Willie X Ladybug pups @ 6 wks. I predict these three will be the fire breathing dragons of the Lab world. They are not for sale, we have some special plans for them.
In this short piece of shaping/UDC odor association you can see two things. The first is the pup morph into a sit TFR (trained final response). The second is my effort to negate that response by marking earlier. To be clear I picked this pup up Saturday and have done absolutely no obedience work with him. This is also the first time he has seen this odor “picture”. It amazes me how strong some behaviors become in such a short time period with limited reinforcement history.
DHK9 prospect Stryper
Today we built off of the foundation work we did yesterday. I replaced the tennis ball with a clean/aired hollow chuck it ball. Inside the ball are three cotton balls impregnated with UDC (Universal Detector Calibrant) odor. This is a synthetic odor which was specifically designed to smell like nothing else on earth. For a much more detailed explanation I’ve attached this link https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10963624/ At this point I am beginning to classically condition this pup to this odor in addition to simultaneously enhancing pups desire to chase, retrieve, and collectively possess a high value toy. I’ve also attached a picture of two TADDs (Training Aid Delivery Device(s)) which are connected. This allows the UDC odor in one TADD to flow into the second TADD containing the cotton balls, impregnating the cotton balls with the UDC odor. The wonderful aspect of the TADD with the UDC odor is that it has a built in “one way” membrane which only allows the odor to emanate from it. It does not allow any other odor to pass through the opposite way and contaminate the source (UDC) odor. For more information on TADDs, follow this link- https://www.scik9.com/ Feel free to ask any questions you have about the things you see. This is only one of many ways to condition a dog to odor.
French Ring Brevet
Both grateful and proud of the owners of DHK9 dogs who expend the substantial amounts of time, effort, and money to “bloom the genetics” (iykyk) of the pups we produce!! Big Congratulations to Erin Roy-Jourdin and her young bitch Furies on earning their French Ring Brevet this weekend in Andover CT. Please help us wish Erin & Furies the best of luck in the future on what we hope is a long, productive, and healthy French Ring journey!
Hey, look at my toy! Wouldn’t you like to try to get it away from me?!. No, I’ve obviously got one of my own and was hoping you’d try to get it from ME!