Nosework: No Interest in Reward

[debbiebrown]

i also think you should use whatever reward is the highest for your dog........i have one similar to yours, even though he LOVES his tug at home and i mean he loves to tug, after a track he is Not interested in it...........He will play tug when i just take him to general places, but not after a track.........the only reward that i can give him after a track is my high praise and a bit of wrestling with me..........You could also dump some REALLY Really high value food at the end with praise, find something you only feed him there that he Really loves, like Pizza crust or something he never gets.....................

[fuzzybunny]

Originally Posted by debbiebrown

i also think you should use whatever reward is the highest for your dog........i have one similar to yours, even though he LOVES his tug at home and i mean he loves to tug, after a track he is Not interested in it...........He will play tug when i just take him to general places, but not after a track.........the only reward that i can give him after a track is my high praise and a bit of wrestling with me..........You could also dump some REALLY Really high value food at the end with praise, find something you only feed him there that he Really loves, like Pizza crust or something he never gets.....................

Good to know I'm not alone! He sure does love wrestling with me so that's how I'd prefer to reward him.

[debbiebrown]

Then thats exactly what you should do................you can keep trying different toys, you never know and tugging does involve close contact with you.......if you haven't already tried it, i would introduce the game and then only play it after the track..........you can try it, if not, stick to the wrestle and high praise thing, and or the real special pile of food at the end...........or both! lol

[carmspack]

Hi fuzzybunny. I am curious about a few things, who or what you signed up for . I am familiar with some of the trainers in your area if you care to name them or state their credentials for training .
Odd name of class "nosework" which can mean so many things . Is the class for tracking for trial - TD, TDX, etc , is it SAR , detection ?

Is your problem that the dog is a non starter , or is not motivated to track - distracted, disinterested or is it that the trainer wants to see more "happy" dog at the end of the track so that they can progress to more difficult work and still have the student (dog) interested because of the reward/motivation.


Carmen
Carmspack Working German Shepherd Dogs

[jocoyn]

I immediately thought of the sport "k9 nosework" where the dogs locate various aromatic scents (basically sport detection work).

K9 NOSE WORK®

A lot of folks are doing it for fun. Sounds like the OP has not started tracking yet. Well at least that was my read.

[fuzzybunny]

Originally Posted by carmspack

Hi fuzzybunny. I am curious about a few things, who or what you signed up for . I am familiar with some of the trainers in your area if you care to name them or state their credentials for training .
Odd name of class "nosework" which can mean so many things . Is the class for tracking for trial - TD, TDX, etc , is it SAR , detection ?

Is your problem that the dog is a non starter , or is not motivated to track - distracted, disinterested or is it that the trainer wants to see more "happy" dog at the end of the track so that they can progress to more difficult work and still have the student (dog) interested because of the reward/motivation.


Carmen
Carmspack Working German Shepherd Dogs

Hi Carmen,

I'm taking the class through Forever Friends Dog Training.

Forever Friends Dog Training School - OUR STAFF

There are two individuals teaching the class but only one guy was there last week which was our first class. He's not a regular instructor of the school because I've never seen him before. I had difficulty understanding and hearing him since the dog beside me was agitated and barking non-stop but I did hear him say he's titled dogs in tracking and worked in detection. That's about all I could hear though. Cheryl Smith (the owner/Canine Behaviour Specialist) was present during the first class so I'll try and get more info from her next class.

This was not a tracking class. My understanding from the opening introduction was that there's 3 types of scenting work: Nosework, tracking/trailing, and air scenting. I hope I got that right. I don't have the sheet in front of me but I remember them saying something along these lines.

The problem I have has nothing to do with Jazz's performance. We started the first class by putting a treat in one wooden box among many scattered on the floor. We brought the dog around to each box to see if they would identify the box with the treat. Jazz did just as well as any other dog in identifying the correct box. The problem was that they don't feel me playing and wrestling with him is an appropriate reward for his success. They're pushing me to use a toy as a reward instead and this is what confuses me.

Best Friends Dog Training (another school) offers Tracking Classes which I'd like to get into next. Here's their link. I'm not sure if you're familiar with them.

Best Friends Dog Training - Ottawa Valley, Ontario

They are the only school that I can find in my area that does Tracking. I want to do Tracking next because I can earn titles whereas with the Nosework class there's not really much I can do with that after the class in terms of titling. No competitions around here.

Carolyn

[debbiebrown]

have you actually done tracking yet? or just the scent work?

[fuzzybunny]

Only scent work. If he shows an interest I'd like to get into tracking. I included the second link which is the place where I'd like to do Tracking in case Carmen is familiar with that place and has input.

[debbiebrown]

i think the tracking itself is more motivating and fun for dogs, you should work on article indication seperately as well................hope you find a group in your area......

[gypsyrose]

I must be doing every thing wrong Gypsy gets to track and play with her nose as a treat in it self I put on a down stay befor giving the command go sniffy and if we are tracking some one of a drag with scent she has to down stay befoe we start this gets her excited as she kknows she is going to get to play with her nose.

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