04/04/2024
This post is for all my nosework/scentwork friends. The topic - DROPPED TREATS.
This is a common problem we all hit eventually at trials. You are in a search and your dog begins searching the ground, noticeably and vigorously searching the ground. You know for sure this behavior is not your dog working odor. Your dog is working for dropped treats from a previous team who has been in the search area ahead of you.
I had someone express to me the frustration she encountered throughout a recent trial, literally in every search, because each search area had been seriously littered with treats. She followed someone who was dropping treats everywhere.
This can happen due to several reasons:
1. A poorly closed treat pouch which allows the treats to dispense to the ground as the handler moves through the area.
2. The dog drops a treat in the hand to mouth delivery payment.
3. A handler uses treats that are too small to hang on to and the handler fumbles the treat.
4. Treats that are crunchy and too large to be eaten quickly, thus the crunchy crumbles are dropped and litter the area.
5. Treats that are very moist (sopping wet) and all that juicy goodness goes all over the search area.
6. The treat is soft and crumbly ( cooked chicken) and again, those lovely bits shred and drop to the floor.
There is nothing as frustrating as having your dog working hard to find odor and then have him/her go off the searching rails to chase a tasty tidbit or several of them on the ground. This is literally a trial killer for that team. Yes dogs are supposed to ignore the tasty tidbits, but, it happens to all of us. One of my big dogs actually wedged himself under a wheel to get a dropped treat.
Now think of this- your dog finds a dropped treat near something in the search area. Do you think the hide is nearby, or did the previous dog walk off from being paid and dropped the treat away from the hide? Do you stay and ask your dog to search more intently the area near the found treat or move on? See how it can get in your head!
How can we help each other to avoid this? It is really pretty simple!
A. Use pockets on vests or jackets that can secure your treats, or use pouches with magnetic closures. Don’t use these open mouthed pouches that will not secure treats as you bend down to reward your dog.
B. Use treats that are quickly consumed and size appropriate for your dog’s mouth, and better a little smaller than larger.
C. Use treats that hold together (cheese, a piece of beef, any commercial treat that is soft but not crumbly).
D. Do not take a lot of treats into a search with you. Take only enough to cover the few hides in the search and a few extra to celebrate back to the car. You do not need a half pound of treats in your pocket for 1 or 2 searches. Reload as needed.
Consideration for the teams following you is paramount, and I always feel like good things will come back home to me if I am considerate of others.
We will drop a treat, it happens. If you know you dropped one, be considerate and pick it up, even if you might incur a fault.
