The kids started back at school last week after a great two week break. Bailey picked up the blood glucose meter off the bedside table first thing Tuesday morning and carried it out to Jason who had plonked himself in front the T.V. before school. I was in the bathroom, so when Jason took no notice of him, he picked it up again and carried it in to me and dropped it at my feet. I tested Jason immediately and he was 4.2!
The scent samples used for Bailey's scent imprinting were mainly taken at 4.2 and 4.3 and I'm noticing that these are the BGL's he picks up on. I wonder if the scent smells at all different when he drops below this and if other alert dog pick up on the exact BGL's that were used in their training? I find the whole process so intriguing. Mornings are the only time that Bailey has access to Jason's meter as it sits on the bedside table from the night before, so I'm going to start leaving it within his reach elsewhere, to see if he starts to use it as part of his alert chain at other times too.
I have also been working on refining 'Go Get Help', which involves Bailey going to find me wherever I may be in the house and alert me that Jason needs my help and then leads me back to him. We commenced this training in week seven of the training program, which started off with Jason & I standing about 5 feet apart with Bailey at his side. Jason would say "Go get help" and I would call Bailey to me and then lead him back to Jason with a reward in my hand which Jason would then give to him. In the beginning, he would plod along to me as I called him, wondering what it was exactly he was to do but within a few weeks of practicing this, he knew what was expected of him. Now when we do this, he bounds off to find me wherever I am in the house and stands in front of me. He hasn't got the final stage where he's suppose to 'show me' by leading me to where Jason is. If I was distracted and he was sent to get me, I may not recognise the alert. So, when he comes to get me now, I have him do a 'spin' (which I'm teaching him by placing kibble in my hand and then leading him around in a circle, saying 'spin' at the same time), then I ask him to 'show me' so that in time, he will recognise what this means also. We have tried this with other people so that he doesn't get used to alerting just me, and eventually, we'll try it out with someone he's not familiar with too.
I have also continued working on preparatory training to night alert training, so when he's immersed in a game of tug, I wave the scent source over his head and he has been stopping straight away to find the scent.
Because he's giving reliable alerts even whilst distracted with a game of tug, I can now move onto waving the scent over his head when he's asleep. It has been difficult to find an opportunistic time to do this as he's sleeping lighter now and seems more aware than ever, even at night. But finally I found the opportunity to do this today. It took several waves over his head with the scent source before I saw his nose starting to twitch and then he woke up and sniffed around. I rewarded him straight away and will continue to do this throughout the week where possible.
The scent samples used for Bailey's scent imprinting were mainly taken at 4.2 and 4.3 and I'm noticing that these are the BGL's he picks up on. I wonder if the scent smells at all different when he drops below this and if other alert dog pick up on the exact BGL's that were used in their training? I find the whole process so intriguing. Mornings are the only time that Bailey has access to Jason's meter as it sits on the bedside table from the night before, so I'm going to start leaving it within his reach elsewhere, to see if he starts to use it as part of his alert chain at other times too.
I have also been working on refining 'Go Get Help', which involves Bailey going to find me wherever I may be in the house and alert me that Jason needs my help and then leads me back to him. We commenced this training in week seven of the training program, which started off with Jason & I standing about 5 feet apart with Bailey at his side. Jason would say "Go get help" and I would call Bailey to me and then lead him back to Jason with a reward in my hand which Jason would then give to him. In the beginning, he would plod along to me as I called him, wondering what it was exactly he was to do but within a few weeks of practicing this, he knew what was expected of him. Now when we do this, he bounds off to find me wherever I am in the house and stands in front of me. He hasn't got the final stage where he's suppose to 'show me' by leading me to where Jason is. If I was distracted and he was sent to get me, I may not recognise the alert. So, when he comes to get me now, I have him do a 'spin' (which I'm teaching him by placing kibble in my hand and then leading him around in a circle, saying 'spin' at the same time), then I ask him to 'show me' so that in time, he will recognise what this means also. We have tried this with other people so that he doesn't get used to alerting just me, and eventually, we'll try it out with someone he's not familiar with too.
I have also continued working on preparatory training to night alert training, so when he's immersed in a game of tug, I wave the scent source over his head and he has been stopping straight away to find the scent.
Because he's giving reliable alerts even whilst distracted with a game of tug, I can now move onto waving the scent over his head when he's asleep. It has been difficult to find an opportunistic time to do this as he's sleeping lighter now and seems more aware than ever, even at night. But finally I found the opportunity to do this today. It took several waves over his head with the scent source before I saw his nose starting to twitch and then he woke up and sniffed around. I rewarded him straight away and will continue to do this throughout the week where possible.