Stop Dog From Perving

[Tangwyn]

Hi there,

We use the term "perving" in detector dogs as well! For us it means that the dog investigates smells or scents for the sake of their own interest rather than engaging in the search as directed. A dog might perve on a bag because it has food or other dog smells on it. To me, there are a few reasons why a dog may engage in mis-directed investigation of its environment, all of them result in a loss of focussed hunt drive;

1) Unrealistic expectation that the novice dog generalises trained behaviours to new environment

2) No consequence for disobedience

3) Reward not of high enough value to keep dog focussed on correct outcome

4) If dog regularly "marks" areas it has investigated then micturition drive may actually be higher than hunt drive. I know that some working dog trainers assess potential recruits' drive to mark territory and they will drop dogs if the drive is too high.

What type of training are you engaging in with this dog in public environments? Is it just obedience work at this stage? If so, I would concentrate on rewards for correct behaviour and consequences for disobedience and loss of focus. You can taylor the consequence to the temperament of your dog. Take a few steps back and build a strong foundation on lead in testing environments before moving to off lead work where it is more difficult to get a well timed correction in.

Good luck!

[Erny]

We use the term "perving" in detector dogs as well! For us it means that the dog investigates smells or scents for the sake of their own interest rather than engaging in the search as directed. A dog might perve on a bag because it has food or other dog smells on it.

Thank you, Tangwyn .... your explanation makes more sense of it and renders the expression "perving" more appropriate. I wasn't imagining the situation as occurring during a scent detection exercise.

[mutchumbo]

Thanks Tangwyn for you input, you've hit the nail well and truly on the head. Eventually this dog will be trained in tracking which will be his bread and butter. Everything else is going for him except his constant perves.

He never marks territory when perving but loses focus none the less. In other environments where scents are less prevalent, it's not an issue. He otherwise has great focus and control.

[Erny]

Thanks Tangwyn for you input, you've hit the nail well and truly on the head. Eventually this dog will be trained in tracking which will be his bread and butter. Everything else is going for him except his constant perves.

Mutchumbo .... I can't help thinking that something was missing during this dog's initial training and/or that the foundation training went too far too fast. But it's really difficult to assess this without more detailed information, such as when training began, what steps were taken, what type of reward is given (and what value of reward), what proofing exercises were conducted (and how) and when the "perving" behaviour began.

[Jeff Jones]

Mutchumbo .... I can't help thinking that something was missing during this dog's initial training and/or that the foundation training went too far too fast. But it's really difficult to assess this without more detailed information, such as when training began, what steps were taken, what type of reward is given (and what value of reward), what proofing exercises were conducted (and how) and when the "perving" behaviour began.

And how old is the dog?

ETA: I am thinking along the same lines as other people with too much too soon.

Edited October 7, 2007 by Jeff Jones

[Erny]

And how old is the dog?

ETA: I am thinking along the same lines as other people with too much too soon.

Yes, thank you Jeff. I meant to ask that question too.

[Arya]

Thanks Tangwyn for you input, you've hit the nail well and truly on the head. Eventually this dog will be trained in tracking which will be his bread and butter. Everything else is going for him except his constant perves.

He never marks territory when perving but loses focus none the less. In other environments where scents are less prevalent, it's not an issue. He otherwise has great focus and control.

Hey mutchumbo, don't know if this comment will help at all but if you are training him for tracking, what method are you using? You might find a different method increases the value of actually tracking and the dog concentrates on the job in hand more, thus forgetting about perving. I have a dog that is very easily distracted in every other facet of her training but when it comes to scent discrimination or tracking she is EXCELLENT. The tracking method I have just been using to teach her is one I know seems to be out of fashion at the moment and don't believe it has ever really been popular in Sch. but I have been working on food in each footstep. This has been brilliant with my dog. She works in areas that horses train (and eliminate!) on, and also rabbits, wallabies etc. Yet she keeps her nose well to the ground, is developing a good deep nose and so far (touch wood) has not lost focus the way she does in Ob work. Anyway my two cents just an amateur suggestion would be to look at the method used to train if that's the work you are doing and see if you can go back a few steps and tweak it. Hope you get something out of my post