Distractions in Nose Work

Adding any of the Ds (distance, duration, distractions)can cause challenges. Much of what I've read and heard is to introduce distractions in Nose Work like you would in other dog sports....slowly.

I chose a different route. Everybody has to pick their own and this is mine...

Nose Work is very different from other sports, but one thing it has in common is that there are many ways to teach a dog to find, and alert, on a source of odor. So I didn't limit my research to just NACSW information. I watch videos on SAR, beginning police K9 training, Andrew Ramsey's Nosework  videos, medical alert dog training...etc. I learned a lot and got a lot of ideas from that, but one thing I picked up from watching some of the narcotic detection training is how quickly they introduce distractions, specifically with the Randy Hare box method...

Okay I definitely don't want Reyna tearing somebody's car apart at a trial, but this did give me the confidence to introduce distractions early in our training and to teach Reyna to obey target odor over her toy or treat. **look up Randy Hare box method for more videos of dogs further along and their ability to handle distractions

We started with her ball in a mostly closed drawer and the odor and ball in another mostly closed drawer. If Reyna were easily discouraged in searches I would have started with the paired hide all the way open and the ball drawer mostly closed, but she is very persistent and driven when it comes to her toys. 

I asked her to search and I intentionally set up the hide so she would get to the ball only drawer first. She pawed, and pawed, and stared, and pawed, and then sniffed in the direction of the source odor...I 

opened the drawer with the paired hide and we had a party!!!

I did that a few more times but after maybe the third I couldn't fool her...she didn't even glance at the ball drawer, she went straight to the paired. The next session I did one like this with no issues so I did the next one with the ball drawer and an unpaired hide...no problem. We had just separated the target odor from the ball odor, and made the target odor more important!!! 

Now to increase distractions I started closing the odor drawer more and opening the ball drawer more  until she could easily snatch the ball. She did once, I didn't fuss, I just took it away and asked her to search again, which she did successfully. The next time we repeated the exercise and she went right past her ball to the odor. ( it's important to have a duplicate or equal/greater value reward for when she alerts on the target odor)

We have since moved to tug as a reward, I haven't done the same distraction training with the tug but we will be working on that and food distraction this weekend...I'll get a video up tomorrow if I can. 

Also another thing i learned in my research is that I really want one of these toy launchers!....

NW1 Here We Come!

WAHOO!!!!! 

So extremely excited about how Sunday turned out!

I have to admit I was pretty darn nervous before we got there. It was a three hour drive from Norms parents where we were staying for the weekend. 1 hour to Melanie's and another 2 hours to Birmingham. Melanie and I caravaned over. Not the best for fuel efficiency, but neither of us wanted to stress our dogs out by adding in too many variables. Plus Biba can be grouchy and Reyna is a pest so they aren't exactly best of friends.

We arrive about half an hour before registration and got the dogs out to play and stretch. There were ball fields there so the dogs got some off leash play time. Melanie brought Rey who Reyna adores and everybody had a good romp before folks started showing up. We moved to the far end of the parking lot where it was quiet and that ended up being an awesome spot to spend the day. Far enough away that I could Reyna out periodically with worrying about tons of other dogs wandering around.

The ORT was very well set up and ran extremely smooth. The briefing started right on time. As we did the walk through somebody said something about converging air currents...*gulp*...then we went by the recovery boxes...in case the dog struggles the recovery boxes provide an opportunity for a quick success to end on a positive note for the dog...I sure hope we don't need those, was all I could think.

The warm up boxes were set up in easy access to everybody with a set for Birch and a set for Anise. It was really a great layout, you could work warm up boxes as long and as often as you needed (being respectful of other people who may need them of course).

After the tour they called "first dog on deck!" and we were off!!!

Reyna and I were number 30ish out of about 40 people...we had a wait. So I used that time to get Reyna in and out of the car, walk around the area, do some levels work, run the warm up boxes, and then rest again. We did that about three or four times and by the end Reyna had settled into the pattern of come out, work a bit, play a bit, back in the car. So after the first few times she hopped out ready to work.

The first time we ran the warm up boxes she alerted right away and I threw the tug...she half heartedly looked at it...hmmm better bring out the good stuff...

I had brought her ball just in case she needed that little extra something to keep her focus. It worked wonders! Her alert is much stronger for the ball. She is driven and consistent with the tug, but the ball is still the holy grail as far as she's concerned. As soon as she figured out she was working for the ball any doubts about her ability to focus disappeared, now I knew my job would be to stay out of her way and give her time.

When they called our name we were ready as we'd ever be. I was super confident in Reyna and I hoped she felt the same. Then we walked into the building...

The floor was rubber, Reyna splayed her feet and crawled across it like it would swallow her whole... CRAP! I had trained for everything but the floor texture!

