Training with Distraction & K9 Nose Work

This weekend Porter and I meet up with two other dog friends to do some training together. I used Google maps to pick a grassy location between our homes. Little did I know that this spot is an unofficial off-leash dog park for the neighborhood. Thankfully I had Porter with me and not my reactive terrier. Our plan was to work on a rally course and some obedience exercises. I was hoping to also do some CGC work.

I previously mentioned how I was trying to keep play and training areas separate to help with Porter's focus. Well this had to be thrown out the window on Sunday since the off leash dogs were not going to leave us alone. So I let Porter go run amok off leash and much to my surprise he still very much wanted to work!! He did play, but quickly came back when I called and did pretty well on his heeling and some rally moves. Very impressive for a 6 month old pup to be able to focus like that when there are young off leash dogs frolicking next to us.

Once the park settled down and we were mostly alone I set up a rally course to work on. By the time it was ready Porter was pooped. I still took him through it and he did ok, but he lagged quite a bit. Bad trainer! I should have just scrapped the idea or only done one or two signs with enthusiasm and end it on a good note. I don't think it will slow his training down but I should know better and no matter what I had planned or how much work setting the course is I need to respect what I am reading form Porter. He still had fun, but I don't want to encourage slow responses or make him think rally is tiring.

This was also his first time off leash in an area that is not fenced in. The Fiesta Island dog park is mostly fenced. There are a two gaps where the surf meets the turf but those can easily be avoided. At first I wasn't sure about letting Porter off leash at this new park, but it's pretty isolated and I felt he would stick near his friend, Mira. He never went far at all, so I had nothing to worry about (this time?). I will keep working on his recall so he can enjoy more experiences like this but I won't just willy nilly let him off leash. Having one reactive dog I fully understand the damage a "friendly" off leash dog can do when he comes galloping up to a reactive dog on leash.

Today I taught another session of Nose Work and I almost left Porter at home. As I mentioned before, while being crated in the lobby with the other two dogs he's been whining and barking. I think it is in part due to the fact that the other dogs make a fuss, but also because he can hear me talking and praising the working dog but he can't see me. Instead of leaving him behind I decided to crate him in another room we sometimes have access to. This set up worked much better! He did bark a few times but over all he was pretty quiet.

He was able to do a few searches during class and when my clients left he did a couple more. I have to say he really has a nose on him.

One hide was on a couch but behind a throw pillow. He instantly narrowed down the search area to that corner of the room but he couldn't quite find it. I think the scent was moving up over the pillow and couch since as he would get closer he would lift his head and nose as high into the air as he could. He continued to search back and forth, going a little farther away and quickly u-turning when he realized he was getting farther away from the source. You could see his brain and nose working. In the end he found it and it was fascinating to watch. I wish I had this search on video.

The rest of the searches went well, too. He's not just sticking his head in boxes or other items anymore but really scenting the area and honing in on the source. As our training went on you could see how tiring this sport is. ow at home, Porter is completely wiped out.

It's really fun to watch him hunt and you can tell he loves it! He prances and darts around the room. Today he even began drooling during this first search!

I think it's time to make things harder with him, either add exterior searches or begin odor indoors. I can't decide which to do first and either way is acceptable from what I understand.

Dog Sports

Aside from being a family companion, my goal for our new puppy is to be a performance dog. I really enjoy training and working with dogs and find many of the dog sports to be a great outlet and a fun activity to do together.  I have dabbled in a few interesting sports over the years with my Rat Terrier, Indigo.

Indigo and I have a great time training for agility.  She gets a huge rush from running a courses and you can tell that it's naturally rewarding for her.  Rally obedience has been a lot of fun to train and has introduced new skills we had to fine tune such as backing up and pivoting left, both while in heel position.  I really like the control you need to master in this sport and it's great for working on Indi's focus and self control.  A new sport that Indi has really taken a shine to is K9 Nose Work (this is a kind of scent detection work).

When the new pup comes home he will be trained for these sports as well, with agility being my primary focus. In all my reading about FCRs and their owners I keep seeing the same theme.  The owners are just amazed at the sheer joy they see in their dogs when they are out retrieving in the field and doing the work they were bred for.  This has led me to look into field training and what is involved.  I know that most people use forced retrieves and shock collars for this kind of training, but that is not my style.  I'm not interesting in doing that kind of work with my dog and luckily it seems there are some people out there training for field work using positive methods.  There's not many, but they are out there and some have even written books on the subject.

My goal over the next few months is to learn more about field trials so I understand the rules and what is required of the dogs and to read about how to use the clicker or other positive method to teach these skills.  I'm not sure if this sport is for me, but it would be nice to do something so natural for my dog and to do it in a dog friendly way.

Oh, yes, and we might dabble in dock diving as well.  And I imagine a FCR would be great at therapy work.  How many hours are in a day again??