Continual rain and strong winds have driven us inside for much of the week, as we experience the wettest winter in 33 years. So when it finally eases, we sneak out for a quick scent training session. Most of our training has been indoors to date but we're starting to mix things up a little because when spring & summer arrives, Jason will be outdoors more often and Bailey needs to know that he can go low or high out there too. His alerting has been very reliable during our training, so we can move to an unfamiliar training place. Dogs learn through association, so he needs to connect all places and situations with his alert work.
I planted a low scent on Jason and then we waited for Bailey to recognise the scent. He picked it up straight away and sniffed Jason's mouth, then sat and gave a positive signal.
His numerous retrievals of the glucose meter as part of his alert chain prompt me to work on training Bailey to retrieve the meter on command.
I start in our hallway with all the doors closed to the rooms off it. Tossing the spare meter case that I have which is filled with a piece of cloth folds over several times inside it, I say "Get Meter". He soon realises he must deliver the meter back to me, and when he does I say "Thank you" to verbally cue him to drop it. Then I reward him with a treat. I repeat the process for about five minutes and then stop and do it again later that day. On the second day he is delivering the meter consistently, so I move to the living room and he's retrieving it and dropping it in my hand. Next Bailey watches my daughter places it on a chair whilst I hold onto his collar and when I release him I ask him to "Get Meter" and he delivers it back. I increase the distance and complexity of each retrieval every time we play this so that soon enough he will be able to bring myself or Jason the meter wherever it may be in the house.
I planted a low scent on Jason and then we waited for Bailey to recognise the scent. He picked it up straight away and sniffed Jason's mouth, then sat and gave a positive signal.
His numerous retrievals of the glucose meter as part of his alert chain prompt me to work on training Bailey to retrieve the meter on command.
I start in our hallway with all the doors closed to the rooms off it. Tossing the spare meter case that I have which is filled with a piece of cloth folds over several times inside it, I say "Get Meter". He soon realises he must deliver the meter back to me, and when he does I say "Thank you" to verbally cue him to drop it. Then I reward him with a treat. I repeat the process for about five minutes and then stop and do it again later that day. On the second day he is delivering the meter consistently, so I move to the living room and he's retrieving it and dropping it in my hand. Next Bailey watches my daughter places it on a chair whilst I hold onto his collar and when I release him I ask him to "Get Meter" and he delivers it back. I increase the distance and complexity of each retrieval every time we play this so that soon enough he will be able to bring myself or Jason the meter wherever it may be in the house.