Exiting the search area?

I noticed today that after Darrin found his hide, even though I picked it up so that we weren't walking away from the odor, I then walked him through the search area in order to get back to the van where I was "staging" the dogs. This meant he had to walk past clear boxes, and several times he was still kind of searching, even though I was talking to him.

Something tells me that maybe this isn't such a good idea. Should we try to exit the search area passing the fewest number of boxes until the dog is on the outside and therefore it's clear to them they are not being asked to search? (Kind of like a pole setter at an agility trial taking the shortest route to the side of the ring and then walking around to where they are sitting?)

I know some of the students are good about having an "all done" cue - perhaps I should place more emphasis on that myself and then not fuss about the other? Just curious.

I'm not too worried about going back by the cold boxes. You will want to eventually have a command that you are not working. Often at trials as you get to each waiting station your dog may start searching before you ever get to the search area. So it's good to have a way to let them know "not now" so they don't tire themselves out before the work begins.

Good question.

Okay thanks. I was thinking about this today and wondering why I never experienced this issue with Rhys since he has a lot more drive for searching than Darrin does. I think part of it is my focus. I think when I'm video taping I'm focused on getting back, getting the tape shut off, setting up for the next thing and I think I need to focus more on praising him all the way out of the search area and engaging him with me a bit more as we exit. It's something Id' like to try in any case.