A Modern Approach to Training - Part 2

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A Modern Approach to Training

Part 2

By Lazaro “Laz” Cabrera

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T

he heart and soul of this phase is about the dog’s olfactory skills. Over the years, tracking has been recognized as the bread and butter for any single and dual purpose police K-9 handler. Many have made tracking out to be a lot more complex and boring than what it really is. In fact, if you clearly understand what was discussed in part one, such as the two forms of learning - classical and operant conditioning, Maslow’s pyramid of hierarchy of needs, and the effects of dopamine — it is like shaping any other behavior in dog training.

Let’s start off by refreshing ourselves with the formula: desire for a reward + create hope + pressure = success! The first step in tracking or in understanding how to shape any behavior is to understand what state of mind the dog must be in to have clear communication while shaping that behavior. One also needs to understand that there are two steps involved in tracking: the track itself, and the indication of the articles in the track. It is important to separate these two steps so that if either step is received in a stressful manner by the dog during training, it will not taint the overall picture or create an undesirable look when the steps are combined. In addition, separating the steps makes it easier for the dog to understand. In the industry, we call this “free shaping” or “approximation training.”

The Track In the beginning phases of tracking, we need concentration and not drive.

Having hunger, a predictable reward system and small amounts of pressure creates concentration. Drives are created through hunger, an unpredictable reward system and no pressure.

In tracking, we’re going to make sure we have a dog that is hungry. Then, we’re going to associate two things in the beginning: crushed vegetation and food.

The Traditional Scent Pad We’re going to do this by scuffing the grass in a small square pad and scattering food in that pad. Once this is done we will bring the dog to the scent pad on a short leash and allow the dog to eat from the scent pad. Before I release the dog to search the scent pad, I turn his collar so that the D-ring is on his chest and run the leash underneath his front right quarter. Lately, I have been using a more modern approach to introduce the dogs to tracking with the use of the flex pole. I go into the grass in one direction and anchor the flex pole down, I lay a 360 degree food track around the flex pole, I exit the same way I walked into the grass to anchor the flex pole, I carry the dog to the flex pole, clip him onto the flex pole, run the flex pole line underneath his right front quarter, and command him to search. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhzUQzQhGUI&list=UUdCNvU WC_vU6KUSOzp3hKAg

Desire for a Reward + Create Hope + Pressure = Success!

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K-9 Nash’s introduction to tracking using the flex pole.

Remember we want to classically condition the dog that the reward comes from within the odor, not outside of the odor.

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Keep in mind that these steps will all become “signals” linked to the “work” and finally the “reward” in order to bring the desired goaldirected behavior as mentioned

by Dr. Robert Supolsky from Standford University. Ultimately, you will see there will not need to be food on every step because it is about the dog’s anticipation for a reward and not about the reward itself. Finally, know that if you lay a track with 100 paces and only put food in 50 percent of those paces, the levels of dopamine will shoot through the roof because now you are adding “maybe” to the equation. https://www.youtube. com/watch?v=axrywDP9Ii0 The short leash will limit the amount of space the dog can explore to find the food. Therefore, allowing the operant behavior to occur a lot faster. After doing this exercise several times and seeing that the dog clearly understands what is expected of him, it is time to move forward on the track. I do this by creating a heel-to-toe track in a straight line in order to have the food laid out in close proximity. I deliver said food by using a PVC pipe and dropping the food through the pipe into the footprint. This will allow me to lay a long track comfortably without stressing my lower back and having the food land properly in the scented footprint.

Many people attempt to deliver the food on the scented footprint and the food lands outside the footprint. Remember we want to classically condition the dog that the reward comes from within the odor, not outside of the odor.

