Sat, Aug 23, 2008

Juno, Rascal, my friend Pam and her two dogs drove 4 hours to Harrisburg to the training site of the PA-TF 1.  We met another team mate of mine and spent the day training.

We started with agility.  Juno climbed the Little Giant  8' foot ladder for the first time.  She tried to race up it and ended up with her legs flying, but was able to slow down and go both up and down.  They don't have to go down during our certifications, but I think it is a skill that shows bravery and control and could be useful.  I know handlers who had their dogs walk down a ladder into a hole in the 9/11 searches.  It was faster than hooking them to a harness and lowering them.  She followed directions well on the 6' high plank.  She needs to stop and turn up there, or on some other agilty obstacle.  She walked over anchor fencing and slippery barrels and did a very nice job.

We then went to the bark barrels.  Again, she had some concern about the lid moving.  My friend Pam said that the person hiding in the barrel moved it pretty quickly.  We did several repetitions and came back later and she had no problems.  She hasn't done enough of these for her to become unconcerned about the lid.  Time will take care of this.

We did two short problems on the rubble.  She was able to see and hear the victim call her and then she ran across the rubble to bark at the victim.  The victim was sitting in a big pipe and Juno could see her when she got there.  Why do we do this instead of just sending her out to find someone she can't see hiding in the middle of the rubble pile?  Many reasons.  Primarily, you always want them to be successful.  It is better to go slowly than to make a mistake.  That has to be balanced with the dogs who need to be challenged, but you still need to be cautious and plan well to make sure you are successful.  Also, she has done simple problems like this at home, but when you go to a new place, you back up a few steps. And, she doesn't know what "search" means yet.  She is still learning that command.  So, we want to make sure she is learning the right thing.  There are groundhogs and other critters living in this pile.  Our plan had to ensure that Juno would go to her victim and get a good reward.  If she wandered around searching for the victim and encountered the scent of a groundhog and began to search for that, guess what the word "search" would mean from then on???  I always have to remember that I am asking Juno to play this game.  If she were to decide what she wanted to do at this  point in time, it would have to do with hunting birds or other critters now.  People still can't compete with birds, butterflies, dragonflies, bunnies, etc....  If she ever decides that she can have as much fun with people, she will be a search dog!

Overall, it was a very successful day.  I would have like to work more problems, but she was successful at everything she attempted.  Nothing unnerved her.  She is progressing well.