Utility Articles Mat or a Board?

[gsdheeler]

I'm getting my girl started in Utility. How many people like using a tie down mat for articles or do you use a peg board to tie them down. Pros and cons of each???

[ShatteringGlass]

never tried the tie down method, i just started with ALL articles scented, the pup got rewarded for nosing/mouthing/indicating an article. Then I would replace 1 scented article with 1 unscented article, repeat, eventually going along and replacing the scented ones with unscented ones until only one scented left. My pup learned VERY quickly that the scented article is the one he needs to find.

here's a vid from the first day I introduced scent work to him as a pup:

Dalmatian puppy training -Scent Discrimination- - YouTube

Dalmatian puppy training -Scent Discrimination- - YouTube

[codmaster]

Sounds like a great idea! Replacing good articles with not so good and letting the pup make the choice.

[Andaka]

I use a mat because in this area (Midwest) we have green mats at most of the shows.

[ShatteringGlass]

Originally Posted by codmaster

Sounds like a great idea! Replacing good articles with not so good and letting the pup make the choice.

Yeah, Id never trained articles before, but i was VERY happy with that method, as you can see in the video, he knew exactly what he had to do to get the reward. That was the first day I started teaching it in the video. Much easier than having to lug around a mat, tie down and untangle articles, i think. My dog has rarely picked up a wrong article (maybe two or three times) since he's learned it (he's nearly 3 years old now). If he did pick up the wrong one, I would turn my back to him. Try to phase out verbal praise and encouragement as early as you can, as the dog can become dependent on hearing whether he's got the right article or not from you. When the exercise is fully learned, praise by smiling at your dog when they are returning the correct article and reward when the sit and present it to you. Then when in a trial, your dog wont be waiting to hear whether he's a "good boy!" when he's picking up an article, and doubt himself when he doesnt hear you praise him.

[Guardyan]

Try to phase out verbal praise and encouragement as early as you can, as the dog can become dependent on hearing whether he's got the right article or not from you. When the exercise is fully learned, praise by smiling at your dog when they are returning the correct article and reward when the sit and present it to you. Then when in a trial, your dog wont be waiting to hear whether he's a "good boy!" when he's picking up an article, and doubt himself when he doesnt hear you praise him.

As someone who has had a dog stand in a pile of articles, pick up the correct one and then look to his owner for verbal affirmation - I completely agree with what ShatteringGlass said!!!

Here is my experience with the tie down method . . . It was winter and I decided to start working utility articles in the house. Thought I'd be really clever and use a bit of leftover carpet. After all, it would match our flooring and I could easily tie the articles through the carpet backing.

First article was correct. Mental moment of "Yay am so clever and frugal!"

Second article, Gavin picks incorrect article. Dog: "Hmm, article appears to be stuck in carpet. Well, I shall just retrieve the entire carpet . . this will make her very happy."

So huffing and puffing, dragging the carpet, flinging the correct article aside, Gavin brought me the entire carpet with the incorrect article attached. I laughed (which in Gavinspeak means good job) and completely undermined any "training" that was to occur that day.

I know a few people that have had success with the tie down method, but we changed our plan after the carpet debacle. We started with a small pile, squeeze cheese and only rewarded correct attempts.

Good luck! Utility is fun!!!