Elite Select - NACSW's New Trial Format

 The Reader's Digest version - it looks like fun! I'm going to give it a try. The first ELT-S trials in Colorado will be held in Loveland on March 9, 2024, and will open for entries on January 24.

 I finally had a chance to watch some of the debrief videos from NACSW's new half-day trial format "Elite Select." Elite-S was launched in October of 2023 as a half-day trial with Elite challenges. Great for older dogs who may struggle with a full day of long searches, it's also a great way for NW3 teams to get a feel for Elite.

Watch debrief videos here: https://walkthrough.nacsw.net/

In order to compete in an Elite-S trial, a dog needs to have at least one NW3 title, or an NW3 element title (any element). Dogs who are competing in Elite or Summit are eligible.

The trials that I looked at had somewhat smaller search areas and tighter times than regular Elite. Each trial had a "speed search" with a maximum time of under 75 seconds with no 30-second warning.  

Each trial has 100 points available. A team needs 350 points to earn the ELT-S title. Each additional 350 points earns an ELT-Sx2, etc. The team must earn a minimum of 50 points in order to keep the points from that trial. The ELT-S title is separate from the ELT-1, ELT-2, ELT-3, and ELT-CH titles.

From the Rule Book: ELT-S

• All three odors can be used including a combination of the three in one hide

• There will be 4 search areas in an Elite-S trial

• Elite searches are not defined as single element searches but may be a combo of elements (for example vehicles may be in an exterior search area and the whole area including the vehicles will need to be searched)

• There may be an unlimited number of hides in each search area and for the total day (no maximum number of hides)

• There may be blank search areas (no hides) in a trial day

• Number of hides in each search area may be Known, Unknown or have a Range (for example 2 - 5 hides). This information is given to the handlers

• Searches may be on or off leash. This is determined by the CO and may include safety of the dogs and/or what the site may support.

• Hides may be inaccessible in Vehicles, Exteriors or Interiors searches (for example: inside a cabinet, behind a car wheel, in a stack of chairs and many more)

• Hides may be placed at ground level (for example: in a crack, under a rock or door mat, at the base of a bench or table leg and many more)

• There are no height restrictions in an Elite search and hides may be placed at any height

• In each search area the time will stop and the search will end when the handler calls “Finish” 

Ideas for Rewarding Your Dog Without Freezing Your Hands

Squooshi tube and Train & Treat

Winter is here - along with freezing, chapped hands from giving your dog treats outside. There are solutions!

Here are some suggestions for keeping your hands warm and your dog happy! I don't get any kind of kickback or commission for recommending these products.

1. REFILLABLE SQUEEZE TUBES

Refillable squeeze tubes are made for baby food, but they are great for filling with treats your dog would love too. Mash up some canned dog food with water to thin it out, put it in the tube, and keep your gloves on when you reward your dog. 

https://www.cleanrun.com/product/squeeze_tubes/index.cfm?ParentCat=675

https://www.amazon.com/haakaa-Reusable-Storage-Squeezable-Washable/dp/B099DZZNZK?ref_=ast_sto_dp&th=1

https://www.amazon.com/stores/page/A7E219C6-D5BB-4126-BAB7-35430C8E9577?ingress=2&visitId=f84671c4-a311-4e6c-897c-919c45f7ce43&ref_=ast_bln

2. PRE-FILLED SQUEEZE TUBES

When I was researching for this post, I found several options for squeeze tubes that are already filled with tasty treats for dogs. You can also find baby food pouches in any grocery store pre-filled with soft food. Be sure to introduce these to your dog before using them as a reward - some dogs may not like being surprised by a food tube.

https://www.barkpouch.com/

https://www.chewy.com/purebites-plus-squeezables-skin-coat/dp/382714

https://www.chewy.com/f/doggiewater_f1v153213

3. TREAT DISPENSER

https://www.cleanrun.com/product/train_n_treat_dog_treat_dispenser/index.cfm?ParentCat=675

This gadget is fairly easy to use while wearing gloves. I bought this several years ago because as my elderly terriers' vision deteriorated, they started to bite my fingers when taking treats. Here's how it works - place a piece of string cheese or hotdog in the bottom, secure it with the spring holder, then press the button to eject a small slice of cheese/hotdog. It's more expensive than the other options. Dash and Josie are happy to demonstrate it for you here:

https://youtube.com/shorts/jklXAZjvN6k

What other cold weather hand-savers are out there?