She perked up a little as we walked through the ring gates, we've done a lot of positive associate with walking through ring gates, then she saw the boxes and her ears came back up. There were strange people everywhere, and at first I thought that would be a major distraction, but looking back I think the comforting site of a bunch of boxes in a row helped her like a security blanket, she knew what her job was.

We walked up to the start line, Reyna's nose may have crossed early, I don't know, but we did our regular routine where I pulled back her harness and say reeeaaaddddyyy????? Go Find!

She was so clear headed it blew my mind, she methodically sniffed every single box. She did a double take on one but no alert, walked all the way back around still checking each box diligently, but got back to the first box with no alert. I took a deep breath and reminded myself we had 3 minutes and not to stress. On our second trip around we came back to the double take box and she confidently laid her chin and a paw on the box. It was so clear I had to laugh as I yelled ALERT! They said Yes and we whooped it up all the way out. I barely noticed the judges, I was too busy smiling at Reyna...she did soooo amazing!

The was our first dog event of any kind so I cant even tell you the high when we bounded past the recovery boxes and grinned like cheshire cats! Reyna and Rey had a well deserved celebratory romp in one of the fenced in ballparks.

We went to lunch with a group of folks from Atlanta and talked about our day...one dog aerted correctly in 8 seconds, another dog made three or four trips around the boxes in 26 seconds....it took us 34 and we only went around twice! It was a wonderful group of women, and I hope we get together again soon!

After lunch it was time for the long drive back to Canton and then home again...it was 10:30pm before were wall settled back in at home. A totally exhausted, but beaming me crawled into bed last night...

NW1 dreams dancing in my head.

Upcoming ORT

I can't believe we only have a few more days until our K9 Nosework ORT!

When we did a mock ORT before the break it took forever for Reyna to stop trying to search the room and to focus on the boxes. Clearly we have not spent enough time on box drills!!!

At first I thought if I only put the hide in the boxes she would "get it". She didn't. She continue to search the room and was getting increasingly frustrated with the game. So we took a break for several days so I could come up with a plan. I wanted her to develop a specific pattern for searching the containers so that she doesn't miss one...hmmm...who do I know that teaches Nosework this way? Andrew Ramsey! He teaches a methodical search pattern using drawers. The same should work for boxes.

So I lined up four boxes and since this is drive building I put her toy in the box also. We hadn't done paired hides in a long time so we should probably do that anyway. The odor and the toy went into the first box...no lid. Of course she ran right out and grabbed the toy...well actually she hesitated with her nose on the odor tin until I said "okay", clearly we haven't done paired hides in a while.

We did that two more times until she would run straight to the box without looking at anything along the way. Then I put it in the second box and sent her with fingers crossed. She was focused and checked the first box, when it wasn't there she moved to the second BINGO! She was delighted. Since I want to keep her focus on that first box so she doesn't bypass it we did one more in the second box, then back to the first, then back to the second, then on to the third. Two hides in the third and then back to the first, then the second, then the third, then the fourth.

This may seem like a lot for one session, and for some dogs it may be. For Reyna this is easy fun, fast paced stuff. The boxes are open, the odor is paired and she gets plenty of tug time...what's not to love?

Next it was time to close the boxes...I'm using shoe boxes by the way...sturdy, easy to open, minimal venting, and free from a local department store where they were only too happy to hand their trash over to the crazy lady with the plastic bag! I definitely want to get official ORT boxes, but it didn't work out for right now.

Back to the training...

We closed the boxes this time, still with the toy inside, and started over with the odor box first. She blasted right past it...so on a suggestion from my friend Lisa I removed all the boxes except the odor box until she would head straight for it, then I kept the odor box in the same spot, but added a second box to the line and kept that until we have 7 boxes...she stayed focused on the line of boxes and didn't start wandering around the room. If she got to the end of the line she turned right back around and searched them again, this time indicating on the correct box. We redid the box open drill with the boxes closed...she's doing GREAT.

Tomorrow we will redo the drill but with odor only...so no pairing. After that I'm just going to mix it up with lots of pairing to keep her really super focused on those boxes. Her indication is clear, she freezes in place and if I don't reward right away she sets her chin or paw (or both) on the box...it's just getting her to keep checking boxes and not get caught up in Interior Search mode.

I'll keep you posted...the ORT is Sunday...

Holiday joys

Last year the holidays started off very stressful because of Reyna's over-excitability. Fortunately we stumbled across a management method that worked for her and for us so we could all enjoy life again.

We kept up with that protocol throughout the year and along with everything else we have done to help with her over excitability we have a different dog than we did 12 months ago. I am pleased to say that this year the holiday season has gone wonderfully. We went to the in-laws house and the first half day we followed our old protocol...either she was in the crate or she was on leash tethered to me. But the second day we let her out of the crate in the morning and never needed to put her back in. She relaxed on the floor while my mother in law played and read with the kids. I was even able to be in a totally different room and not worry about her. She sat quietly for petting and often would self calm by removing herself from a room if she got too excited.

