A few weeks after our last entry we were plunged back into lock-down, and although permitted to continue training under agreements with the powers that be to maintain emergency service capability, by necessity things had to be kept small scale with minimal travel and contact.
We have been more fortunate than others in that we didn’t need much assistance in terms of people laying trails etc. and could be quite self-sufficient once we knew what we should be doing. Having said that, it wasn’t plain sailing for us either.
As noted previously we had been working on the indication to make it stand out more amongst the generally noisy performance. A closer analysis by experienced eyes concluded that the noisy performance was in itself a symptom of a more pressing problem. From the very earliest stages, we had used the ‘pantomime’ of getting Venn ready to work (putting on my jacket, putting on her harness, putting on her lead) to build up anticipation and interest in the ‘game’ to follow. Well, it turns out I was doing too good a job with Venn, and she in turn was getting hyper-aroused in a manner that was starting to affect her performance and any opportunities to learn from the experience. It seems she has a good enough work-ethic without any of that.
What followed was the slow process of desensitising Venn to these cues, for example by me wearing my jacket, or me putting her into her harness, but then just going for a walk, or simply taking them off again rather than doing scent work. It took us the best part of two months to get this under control, but our return to scent work in early January was encouraging.
Unfortunately, this window back into resuming progress through the training stages seemed to have corresponded with the onset of a touch of wilful adolescence. Either bored of the exercise or just chancing her arm for an easy reward, V suddenly started trying to shortcut the scent-box exercise by running to the first box she saw then indicating, probably knowing that if correct she would get a reward, and if incorrect, she would be encouraged to try another, and would eventually get the treat.
The answer to this has been to abandon the exercise the minute she gives a false indication with no opportunity to try again. The hope is that she quickly learns that there are no rewards to be had with this approach. On day one of 'tough love', I had to stop things on the first two attempts. On the third go, some hours later, a somewhat bemused little dog pulled off a quiet but perfect run.
The next opportunity was at a small group SARDA session. After a couple of really nice runs on the boxes, she eventually reverted to type with a false indication on her final go. My feeling is that it will take a few more cancelled runs to reinforce this message, but I expect we’ll nail it eventually.
Although the story so far has been mostly about Venn and how she performs (or not), an inconvenient truth is that increasingly we need to work as a team, and to share responsibility for the successes and failures. So how is the handler getting on? Trying to train a search dog through the Covid-19 crisis has been a mixed blessing, with the normal training structure thrown into turmoil along with the rest of the world. On the plus side we have had plenty of time on our hands to practice, but, as the saying goes, perfect practice makes perfect performance, and with the best will in the world, as an inexperienced handler, this might not have always been the case, particularly in the early stages of the crisis when the training structure was still working to find a way forwards. Too much time spent on the same exercise also runs the danger of over-familiarity and boredom, which is possibly a contributory factor in what we are seeing currently with the short-cutting behaviour. As the lock-down weeks drag on, I've struggled with motivation across the board, but have always somehow managed to find the enthusiasm to do some scent work with Venn. However I have noticed that I feel the inevitable knocks, setbacks and failures all the more keenly as my own resilience struggles with the sitution. To my untrained eye, despite some ebbs and flows along the way, we have not really made any progress since our stock test last year and I'm sure this influences my response when things don't go well.
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