Reply To: Jenny Catlett & Baxter (Mixed Breed)

[Alana McGee]

Hi Jenny

Taking him to work in the garage and new places is great! Remember that while it may not seem like a lot, every time you change something about the environment, including surfaces Baxter is working on, it will make the game slightly different and harder. But starting to work in new rooms is perfect!

And yes, tons of energy is not necessarily every dogs style! Baxter is a thoughtful fellow but he is VERY clear in his alerts in comfortable settings, so that is GREAT. And notice how he stays at source. Well done. The bow/ lie down is looking really nice. Remember when you change environment he may truncate this alert and so give a little more leeway with criteria.

You are spot on with your self analysis. Be a little quicker on a few of those clicks, but it’s not bad. 0:47 Good job you Jenny for holding out for more of a pronounced alert behavior. That is exactly what we want at this stage. Other students please remember that you can wait for a more pronounced behavior (sometimes it is offered via frustration), but be aware and try to notice when your dog is thinking he is “wrong”. We want to avoid this. If it happens in a training scenario, it’s ok., just make sure that you try to get them back and engaged and reward more much less stringent criteria to re-establish what you are looking for as a baseline behavior.

0:59 GOOD. You see he is watching you (That’s ok too at this stage) but then you re arrange. I think we can safely say the little fellow knows odor!

This looks really good Jenny. If you haven’t done so- start trying to work in slightly larger spaces. Put the targets/ decoys farther away form one another.

If you want to try to bring his energy level up (but it isn’t we don’t feel absolutely necessary) at this juncture, have more of a party when he finds it. Be genuinely excited. That doesn’t mean jump to level 12 on the energy level scale (1 thru 10!) if he is at a 4, but work on having a bit more of a party. It is pretty flawless, but a little mechanical at present, and he should be LOVING this game!

Your timing and set ups look really nice.

Also start to work on once he alerts on that container which holds odor, open it up- start a “reveal” process and see if you can have him alert on the odor inside the box. This elongates the reward sequence and you can build a little enthusiasm into more. For more insight on this, take a look at the example forum with Lois & Monza and their box hides. Baxter will not be exactly like Monza of course, but it will gigue you some perspective.