When we got back home we had guests over and let Reyna out after a few minutes she was a little over excited and wanted to lick faces but calmed down quickly and then was so quiet I thought Norm had put her back in the crate...nope she had just gone to her bed to lie down and nap!!!

Now we have my brother, his wife, and their two young kids staying for four days...that means four adults and four kids under 4 running around. We have put Reyna in her crate a couple times like during lunch today so she wouldn't be underfoot, but we do that as a normal part of our day at home too. 99% of the time she has been out of the crate with the run of the house. She's not perfect, she tries to lick my sister in law in the face too much, or she runs up and down the hall with the pack of toddlers, but nothing that a quick..."Reyna, cool it" doesn't fix. Most of the time she has actually been self calming by leaving the room or just backing away a few feet and going into her "relax" from the levels work.

On the reactivity note, last year my brother wanted to take her running and I said no, while she was doing really well her reactivity was still too intense to let anybody else handle her, I couldn't afford a set back. This year he asked again and I said yes without hesitation and never worried the whole hour they were gone. My brother even said an off leash dog followed them for a little while and Reyna didn't appear to care.

I am so happy with where we are...we had a small get together at the house with four more people...so 8 adults and four kids, laughing, eating, cooking, and playing. Reyna excused herself and napped on her bed during the mealtime with no cue from me. When too many people were sitting on the floor Reyna started to look a little like her old stressed self so we put her up in the crate for about 15 minutes. Then brought her back out and she did wonderfully. We worked on some CGC stuff for the test coming up and she did awesome. She also chilled on her bed while my dad chased the toddlers up and down the hall screaming and yelling. Again she is not perfect, we are currently working on not licking faces when people are sitting especially while people are sitting on the floor.  For this holiday season though I am going to bask in the joy of a dog who is truly part of the family, and is finally able to participate in our events instead of being managed through them.

Merry Christmas!

This Christmas season hasn't gone as planned...the flu x4 then bronchitis and sinus infections for everybody, followed by food poisoning for the whole family. Cookie recipes didn't do what they were supposed to, rain came through on "outdoor yard work day", the kids fought and yelled all through Miracle on 34th Street, and to top it off our lovely little Christmas tree came crashing down without warning on Saturday, taking with it a large chunk of our Christmas spirit.

But somehow it's okay...we just take another deep breath and keep going. The traditional breakfast casserole is in the fridge ready to cook tomorrow, I forgot to grease the pan, but I'm sure it will be okay...all my family is one by one making it safely into town, and the kids are settling in to bed with dreams of grandparents and wrapped presents under the...uhhh....kitchen table? Oh well...

MERRY CHRISTMAS NO MATTER WHAT!

Levels and stuff update...

First I think I should clarify something from the previous post...I said all my goals from last year had been met, that does not mean that Reyna is bomb proof. Not in the slightest. Last year I just wanted her to be a "normal" dog.

I wanted to be able to walk her down the street without a head collar, and without either of us anxiously scanning the environment for triggers. I wanted to take group classes where she could work for a full hour and actually enjoy it. I wanted her to be able to greet other dogs properly instead of charging and barking, and to be able to come when called in mid romp. I wanted to be able to have guests over and have Reyna be able to relax in her crate, or even out and about in the house (I seriously never thought we'd get that far but we did).

We still have goals to meet and progress to make, but now I can have a neighbor walk Reyna without me who has no dog experience, and not worry if she will explode at some SEC along the way, it's an amazing and freeing feeling.

Now back to other stuff...

Levels - we are chipping away at level 3. The retrieve was pretty difficult at first, like all duration behaviors, it takes her a little while to figure out that doing nothing is exactly what I want. Having to sit there just holding the pen...for 15...whole...seconds. It's a lifetime in Reyna's world. She kept wanting to snatch and play with it. Five broken pens later...we had a major break through when I sat down instead of standing up, and then rewarded her when she pushed it towards me instead of pulling away. Now she can do the 15 second hold with five different objects, and we can even do the part where I take a step back, but that still needs some work.

Her relax is doing okay, since we are dealing with duration it's just going to take a while to ladder it up...but at this point I trust the system :)

Her lazy leash is doing very well, we are starting to work around the feral cat feeding station...Reyna's nightmare distraction. She is doing very well around people and even dogs!

We have passed sit, down, come, crate, zen...very exciting!

CGC Class - I still don't know if we will pass by the end, but she is really improving, she is starting to check herself when we are approaching people in set ups...her focus is much better throughout the class, good eye contact, even doing well on the supervised separation.

