# Proofing for wildlife scent



## Augie's Mom (Sep 28, 2007)

So Augie and I were at a trial this weekend that was held in a beautiful semi-wilderness area. The area has a lot of wildlife, coyote, foxes, bobcats, rabbits, even mountain lions. 

While we were able to qualify it was the hardest two legs we've ever earned. He just lost his mind sniffing. Our trainer was there and said a lot of the dogs were having the same problem, even the OTCH teams, and felt it was due to the wildlife smells. 

I did walk him all around the site and warmed him up before going in the ring. I thought he had gotten most of the sniffing over with. Any suggestions for proofing for wildlife scent for a city dog?


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## Loisiana (Jul 29, 2009)

Was he sniffing the air or sniffing the ground?


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## Augie's Mom (Sep 28, 2007)

Loisiana said:


> Was he sniffing the air or sniffing the ground?


He was doing both.


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## Loisiana (Jul 29, 2009)

I think the easiest way to approach it would be not to proof against a certain scent, but to proof against a large variety of scents, so that the dog can generalize that no matter what he smells, he still has to work. Bring out some really strong, pleasant (to the dog) scents. You can drag some on the ground and then just leave some in the area.

The sniffing the ground is the easy one. As long as the dog is under command, there is no reason for sniffing the ground. He is not performing the correct exercise if his nose is on the ground. I think a mistake many handlers make here is that they tell the dog what not to do (no sniff), instead of telling them what to do (whatever the command is). If the nose is on the ground, they are not doing the exercise, so treat it as such. If a dog were to suddenly sit in the middle of a recall, the handler wouldn't yell "no sit!, so if they start to sniff in the middle of a recall I don't think they should yell "no sniff."

The sniffing the air is the harder one. You can't stop the dog from smelling whatever is in the air, their noses are too sensitive, and they have to breathe. I would approach this by making sure they are totally focused on you and doing their job. Force them to pay attention extra hard by catching them off guard frequently. Give them random commands that they aren't expecting in the middle of a different exercise. Get the dog to the point where they realize they can't be right if they don't give 100%. There's no room in the brain for thinking about those smells when we're working.


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## FlyingQuizini (Oct 24, 2006)

I think training in lots and lots of different places helps, too. Balboa Park is great for goose and duck poop. I've also gone and hung out outside the dog park to work dumbbell pick ups in stinky dog grass.

Can you go back to this show site and do some training there? Where was it?


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## RedDogs (Jan 30, 2010)

Air scent proofing: 
Cook dinner/have very yummy edibles soemwhat accessible. Sometimes I use plates on the floor. No, this isn't wildlife scents. But after learning to walk around my dinner... air scenting is not such a challenge. 

When we worked at the groom shop, we'd do obedience around dogs in heat (...they were always super safely contained in a super-high up crate. My dog was working or crated far away....). We got some super snappy responses then!

If you've done a lot of training....fairly skilled trainers can use premack very well. (Reinforce a harder behavior....ie heeling... with a prefered behavior... sniffing.). Yes...it feels very 'wrong'. Yes you need to have training skills to make this work. But it can be very powerful.


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## Augie's Mom (Sep 28, 2007)

FlyingQuizini said:


> I think training in lots and lots of different places helps, too. Balboa Park is great for goose and duck poop. I've also gone and hung out outside the dog park to work dumbbell pick ups in stinky dog grass.
> 
> Can you go back to this show site and do some training there? Where was it?


We were at Oak Canyon Park in Orange at the Belgian Tervuren trial. It's a private park site so I don't think we can just go there.


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## Augie's Mom (Sep 28, 2007)

RedDogs said:


> Air scent proofing:
> 
> If you've done a lot of training....fairly skilled trainers can use premack very well. (Reinforce a harder behavior....ie heeling... with a prefered behavior... sniffing.). Yes...it feels very 'wrong'. Yes you need to have training skills to make this work. But it can be very powerful.


Interesting that you mention this. I took a "Control Unleashed" class and have read the book and watched the DVD. Even though I haven't done a lot of training I have used this method to control the normal sniffing issues and it does work wonders even though it is counter intuitive.


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## Augie's Mom (Sep 28, 2007)

Thanks for the advice. We do have two upcoming trials in a different area but again semi wilderness. This one is open to the public so I think we will go there for a few training sessions prior to the trials.


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