Paying attention to detail in the beginning phases will allow you to have less headaches in the end. Unlike obedience where we use a variable reward system to create drive, in tracking I dispense my food in a predictable fashion placing one kibble per every footstep. The placement of each kibble within that footstep is variably positioned within the D e c e m b e r 2 014 / J a n u a r y 2 01 5 • 81

footstep. This will classically condition the dog to search the entire footprint therefore forcing him to be more methodical and slow in his forward motion. I still have the dog on a short leash in order to prevent minimal casting (the dog deviating from the track from one side to the other). As the dog starts to track forward, I give direction with my leash, applying light pressure with my wrist as he locates each reward. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JGnB5B_RwD4&list=UUdCNvUWC_ vU6KUSOzp3hKAg This leash action with my wrist is creating two phenomenons. The first is that once again the dog starts to understand that pressure is the bridge to the reward so that in my later phases when he makes a mistake and I apply pressure the dog does not shut down on me. As the dog becomes better at this heel-to-toe tracking, I start to spread my stride in two directions - to the front and from side to side, creating a normal human stride. Once I start laying tracks with normal strides, I make sure that I start exposing the dog to tracks with the following problems: upwind, downwind, crosswinds, all types of turns, step offs, aging the track to different times, delivering food sporadically throughout the track, and I start to decrease the impression of my footprint on the ground. During this time I begin to introduce one more component to the picture. This will assist as a bridge to rewards as well as assisting in the generalization process when changing from grass to gravel to hard surface tracking (HST). This component is referred to as hydrating the track - grabbing distilled water and pouring it in a sprayer with very sweaty clothes used during training that day. The person laying the track must use his or her own hydration blend so that the entire odor of the track is consistent and we do not have cross contamination in odors.

Make sure that you do not stay too long in grass. Move on to gravel as soon as you see your dog is having a clear understanding of the exercise. As I start to spread my food in the grass and hydrate my track, this causes the dogs to want to cast when they come to a footprint where there is no food and only hydration. Do not allow this behavior to lure you back into wanting to place food on every step again. I see many people throughout the country concerned about this casting. Stick to the system and the dog will come increasingly more true to the track on grass as hope continues to build. Now, it is time to move to gravel.

Once again, you will see that there might be slight confusion simply because the picture has changed. This is where the generalization process starts to take place although the picture has changed. Although crushed vegetation has been replaced with the disturbance of the gravel surface, there are still common denominators, such as food and hydration. As my training evolves, I am constantly switching the picture for the dog so that he does not stay locked in one picture, therefore making it harder to “unlock” him later on. At this point in the training, I accomplish this by variably laying my tracks only in gravel, from grass to gravel and every once in awhile I might lay a track in grass.

Note that as my dog becomes more proficient in tracking, I increase the length of the leash from 6-feet to 10, 15, and 30-feet.

While on gravel, as this picture becomes more clear to my dog, I again decrease the impression of my foot on the gravel until I’m not leaving a footprint. This will force the dog to depend on his olfactory skills rather than visual skills. As I spread food throughout the track, I make sure that my hydro becomes the bridge to my food so that later on my dog can track for long periods of time without food on the track. This works because he has been classically conditioned to know that the hydro will lead him to a reward.

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Finally, it is time to move to hard surfaces. Here I apply the same philosophy previously mentioned in my gravel tracks. The only difference is that the impression on hard surface is controlled by the hardness of the ground.

The odor used on the track is controlled by the level of hydration and the amount of sweat left behind by the person laying the track. At this point, you must understand that because of the terrain and wind currents, the odor on the track will not stay as concentrated as a track laid on grass. This is why the dog will cast back and forth on the track. To teach the dog that odor is going to travel to places other than just the ground, I apply the hydration to plants, foliage, vehicles, tires, curbs and environmental structures.

These things will act as extensions of the track. During this tracking system it is important that I mention that in addition to scent pads, I also will introduce a target odor to the dog prior to the training track to teach him to discriminate other odors. This is where the dog learns to discriminate between different odors - a process known in the industry as “scent discrimination.”

To proof my dog in tracking I take one final step...

Ghost Tracks I bring my dog to a sterile environment where I know with certainty that no one has walked through and I ask him to track to see if he takes me on a “ghost track” or not. If he begins to take me on a track where I know there is nothing to track, I correct him (positive punishment) and put him in the car. Through time this will teach him that it is not in his best interest to attempt to fool me by taking me on a “ghost track.” If he checks the area and takes me nowhere, I reward that correct behavior by taking him to a true training track and rewards will come from within that track. These rewards can come in the following fashion: food on steps, articles on the track, and/or toy rewards on the track.

