TR311: Intro to VST: Puzzles & Challenges

Week Two: Following Breadcrumbs and Crossing Roads

In addition to working on the Week One assignment further, this week I want to work on crossing roads and short stretches of non-vegetated surfaces. In addition to the actual road crossing, I want to introduce a technique to help the dog with that crossing. The help that does not come from line handling or from a hard to fade clue. In our grass tracking for TD and TDX type tracks, we made generous use of articles along the track to keep the dog interested and motivated. In VST 1 we placed food rewards on the hard surface. In the latter case, that was less to motivate the dog and more to establish a reward history on hard surfaces.

Using a lot of articles on hard surfaces is problematic for a couple of reasons. One is that they are very visual. I had a dog that was highly motivated by articles and he could spot an article from a very long distance away, no matter how subtle I thought I made it. I even bought thin pieces of fabric and experimented with different colors, trying to use colors that dogs were not supposed to be able to see. He still spotted them. Another complication is that for non-vegetative surfaces scent will not fall exactly in the spot that we walked. This is why we only put food on fresh tracks in VST 1. We wanted the scent and the food to be as close as possible to each other. If we lay a track strewn with articles and come back 30 to 60 minutes later; those articles may not necessarily be exactly on the track. Too much of that and I am teaching the dog to hunt for articles.

So what do we do then? After a lot of thought, I have developed a method of leaving a little bit of a "breadcrumb" scent trail for the dog at first. This increases the amount of scent available for the dog to follow, building confidence and skill. Then, when there is less scent, my dog (because he has a long history of being successful) just works harder and rises to the challenge. I cannot emphasize how important developing confidence is at this level of training. Drive, motivation, and confidence are what will make the dog successful - not just working through the tasks in the homework assignments.

Skill Assessment

You will notice when I look at the homework assignments I often make assessments about the amount of error that I am observing. This is in no way a negative critique of the dog or handler's performance but more of a means to assess how successful I think the training was or will be. Like I have discussed in previous lectures, I want to challenge the dog in increments that he can handle. My goal is to organize my training steps so that I do not notice a significant change in the dog's performance as I increase the difficulty. Worst case scenario, I want to see only a small decrease in performance. And that should resolve quickly with just a few repetitions of the exercise. Anything beyond that and I have raised the bar too quickly or I need to more carefully build my dog's confidence. A misconception is that the dog needs to be challenged and forced to "work through" something. That is a perfect example of trying to win the battle rather than the war. A few months ago I taught a distractions and contaminations class that some of the students in this class took. The goal was to develop the dog's skills at ignoring distractions and contaminations. We did this by carefully setting up situations where the dog tracked through contamination or went by a distraction. A common response was that the dog "didn't even seem to notice!" the distraction. That is exactly the level that I want to work at, believe me, the dog noticed! We have just controlled the level of distraction to a low enough level that he chooses tracking and gets heavily reinforced for doing so. Then we build up the distraction gradually.

Some of you have seen this before but below is a film clip of a detection dog learning to ignore distractions while working. Crazy high ball drive but we teach him slowly (in increments that he can handle) that the path to reinforcement is not through chasing loose tennis balls but rather through getting to the odor source. It would have been unfair to have done the last step first, determined to just manage him through the distraction. That would have resulted in a low drive, confused dog - even if we had not used compulsion to accomplish the task. We start with small amounts of distraction or challenge and gradually increase it as the dog progresses.

In tracking this is a particular challenge because we can't control all the variables. This requires us to make an honest assessment of the session and develop a plan for the next session. I usually do this before leaving that day's training session. If I wait until I get home it seems to never happen. Below is a form that I developed for my use while working with my two dogs on hard surfaces.

The primary goal of record keeping is to make an objective assessment of performance. Statistical if possible, rather than just a general feeling or impression. Equally important to consider - based on my results, what do I want to do next time?

Road Crossings and Bread Crumbs

As we introduce road crossings we don't want to put the dog in a position to get confused and flounder. We also don't want to teach them that when in doubt, if they lose the track and there is a road nearby, they should just cross the road. A TDX track often contains a roadway - however the track goes straight across and most dogs typically track up to the road, lift their head, cross the road and then resume tracking on the other side. That is not what we want for VST work. We want the dog focused on scent only, not developing assumptions based on prior training history. That is where the bread crumbs come in.

Below is a road crossing that I recently did with Indy. I walked a straight leg parallel to the road, then made a 45-degree turn, crossed the road diagonally, made another 45-degree turn and then continued parallel to the road on the opposite side. My track layout looked like this:

And here is the actual track. The 45-degree turn to the left is just past the paper cup.

And here is a video of Jill doing a similar road crossing. Her turn to the left is about 5 steps past the flag.

Note that this was relatively new for both of these dogs. These tracks are about 30 minutes old. They have done this a few times but are not experienced and have to puzzle their way across. They both demonstrate an acceptable amount of error. Notice also that I try to keep my leash slack if possible, I want them to rule out options rather than holding them to a specific arbitrary spot.

What I particularly like is that each dog tracked across the roadway, rather than lifting their head and rushing across. This is very important. I want to create a dog that does not assume that the path to success is getting across the pesky hard surface and back to the grass.

Here is a more advanced version of what I am looking for:

Now About those breadcrumbs...

I laid these tracks doing my best to set each dog up for success. I did the following:

1. as I stepped down off the curb I rubbed my hand on the curb. I did this on the curb on the opposite side of the road as well.

2. I walked the diagonal track in my socks.

3. I dropped a few extra spots of scent on the diagonal track crossing the road. I did this by carrying a few rocks with me, handling them and dropping them in a few strategic spots. Depending on my area I will also use sticks, a handful of gravel, mulch. Whatever is nearby and is likely to blend into the terrain but by handling it thoroughly and dropping it, I am leaving scent clues without the distraction of something visual.

Week 2 Homework Assignment

Once you have found and posted your area video or pic for the road crossing, try to replicate the tracks I have outlined above.  These should be easy tracks that just happen to have a road bisecting the middle of the second leg. Give your dog a chance to get into a rhythm before crossing the road, about 50 steps at least. Lay your track diagonally across the roadway. Mark before and after your corners if you don't have handy pieces of trash to landmark off of. Once the dog crosses give him enough distance to reacquire and settle into the next direction then to the end article. Lay a few breadcrumbs on your crossing and give it a try!