Kavik

He is gorgeous! Looks quite a bit like Kaos!

My guess would be The Power of Training Dogs with Food (I only have the tugging one).

Starting up a new sport at a club is hard as nobody really knows what they are doing, or the best way to train. Treiball is starting up here, people are still experimenting with how to train it, even how to start the training, and trying to figure out what the higher levels of competition should be like - are directionals needed, obstacles etc.

I haven't been in a few years, but every time I have been there these breeds have been Schipperke (I love them so always visit) Koolie GSD Amstaff Bull Terrier Manchester Terrier These are the ones I remember as I visit them.

I agree, doing scent detection through a club could be tricky re contamination of the area etc. Wonder if there are any near my parents, I could check them out next time I visit the USA :laugh: Would love to see a competition, just to see how they run it. From the results website, a wide variety of breeds competing. Or maybe just go visit Nekhbet - would be closer anyway :laugh: I only played around with it at home.

Hi Erny Yes it sounds like the same course - a stand alone course that went for several days with different guest speakers and demos. I haven't really done any nosework since that little bit with Zoe. Dabbled a bit in tracking with tracking with Diesel. Getting them to use their nose is so interesting!

Looks like in competition you will only be able to do passive response, though they don't specify what it has to be . It will be hard to do the tests and not have contamination of the area. Trying to make sure they are looking for the target odour and not something else with it is the difficult part since we don't really know what they are smelling! As with a lot of dog training, proofing is the hardest and most important part.

I am certainly not saying you can't train another way - when I did the scent detection course in 2003, we didn't learn about reward from source and those reward boxes - instructors were Steve Austin Gary Jackson and some others, which is how I got the information to do the little bit I did. However I do think reward from source sounds like a very interesting way to train, and I hadn't thought about rewarding like that before. The guy doing the Leerburg DVD has some good credentials too. I may have a look at the DVD when it comes out. And yes Dasha, to do scent detection work properly with the aim of using it in a real working environment is very complicated with making sure they are only going for target odor - that is what makes it so fascinating as we can't comprehend the awesomeness of their sense of smell! The other proofing is probably more important than whether you trained reward from source or not - you have to be able to trust the dog.

Looking at the freebies on Leerburg about Nosework - looks like eventually they fade out reward from source directly and instead reward from the handler thrown near the odor. The reward from source would only be done in setups in training where the area would be easily accessed. You wouldn't move to searches in more difficult to access places until you had moved from reward directly at source (like scent boxes/walls) to reward thrown near source by handler. I do think it sounds like it would help reduce the amount of handler reliance/look to handler as the dog would be more focused on the odor source rather than looking at the handler for reward. I agree that they should only alert when told to work.

Yeah handler technique is where I had some problems :laugh: .Training on my own without assistance or people to troubleshoot with didn't help either. Zoe was not too bad by the end, needed to do more proofing though, was not able to get it up to 3 odors under testable destractions and new location needed to pass the course. I did active response food reward, shaped the dig response by putting food under a milk carton and using a clicker to build up duration of digging, reward from me. Then put target odor with the food under the milk carton. I like the reward from source idea, sounds like it could produce more independent searching and a stronger alert.

It looks like training in this area has progressed from last time I looked - pretty sure I didn't learn about reward from source as much when I did the course in 2003. Little bit surrounding tug, but not with the ball propelling type set up that Nekhbet showed. That sounds like an awesome way to get such focus on the target odor and reduce some of the issues surrounding handler reward/focus inadvertently helping/cueing dogs and them waiting for this when the source placement is known.

Great video Nekhbet - that is so awesome! :laugh: Active response was great fun but yeah the destructive factor :laugh: so next time I think I will do passive, will make it easier to demo to people too.

Did you use a dig/scratch alert or a sit alert Nekhbet? I trained a dig alert, but next time I give it a go I think I will do a sit alert - more dificult to demo and more destructive to do a dig alert :laugh: though it was heaps of fun to teach and fun for the dog to do.

I noticed that Leerburg was making some new videos on scent detection, but didn't think too much about it (they make lots of working dog videos), and then today when looking for articles on tracking and scentwork, came across this site. Looks like scent detection could be a new competition sport in some countries! How cool is that! I briefly toyed with teaching scent detction in 2003 when I did a scent detection course through NDTF but never managed to complete the practical section (life got in the way, and Zoe was my only training dog at the time, and I struggled with her aggression issues). http://www.funnosework.com/home.html

I did the same as Jumabaar when my lot got too silly/rough with play - in the crates until everyone calmed down. Kaos and Diesel are best mates (now nearly 6yrs and 8yrs) and love to play together, when they were younger things could sometimes get a bit rough.

I personally wouldn't rely on other dogs to tech Bear how to play nicely with other dogs - as that could lead to a fight. At the very best they may learn not to mess with some dogs but quickly learn which dogs they have it over - very good at reading body language. What about getting in a trainer to show you how to teach him to play more gently if that is what you want?

And here is a comparison doing SAR work Malinois GSD

Everyone always cheers if a dog manages to take down a helper :laugh:

People ask me this all the time too when I talk to them about getting a Malinois or show them a video of one - but really if you see them side by side the differences are very obvious. The third and last one on this video are Malinois, the rest GSD. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkOK49JYQSg&feature=related

Don't get a Kelpie if: You don't like exercising your dog - even in the rain You are not prepared to do training or give the dog some sort of mental stimulation or some sort of job You want a dog that is quiet

I wouldn't let the kids lie on the dog or throw their arms around them to hug them, it is not a safe way for them to interact.

How are her entries? Can she find them on her own from all angles? If she is still struggling with entries I would go back to 4 poles and work on those from all angles and directions first. Personally I prefer to run them only in one direction each session (both sides, but only one direction if that makes sense). Yay for 60cm spacing! That will make it easier.

Do you mean better on the right or left side? Or when going a certain direction in your yard? If left/right side I would work on getting them to be the same - so do work on the weaker side. I also find being confident helps, and instead of babying instead just say oops and try again.

Great photos of the dogs! Some lovely ones there at the moment

Yes if I could get results like that (regardless of reward I was using) I would be very happy Up until around October last year I had given up on getting Kaos to tug, was quite happy to stay with thrown toy and food. It is mostly because I have had a few issues with Kaos running out of the ring and a couple of other focus issues and several people suggested getting him to tug would help with engagement and relationship building that I got serious about getting him to tug more reliably. It is actually going really well and I have actually gotten quite a lot further than I thought I would in this time frame - getting him to tug happily around his favourite toy, one game of combining food and tug, tugging outside the front gate. Most likely I will stay with his favourite thrown toy for an agility reward, unless we really exceed my expectations and I am able to get him tugging happily in other locations. As I really would like to be able to use tugging as a reward with future dogs, I may as well practice on the dog I have now!