The final stage is to be able to have a dog that can proficiently track for long periods of time without placing food on the track. In order to do this with minimal conflict, this is where my articles become valuable to the dog.

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The Articles

There are two ways you can teach your dog to indicate on articles — a passive final response or a retrieve.

The Passive Indication

I teach the passive indication by placing the dog in the down position in front of a Manner’s Minder — a remote controlled food dispensing machine.

I place the article on the tray of the Manner’s Minder and start delivering food. At one point, I stop delivering the food and I wait for the dog’s ears and facial expression to become engaged in the tray where the article is located. Once I see this behavior, I deliver food.

Through time, the dog starts to deliver this operant behavior more frequently. Once I achieve the desired behavior, I name it “mark.” Once the dog understands this behavior, I introduce a new source of food: me.

Instead of having the Manner’s Minder deliver the food, I deliver the food from over his head when he gives me the “mark” behavior. If the dog looks up at my hand over his head, I simply keep the food clinched in my fist and do not deliver the reward until he gives me the desired “mark” behavior. I then transfer the exercise to grass, then to gravel, then to a hard surface. This will not allow the dog to stay locked on the Manner’s Minder. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nnzwk26Y3Bs&list= UUdCNvUWC_vU6KUSOzp3hKAg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RBn8-PfM25w&list= UUdCNvUWC_vU6KUSOzp3hKAg Once this behavior is complete, I bring the behavior into my tracking picture. Ultimately, the dog now understands that when he comes across an article on the track, he is to give the classical reflex reaction of downing and marking the article with extreme focus.

The Retrieve

mark the behavior by saying “yes.” At the same time, I release the pressure of the collar and offer the dog a variable reward. By doing this, I have removed one of the physiological needs mentioned in Maslow’s Pyramid of Hierarchy of Needs (oxygen) in order to manipulate the first behavior needed in the “force hold.”

As this picture becomes more clear to the dog I start to expect more from him, such as having him hold the PVC pipe for a longer period of time before giving him the release marker. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u bcoLN3QllQ&list=UUdCNvUWC_vU6KUSOzp3hKAg Once the dog begins to reach out for the PVC pipe on his own, I know he now understands that holding the pipe in his mouth will ultimately produce a reward and I no longer need to give direction with the dominant dog collar. At this point, I can begin introducing the articles that I am going to be laying within my track.

Once the dog has learned to hold the articles in his mouth correctly and consistently, it is time to make the treadmill move while he holds the article. This is necessary so that when I throw or place an article in the grass he understands that he is to retrieve the article and hold it in his mouth while coming toward me to deliver the article into my hands. https://www. youtube.com/watch?v=Hza8yb44OjU&list=UUdCNvU WC_vU6KUSOzp3hKAg Please keep in mind that this is an article and for the sake of time, there is only so much I can explain. Know that there are problems within these steps that are likely to occur. Should that happen and it has not been explained in this article, please feel free to contact us at: psdk9@aol.com or by calling (305) 274-0057.

Now that your dog understands both steps in tracking (the track and articles) it is time to combine the steps.

You can do this either in grass, gravel or hard surface.

Remember that the dog should perceive articles as small bridges to your final destination, which is locating the ultimate piece of evidence or apprehending a fleeing suspect. n

I teach the retrieve through a “force hold system” using the working dog treadmill. I lure the dog onto the treadmill with food or I place food on the treadmill so that when the dog comes to the treadmill, there is food there already and he operantly wants to jump onto the treadmill. Once on the treadmill, I start to create focus drills. Every time he looks at me, I deliver a variable reward. I then place a dominant dog collar around his neck. I then deliver food. Through time, the dog will want to jump into the dominant dog collar so that I can reward him. I start off teaching the force hold with a PVC pipe because I am going to need to use pressure (positive punishment) and I don’t want the dog to later associate any other article with pressure. I begin the force hold by simply applying slight pressure or by drawing the dog toward me with the dominant dog collar. This pressure will cause him to open his mouth in order to breathe. At this point, I place a PVC pipe into the dog’s mouth and D e c e m b e r 2 014 / J a n u a r y 2 01 5 • 8 5

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