. Please post more if you go again. I have a dog walker who is fantastic. She walks Charlie on individual walks on lead though, I don't want him free running with other dogs, and I sort of disapprove of large groups of dogs with dog walkers (although mine only has 3 max off lead). She is really up to speed on dogs, and handles him very well. In London, where I live, good dog walkers are like gold. I was lucky enough to find mine when she was just starting up. Because I depend on her when I work, I give her a regular schedule and she takes Charlie out even when I could do it myself. This means I keep my slots - otherwise, she could fill those with more profitable clients. I also remember her birthday.....
Re: Merla's training log Wow, your description of the SAR class makes me think that might be a really great thing for Maisie and I to do when she's a bit older… I already do a lot of "find" games with her and hide and seek and I think she would *adore* that type of game/training (I think she would see it as a game!). Please continue updating about it as I'll be interested to see what else you do! (Although I might want to get my cardio on as well if I want to do that as that would tire me out as well!).
Re: Merla's training log What a fascinating experience, would love to do something like that with Benson, looks like the perfect career for my mad, gorgeous chocolate lab! Really interested to read more about your sessions. Did you have any homework? How often are the training sessions?
Re: Merla's training log Yes, it does seem great for dogs with loads of enthusiasm who've always found 'steadiness' a bit of a chore I think the issue as you move up the levels is maintaining that drive so the dog will keep,searching, potentially for hours at a stretch, with no 'find'. Hence the completely over-the-top reward celebration in the beginning stages- they have to think it's really worth the effort! I have to enlist friends and family for short practices of the short search in the coming week, and there's another session next week. 6 in total for this course (well, 5 teaching ones and an (eek!) assessment).
Re: Merla's training log This was fascinating to read and look forward to hearing more after your next session.
Re: Merla's training log That's brilliant! SAR sounds like one big party ;D Looking forward to hearing more about it as you keep training.
Re: Merla's training log [quote author=bbrown link=topic=9558.msg155612#msg155612 date=1428691452] SAR sounds like one big party ;D [/quote] Yeah, it kind of is! You get some funny looks from passing dog walkers though ;D ;D Apparently they had the police turn up recently as someone had heard the barking, whining, cheering and shouting and thought they might be dog-fighting But obviously no problems when they discovered what it was, as the police and fire service are the main people who request call-outs We did a quick practice with OH as my 'body' tonight, but I'm going to have to get creative about recruiting helpers as you're not meant to always use the same people.
Re: Merla's training log Another Search Dogs update from the session last night We set off for another site last night, further afield from me, for session number 2. We'd done a few practices during the week but only with family people. She's definitely starting to associate the 'special toy' with finding people, and gets really excited when it comes out. The first activity when we arrived was to help people with shaky recalls, and also to get the dogs happy to go to any member of the group. I am going to call this activity the Circle of Sausage All the instructors and beginner handlers stood round in a circle and one of the instructors handed out pieces of hotdog so we all had some. Then one handler got their dog out, and we took turns calling the dog across the circle. Imagine the dog's glee when they found out that EVERYONE HAD SAUSAGE ;D ;D We had to be careful with body language so only the person calling had their hands front-centre and everyone else had their hands away, so it was clear to the dog what they had to do. It's quite important by the time you get to the stage of doing actual call-outs for the dog to be happy with going with other people, as they always have a support crew as well as a search team on call-outs and I guess when they're coming back in, the dog may need to go with another team member for a towel-down/drink/snack while the handler does de-briefing stuff. Also, you just generally want the dogs thinking all people are fun. Onwards to the search sessions. One of the instructors lit a little smoke flare to show the wind direction so we knew which side of the paths to be hiding. One of my jobs for this week is to get a 'puffer' organised - a small bottle with talcum powder in it that you can puff into the air to show wind direction. Useful for Gundog stuff as well, potentially. Last week I was the first dog in our group, and did all my searches in the light so I thought I'd better hang back and be last, in the dark, this session. All the dogs did really well again, although interestingly the springer in our group totally didn't see the point of the starter searches when the person was still visible- went off hunting rabbits instead for these ones! But as soon as the person was hidden, he switched on and did a great job because the search itself was so rewarding. One interesting point from this week is that we need to be checking that the dog is air-scenting for the hidden person, not ground tracking. If the dog is only ground tracking, their ability to fiind the person relies on them taking the same route to the position of the person, and also they tend to narrow down their 'smelling' to what is just in front of them, whereas for air scenting, as many of us has seen with dummies and/or game, a dog can get a whiff of something a very long way off, especially is there is some wind and they are downwind. We're trying to encourage them to work up the 'cone of scent' and this is why we try to set up our beginner searches so we're going up a path with the wind is coming across it, and the hidden person is up-wind of the dog as they cross that point in the path (sorry not explaining that very well, hope you can see what I mean). Really proud of Merla's efforts last night. Working in almost darkness, she found her hidden people even when they were quite a way off the path. I was panting up behind her, following the lights on her LED collar, through brambles and boggy gullies in some cases! She absolutely loved the play and praise of the reward, and I was very proud that even in a new exciting place, a few pips brought her, and her special toy, back to my side The training is a masterclass in positive reinforcement, for handlers as well as dogs actually as guidance from the instructors is given in a very encouraging way. Rather than trying to stop the dog doing things they want to or persuade them to do something they normally wouldn't, it's about setting up a situation so the thing the dog wants to do most in the world is exactly what you wanted them to do all along! Although real searches must be pretty scary for the people, especially as I think there's always a good chance the person you're looking for may no longer be alive, the handler has still got to persuade the dog it's just another fun game. Definitely looking forward to next session.
