Intro to Scent Detection - Week 2
Change of Behaviour - What is it and Why do we need it?
Change of Behaviour (COB) is something we are always watching for in our dogs. The COB is the actions that your dogs displays when they are "in odour" (when they smell the odour and are trying to figure out where it is). COB helps us to know our dog is hopefully close to finding the hide. It is important for us to be able to read our dogs and the situation. There may be times that you need to help your dog out if it is particularly hard hide. Also, if we do not notice a COB you can inadvertently pull our dog away from a hide they are trying to figure out.
Things that are considered COBs are:
- heavier breathing
- holding their breath
- closing their mouth
- starting or stopping wagging their tail
- bracing their body stance
- head snap towards odour
- faster or slower pace
- pawing at a hide
- sitting or laying down
A COB is any change in their normal behaviour.
Things that are considered COBs are:
- heavier breathing
- holding their breath
- closing their mouth
- starting or stopping wagging their tail
- bracing their body stance
- head snap towards odour
- faster or slower pace
- pawing at a hide
- sitting or laying down
A COB is any change in their normal behaviour.
Exercise 1 - Simple Interior Search
Pick a room with a few different places you can hide things (such as your garage, living room or kitchen)
Step 1: Pick a very easy place to place your hide that is nose level for your dog (such as sitting on a chair/coffee table)
Let this hide sit for 15 mins before searching. This is important to allow the smell to be readily available to the dog.
Step 2: Cue your dog to search and go into the area
Step 3: Watch for you dog to show COB or interest in the area where you put the hide
Step 4: Mark and reward for interest (reward close to source)
** Right now we are rewarding any interest or sniffing of the hide - we want to be quick to reward so they know this smell is what brings the reward **
Simple Tin Intro Search Video
www.youtube.com/shorts/MNoIkaeFos0
Step 1: Pick a very easy place to place your hide that is nose level for your dog (such as sitting on a chair/coffee table)
Let this hide sit for 15 mins before searching. This is important to allow the smell to be readily available to the dog.
Step 2: Cue your dog to search and go into the area
Step 3: Watch for you dog to show COB or interest in the area where you put the hide
Step 4: Mark and reward for interest (reward close to source)
** Right now we are rewarding any interest or sniffing of the hide - we want to be quick to reward so they know this smell is what brings the reward **
Simple Tin Intro Search Video
www.youtube.com/shorts/MNoIkaeFos0
Exercise 2 - Intro to Container Searches (True False 2 Container)
Step 1: Set up 2 of the same containers side by side, one with odor (allow this setup to sit for 15 mins prior to searching)
Step 2: Cue your dog to search and direct them to the container (watch your dog for any COB or interest in the correct container)
Step 3: You may need to help your dog as they have not seen many containers and may not realize what you are asking them to do
Step 4: Mark and reward when the dog shows interest in the correct container (big reward, as close to source as possible)
Step 5: Put your dog aside and switch the containers around
Practice this a few times until your dog is consistently showing interest (and hopefully starting to offer some indication behaviour as well) in the correct container. Slowly add additional containers to your practice as your dog begins to understand the activity.
** Containers should have some time of holes to allow scent to exit easily **
Step 2: Cue your dog to search and direct them to the container (watch your dog for any COB or interest in the correct container)
Step 3: You may need to help your dog as they have not seen many containers and may not realize what you are asking them to do
Step 4: Mark and reward when the dog shows interest in the correct container (big reward, as close to source as possible)
Step 5: Put your dog aside and switch the containers around
Practice this a few times until your dog is consistently showing interest (and hopefully starting to offer some indication behaviour as well) in the correct container. Slowly add additional containers to your practice as your dog begins to understand the activity.
** Containers should have some time of holes to allow scent to exit easily **
Exercise 3 - Ramsey Ish Method of Pairing
The Ramsey method heavily focuses on having a pattern and a nose hold alert.
Step 1: Open the cupboards and bottom drawers. Place your scent tin in the first cupboard/drawer.
Step 2: Start with a drawer, closest to your start line point (the one with the tin) and drop a high value treat in the drawer.
Step 3: Cue your dog to search, and when the nose dips into the drawer, drop in more treats OR
get in there fast and low and reward. Jackpot big reward!
Step 4: Do this 3 times in a row, exactly the same
Step 5: Move to the next drawer or cupboard, put treats and tin in there and begin the search
again. Reward the same way.
You should see a strong drive to the search, you should see checking of the first drawer
before moving to the next.
Below is a video example: here’s how it looks as the shaping has begun (this was us after already
repeating the search in the first cupboard so this is cupboard #2 - treat is in the red dish
you can just see in the video)
https://photos.app.goo.gl/d4LVJXC1womzQwFG9
Step 1: Open the cupboards and bottom drawers. Place your scent tin in the first cupboard/drawer.
Step 2: Start with a drawer, closest to your start line point (the one with the tin) and drop a high value treat in the drawer.
Step 3: Cue your dog to search, and when the nose dips into the drawer, drop in more treats OR
get in there fast and low and reward. Jackpot big reward!
Step 4: Do this 3 times in a row, exactly the same
Step 5: Move to the next drawer or cupboard, put treats and tin in there and begin the search
again. Reward the same way.
You should see a strong drive to the search, you should see checking of the first drawer
before moving to the next.
Below is a video example: here’s how it looks as the shaping has begun (this was us after already
repeating the search in the first cupboard so this is cupboard #2 - treat is in the red dish
you can just see in the video)
https://photos.app.goo.gl/d4LVJXC1womzQwFG9
Search Patterns
Search patterns can be a hot topic with differing views. Some people want to heavily direct the search and others want to allow their dogs to go and search independently. We believe in having a bond with your dog and knowing when to step in and help a dog that is working but possibly struggling.
Having a search pattern can be very helpful for us as a handler to know we have searched an entire area. It also can help us to assess a search and plan to use wind/air flow to our advantage.
When doing an interior search we like to search in a circular pattern and do the perimeter first. This helps with a couple things - we can see if our dog head snaps into the middle of an area and know that we should go that direction and it helps us to catch any threshold hides (a hide that is right inside of a search area, usually on either side of your "start line"). Once we have done the perimeter one direction we often will switch and do the perimeter again - this allows us to see if we can catch the odour cone from a different direction. After we have done these two sweeps we then move into the middle of the room and will try and continue to work in a methodical pattern to check any items, the floor etc. If our dog does head snap and pulls us at any time we follow them as they have hopefully caught the scent.
Having a search pattern can be very helpful for us as a handler to know we have searched an entire area. It also can help us to assess a search and plan to use wind/air flow to our advantage.
When doing an interior search we like to search in a circular pattern and do the perimeter first. This helps with a couple things - we can see if our dog head snaps into the middle of an area and know that we should go that direction and it helps us to catch any threshold hides (a hide that is right inside of a search area, usually on either side of your "start line"). Once we have done the perimeter one direction we often will switch and do the perimeter again - this allows us to see if we can catch the odour cone from a different direction. After we have done these two sweeps we then move into the middle of the room and will try and continue to work in a methodical pattern to check any items, the floor etc. If our dog does head snap and pulls us at any time we follow them as they have hopefully caught the scent.