Matt and Cheyenne (access until March 15, 2014)

[Alana McGee]

Hi Matt.
To post your video, copy the YouTube URL. Then click on the YouTube button above the reply box here. Insert the link, click “apply link” and submit.

[Matt]

Easy box hides

[Matt]

Harder hide with an easter egg with holes in it and trufle oil.

[Alana McGee]

Hi, Matt! Glad you got your video posted. We are very busy getting ready for tomorrow’s seminar at the moment and will be able to review this after Sunday. Sorry for the delay. I’m very excited to see how training is going!

[Alana McGee]

First off- Great starting cue of “let’s go hunting’- she responds to that even before you, Matt, start moving, which is great. It is good to have a starting cue for your hunt sequences. It is also excellent to see she is checking all of the containers, as this will provide a really nice foundation for transitioning outdoors as it will provide her a guide for visual identification in slightly more distracting and complex scenarios.

Your timing on marking the correct container looks great. You are allowing her enough to pause at the container.

Has she started to offer anymore significant alert behaviors? It appears as she pauses slightly, but that was about all I could tell from the video. We can shape something, or manufacture an alert, but did you notice anything you think you can shape, or in the event she doesn’t offer much, do you have a desired alert you would like from her?

Sounds like she got a chip? (by the crunching…) 🙂

When she finds the correct container, you could even engage her slightly more- draw out the reward sequence- give her a couple of smaller chips, one after another while maintaining communication and praise- and aim to reward (give the treat) at the source of the odor (right over the cup/box). We want to encourage her to stay near the location of the odor during the reward. This will be important later, so it is good to practice now and build that into the behavior chain and reward sequence.

[Alana McGee]

Hi Matt- this video is marked private so we can’t see it. I’ll check back later to see if the settings have changed- there should be settings on the privacy page on youtube that allow embedding on sites I believe.

[Matt]

Advanced Hides Video. I have been shaping Cheyennes alert which will be tapping her foot where the truffles will be found and you can see the beginning of this at the end of the video.

Also i am rewarding at the site of the scent but when i tried to capture that on video i kept droipping the treat/reward……so excuse the mess….haha.

[Alana McGee]

Again, great start sequence. (This is in reference to the easter egg hide)

I do like how she uses that herding dog memory of hers to recheck previous areas. Although she doesn’t have a strong alert yet, be aware of her doing this, as that ‘look’ and pause could be interpreted as a subtle alert- in this case however, the target had moved.

The other thing to note, which is good on your part as a handler, is your limited your vocal cues to her- but when she stops to look at you ,it is as if she is posing a question, and by saying ‘go hunting’ you are confirming and encouraging. Nicely done.

Again. Good timing on the reward.

[Alana McGee]

You set up looks great. I like that all of those items have previously been used in some of your training, and they provide other visual interest distractions, an while they are a visual guide for Cheyenne should she need it, there are many of them, which increase the difficulty.

She knows her start cue. We really LOVE to see that. She may be a very literal dog in the long run. This is something to keep in mind that she may only hunt when cued to do so, despite environmental factors of being active in a truffle patch. Just, file that away for later.

She does appear more at ease off lead.

Try to be cognizant of your verbal cues. At the 0:40 notice how you use the ‘go hunting’ cue again. You are by no means being excessive in your communicating information, but re- watch the video and see that she was still working out the problem. Allow her to try to continue a search pattern under her own terms. It didn’t happen here, but sometimes when you vocalize while the dog is working like that you may break them off odor accidentally because they will be focused on what you just said as opposed to the behavior they were just executing.

You can however provide encouragement/ a quieter ‘good job’ because we want her to know that her searching behavior is good! I like to see her work through an area not find it, change direction etc. She is working through space.

Don’t let the fact that she was near the odor and didn’t find it right away discourage you. in indoor areas scent columns/ cones move differently because of the lack of wind, and also dissipate less readily from previous areas where odor was hidden.

0:55- Perfect Matt. She stopped to look at you at an old hide site (if you hid something in that shoe, there may be lingering odor). You did well, simple provide her cue- which she takes! That was very nice.

1:12 GREAT to see her linger, and interact with the object where the odor source is hidden. Very nice. It shows a distinct difference between this and when she found the lingering scent. It was hard to see the ‘foot tap’ or if it was just a nose interaction- but either way, you are noticing the difference in her behavior for when she finds lingering scent to when she finds odor source.

Very nice guys! Good work and keep it up. AND good work on lengthening the praise when she does find it. You can draw it out even more. I know the treats dropped… but you get the idea!

[Alana McGee]

Hi Matt.
Your quiz is graded. You can view instructor comments by hovering over the grade.

[Alana McGee]

Hi Matt. Your 10 week forum access has expired. I’ll be closing this topic soon. Please let us know if you would like to sign up for the Extended Support forum where you can continue to post video and questions for feedback. You can purchase access to the Extended Support forum HERE.

It has been a pleasure watching and helping you and Cheyenne begin this new adventure together!
Kristin

[Author]

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