#100DaysofTEAM
Day 16
Another less than great day. Perrin declined to participate in the early morning session, but did want to do nosework. Sei wanted to do both, but he apparently has lost all understanding of what the pivot platform means. The fire alarm did go off during one of Perrin’s searches, and there he was unfazed and still searching away!
Sei was starting to bias to my cookie hand on the fronts, so I started putting cookies in both pockets and randomly rewarding from each. That cleared it up pretty quickly.
Both dogs are having problems with the nosework, at indications. I have gotten to this point with Perrin three times now, and I have now broken Sei too. They really do search, especially on non-container type searches, and I do think they know what they are looking for. I think I have just confused the crap out of them on how to tell me they found it. It is a huge part as to why I do not enjoy nosework. I have repeatedly failed at teaching an indication, and it is no fun without the dog knowing how to tell you they found it. Perhaps a gold course to figure this out is in my future. I do want to enjoy it, because my dogs do. I don’t like the ‘alert’ I have somehow ended up with (the pawing) and I struggle greatly to teach the sustained nose touch most approaches strive for.
Adventures in Dog Training 