Nose Work - we are signing up for an ORT in January and hopefully if we get into the ORT aannnddd if we pass we will enter the march trial. I am trying to get better about rewarding as soon as she alerts to source. I got stuck a couple of times because the source was reachable but she alerted  from a different direction, and i confused her by not rewarding right away. Now my criteria is that if I could tell a judge where it was based on her alert I reward immediately, and so far that has cleaned up that handler error. Poor Reyna.

Phew! That's a lot going on...but then it has been awhile since an update. CGC class tomorrow.....hurray!

50th Post

Well this is officially my 50th post since starting this blog last year, and like last year I'd like to take a look back...

Two years ago I learned what "reactivity" meant. When I started this blog, a year into Reyna's rehabilitation, we had made great strides towards normalcy. She would still react to triggers but her reaction process had slowed to the point where I could intervene and avoid a full blown snark most of the time. I was extremely vigilant of her environment. In the past two years we have used the following methods...

Control Unleashed
Relaxation Protocol
Sue Ailsby's Training Levels
Behavior Adjustment Training
Counter Conditioning
Desensitization
Management Protocols
Nose Work Classes

All with the goal  of increasing her confidence and "elasticity" (ability to bounce back quickly),  decrease her stress and anxiety levels, and raise her thresholds to a point where she could function in the world.

I am going to be perfectly honest here...I think we have met all of our goals!

Now that being said we will never be "done". In fact I have just ordered Crate Games by Susan Garret to start adding that to our list as well. And somebody seeing us out and about for the first time may think we have a LONG way to go as Reyna jumps on our TD class instructor for the 5th time in a row...but what they don't see is that Reyna is taking food in a garage classroom with three other dogs present, and that she has not barked, puffed, up or even started stress panting the whole time we were there.

Last year when I wrote my recap of the previous year I pointed out some experiences that bench marked how far we had come. Here are just a few moments from the last two weeks alone...

At class last week a dog with reactive tendencies saw Reyna coming out of her crate as a Sudden Environmental Change and exploded....inches from Reyna's face...her tail raised about a third of the way up and she turned to me for her treat and ducked back into her crate...AMAZING! 

We were going for a walk, two dogs charged barking to the end of their invisible fence on the same side as Reyna about 5 feet away, Reyna shifted into heel position with no cues from me and just kept going.

At TD class last night she performed the "walk up and greet somebody with a dog" behavior....WHOA

When strangers, dogs, or cats enter our yard she gives one bark at the window and then comes to find me.

When my in-laws came to visit she was able to be off leash in the house with them. 

Sunday I took her to the dog park and she did a focused heel past a small terrier yapping, and she kept a loose leash while we walked around the outside of the dog park fence with dogs playing and wrestling inside (with a high rate of reinforcement).

The biggest theme from last year was that I was learning to read Reyna, be hyper-aware of potential triggers, recognize OT signals, intervene, manage situations, help Reyna recover when necessary, lower her baseline stress levels, and build up trust that I was there for her.

This year has been stamped with Reyna learning to relax on cue, learning that she can perform alternate behaviors to reacting, such as self imposing a time out to her crate in class when the other dog reacted, she is now telling me when she sees a trigger and I no longer have to be nearly as vigilant to everything that moves because if it bothers her she will tell me. She is developing default behaviors when she starts to go over threshold - currently her default is "focus really hard on mom" because she associates a very high ROR with that behavior so she finds comfort in watching me while scary/arousing things happen around her.

I would have to say that I would now classify Reyna as an excitable dog who can be insecure in situations where her job is unclear. When a dog barks at her, for example, she knows her job is to come see me so she is now quite confident when dogs swear at her from the ends of their leashes and behind invisible fences.

The biggest payoff is that she "leaks noise" less, the wrinkles on her forehead are softer, she eats her dinner, and she always wears a flat collar or a harness and never the head collar anymore.

With such an amazing year what do we have planned for 2013?

To start back where I should have when we first got her (and maybe she never would have been reactive in the first place...who knows), addressing her excitement levels through self control exercises like the crate games, hopefully passing L3 and 4 of the training levels, building strength, flexibility and confidence through trick training, and hopefully start competing!

I don't how I would have felt two years ago if you had told me where we would be right now...would I be disappointed? elated? I'm glad I didn't know, that as we have been trekking down this path we have taken it one step at a time with no deadlines looming. We have celebrated every little victory and tried to learn from each set back, and then we turn to look back and say "wow, look how far we've come!"

My heart goes out to those just starting, or who haven't even started because they don't know where to begin. I see it on their faces when we're out walking and their dog lunges and barks as we walk calmly by...stress, embarrassment, frustration, anger...I hear it in their voices as they almost plead "he really is friendly" or "I'm sorry, she won't bite". I want to hug them and say "I've been there, it's okay, it's called reactivity, have you heard of Leslie McDevitt..."