As some of you may know, I am very interested in training my dogs to do scent work, mainly in the police field and medical field, as in drugs, illegal substances (such as illegal plants, animals, etc., at airports) cancer detection, things along those lines. Have no clue how I’m going to break into that world, but figure if I start training my dogs and work with them, then I’ll be a step in the right direction. So, I am starting out with a green tea bag for the scent (enclosed, good scent and easy to replenish) and three small flower pots. I plan on starting a new blog to track our progress, pretty much like my Diary of a Decker Rat Terrier litter blog, so that I can keep a record of how they are doing, and what training methods work for which dog, etc. While I will concentrate on the younger Ratties, Sammie, Joy, Colt and Maddie, I will be working Em, Chance, Tucker and Sage too (the psuedo Ratties!). Tucker has been worked a bit on trailing, so he will probably be doing that more than article scent work, although it won’t hurt him to learn it.
No pictures, but this morning I worked Colt, Maddie, Sammie, Joy and Tucker in scent work. Using the three small flower pots, I put a green tea bag in one and put them out to see what each dog would do. Tucker was the first one. After about 10 minutes, he still had no clue. He pawed me a bit, laid down, got in my face, but sigh, even after I rewarded him a few times for getting his nose close to the right pot, he still didn’t get it. Will continue to work with him. He’s smart, just hasn’t figured out what I am asking of him.
Second dog was Colt. I got him off of the bed where he was sleeping with hubby. So while he’s yawning and stretching, he quickly figured out that if he put his nose in the pot with the tea bag in it, he got a small bite of hot dog. He did awesome within a minuter or two! Looking forward to working with him.
Put Colt back on the bed and got Maddie. I asked her if she was as smart as her brother. She just looked at me. After about 10 minutes, she still hadn’t really gotten it, nor did she really care, preferring to lay down and nap. Hmm, and she’s suppose to be my working companion! Will try her again later, hopefully today, and see how she does.
Brought in Sammie, who has done a bit of this before. She did great and I started spreading out the flower pots a bit for her. She’s going to be awesome to work with.
Next was Joy. She didn’t really get it either, but at least she didn’t lay down and nap like Maddie did. She would just sit and look at me, wagging her tail. After a few minutes, she was kinda getting it, so I ended on a positive note, and will work with her again later.
Rat Race Rat Terriers 