Papaw, ESD
Papaw, the ESD dog! What's ESD, you say? Electronic storage device. That's right. Papaw is being trained to sniff out all of your SD cards, thumb drives, and hard drives. Don't worry, he doesn't care about those embarrassing pictures from spring break. He's on the lookout for human traffickers, child pornographers, and all of the white collar, narcotics, and terrorist crimes/acts that are fueled by the transfer of NFTs and crypto currency.
Here we are building his focus on the odor. We start the game with the tin on a larger platform and reward his interaction. Next, the tin is moved towards the edge of the platform. If he knocks it off it's a reset, and if it stays on it's a reward! During a reset I remove the ability for him to get reinforced and send him to place. Watch as the platform gets smaller!!!
Tennis
If you pay attention, your dog will tell you exactly what they find valuable. That list usually includes kibble, treats, head scratches, attention, or playtime. This was a new one for me, but Guppy kept hitting the ball to my feet while I sat in the hotel lobby working on some notes from the seminar I'm attending. I encourage everyone to enjoy their dog and take advantage of opportunities like this! This silly game lasted almost 30 minutes, which was almost 30 minutes of a wagging tail and a smiling human! The bond with your dog will never be strong enough.
Guppy the (forever) puppy is all grown up!
Amigo
There's no such thing as perfection. We know it's time to move on to the next phase of training when a dog is 80% successful. By that standard, this is the last session with only two paint cans for Amigo! There's a major difference in his body language and behavior because his confidence levels with training are growing. He knows how to be successful now and we will continue to make that criteria more difficult as we go! How do you think we will make the game more difficult for the next session?
Amigo
I started this video on the rep that should've ended the session! You'll see how things can quickly turn south! Amigo goes from being focused, present, and working to wanting to play with the training aid! He continues to grab it from the paint can, bounce around the room with it, and then barks at me and play bows. In other words, he's over the session!!! It would've been easy to get frustrated, yell, or end the training on bad terms but you shouldn't do that! I remained patient and calm and ended the training on a good note. You'll even see as I'm cleaning up he wants to continue. Training should be fun and only reinforce what you want! This will keep them wanting more.
Amigo
Amigo's first session with multiple cans in play! He is learning that only the can with the target odor gets him what he wants. It's important to move them around during the session so he doesn't pattern which can is correct. If he does, I run the risk of teaching him to go towards the location of the can and not the contents! If he picks the wrong can it's important that he is ignored so he can realize he needs to guess again. Can you guess which can is correct before he does?
Amigo
More indication work with Amigo! This video is actually an entire session! In less than five minutes you can see the progress he makes towards a consistent "down" when he smells the target odor. We always take a few steps back to begin each season but quickly increase the criteria. The last rep is slowed down because you can really see that light bulb go off when he realizes what he needs to do! He drops like a sack of potatoes! He got the jackpot for that, and we ended the session on a positive note!
Guppy
Guppy working on her paper currency skills!!!
Amigo
Here's a peek at building an indication with Amigo. His indication when he smells a cell phone will be to down. We are still building focus and also shaping the indication in hopes of putting the two together in the near future! While he is trying to figure out the correct answer you'll see him paw at the can, stare at me, bark, and wag his tail. Those are all signs that he is trying to figure out what I want because he's offering different behaviors! By increasing the criteria that leads to him getting his reinforcement (in this case his breakfast) he is challenged to problem solve!
Amigo- Cellular
Here's Amigo's first session of odor detection for cell phones. Apple might have "Where's my iPhone?" but I've got a Belgian malinois who doesn't have to be connected to wifi. The powder training aid is inside of a glass jar (TADD) inside of the black box. His job in the early stages is to focus on the odor and have positive interactions while the odor is present. This will allow him to build a focus to the target odor while the environment is distracting and teach him that he gets something good when that odor is present! I'm using his breakfast to reward him for focus, which you can see better with the video sped up. I introduced some light distractions of me petting him and moving the box. As always, three strikes and you're out. When he broke focus the third time, I tossed food away from the box allowing me to pick it up without taking it from him. Just a few sessions in and this best boy is well on his way to helping me find my phone in the couch cushions, but more importantly helping find things that are hidden for not so good reasons. Thanks for cheering him on!!!