Re: Merla's training log Well, thanks very much but actually all the dogs I've seen have done brilliantly. The exercises are really well set up to optimise the chances of the dog succeeding. Quality instructors - very impressed!
Re: Merla's training log Wow Kath, amazing work you must be so proud of Merla. Such invaluable training xxx
Re: Merla's training log It was Search Dogs No 3 last night. Another different location - an unexpected bonus of this course is I'm finding lots of good walking places I didn't know existed! It was Merla's turn in the Circle of Sausage! Oh my word, she was just ecstatic. She was trying to run across the circle to the next person who'd called her whilst keeping up a constant whole-body-wag. Hilarious! It just confirmed her feeling that Fun Happens at Search Dogs. She knew what was about to happen this week too, recognised the dogs and people and went into major happy dog mode. We also did a short session of 'musical dogs' where we walked round and swopped dogs, as they're wanting to see if the dogs are happy to go with other people. Merla was fine, although I could see her keeping an eye on where I was, which is reasonable. In the searches this week we were extending the distance that the 'body' ran out, the depth they hid from the path and the time between the run-out and sending the dog to find. All the dogs are really well tuned-in to what they're doing now. Some struggled with the changes of distance, and a few headed off the path at what they thought must be about the right distance from the 'send point' without waiting to pick up the scent. They needed to be called back to the path and sent off again, and we made sure their next search was a nice easy one if they went wrong at all. There was really not much wind again (down side of the lovely weather) which made it hard for them. Also, the handlers had to be in charge of telling the 'body' which side of the track to hide, and how far and deep to go. We had to bring along our powder pots to test wind direction for ourselves too although the instructors were checking that what we were suggesting was reasonable. We were using radios for the 'body' to communicate with the instructor as we were going further out of sight than before. Merla did well, and wasn't fooled by the changing distances. Despite hurtling off like a shot out of a canon she doesn't seem to overshoot. I did think she'd lost the plot once, as she headed off on the other side of the path to where the body was (I knew which side they were, but had no idea about their actual position) but I left her to it, and it turned out she'd picked up the scent cone as it wafted away, and had followed it downwind a bit to get her bearings, then successfully quartered upwind to find the body. One interesting thing she does is that she comes back to see where I am once she's located the body. The advanced dogs do this, and they're often taught to woof to say 'I've found it, follow me!'. The beginner dogs are just expected to stay with the body (who has the toy) but Merla seems to have sussed that no fun will occur until I get there too, so comes back to hurry me up! She has a different expression at these times, as distinct from the 'I haven't a clue mum, where do I go?' look. Hard to describe but it's something about the ears, and the way she looks me straight in the eye that says 'Come on, slowcoach!' I don't know if being a retriever makes her more likely to come back to me, or maybe the clicker work where she's more used to delayed rewards and rewards coming from the handler, but interesting anyway. It's certainly not a fault on her part, it's just not what the dogs would normally do. Unremitting positivity still from all instructors towards all dogs and handlers. OH said how happy I looked when I got in, and I think it's because they've created an atmosphere where you don't ever feel you've got it 'wrong', just sometimes stuff needs tweaking. Also, this week I really felt we were working as a team, and I was trusting Merla's little nose to come up with the goods