Rules and Regulations, and a Spooky Sniff and Go

This is pretty obvious, but read the rules for each organization you trial with. NACSW premiums contain this phrase:

Complete rules are available at www.NACSW.net. It is the responsibility of each competitor to read and understand the current NACSW™ Rule book prior to participating in a NACSW™ event.

AKC trials have this phrase in the premium:

In consideration of the acceptance of this entry, I (we) agree to abide by the rules and AKC Official Entry Form regulations of The American Kennel Club in effect at the time of this event.

Rules and regulations are excruciatingly boring to read, but it's heartbreaking to NQ because you didn't know the rules. If you have questions about the rules, you can always ask your CO (at NACSW trials) or judge (at AKC trials) during your briefing. Current regulations are here -


NACSW: https://www.nacsw.net/trial-information/trial-rule-book

AKC: https://www.akc.org/sports/akc-scent-work/regulation-resources/

USCSS: https://www.uscaninescentsports.com/rules/

                      💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀


Several people have asked me what a sniff & go entails - it's a nosework event set up like a trial but is run just for fun. The term comes from obedience fun matches, called a "Show & Go." There are no ribbons or titles, you can ask for as much help as you want, there are usually no prerequisites for entering. It's just great practice for a trial.

On Saturday, October 28, 2023, Julie Harbican hosted a fun Spooky Sniff N Go at All Breed Rescue's facility. Julie and the ABRT crew set up three searches - containers, and two interiors. SO MANY DISTRACTIONS!! There were skeletons, spiders, spooky sounds, things hanging from the ceiling, webs, and so much more. 

Foundation Game: Tossing Your Cookies

Tossing Your Cookies is an important game to play for your dog's entire career. This game builds value for odor, improves detailing skills, reduces fringing, increases speed to source, helps improve your dog's indication, helps build stamina for searching, helps the dog learn to work through pooling and lingering odor, and helps your dog learn to work through distractions.

Handler tips:

• Use a verbal marker or clicker to mark "nose on source." 
• Choose cookies that are easy for the dog to find on the surface you are training on. You don't want the dog to have to snuffle around for a long time looking for the tossed treat. 
• Toss the cookie as far as you need to in order to have enough time to rearrange the containers. 
• Keep a brisk pace - this should be a quick, exciting game!

I start this game with beginner dogs using just one switch box on the ground.

https://youtu.be/v7g2qsCqcUk?si=h6DVoF0MwuE5YAS0

As the dog gets comfortable with the game, I add more boxes, change the type of box, and change the spacing of the boxes. There are a myriad of ways to set this game up. 

I can add distractors to the containers.

https://youtu.be/uWVaJMYz_-o?si=3eRmp8JRFQDfnrTr

I can work with a vertical surface such as a magnetic white board, wall, lattice fence, etc.

https://youtu.be/2TG5qdtaOxI?si=DCxR4F-7fpUz2jBG

What's your favorite way to play Tossing Your Cookies?

Recommended Reading

****I don't have affiliate links to any of these books, so buy anywhere you choose.*****

When I first started learning about sport detection back in 2011, there was almost no public information available for training. Thankfully, that's not the case any more! Here are just a few of the books I have in my collection. 

MUST HAVE:

Fred Helfers has two books available. The Nosework Dog Performance Journal is a small, spiral bound book meant to be taken to training sessions and trials.  Fred's website is https://www.fredhelfers.com/

https://www.dogwise.com/the-nosework-dog-performance-journal/

Fred's other book, The Nosework Handler: From Foundation to Finesse has step-by-step instructions for improving your handling in each element. 

https://www.dogwise.com/the-nose-work-handler-foundation-to-finesse/

For the dedicated competitor:

Tom Osterkamp's Detector Dogs and Scent Movement is a deep dive into how odor moves outdoors. The book is primarily aimed at SAR teams, but I found the reading fascinating and very informative.

https://www.amazon.com/Detector-Dogs-Scent-Movement-Vegetation-ebook/dp/B086TRFG6W?ref_=ast_author_mpb

For training a passive indication:

Sara Seymour's Scent Work Step By Step is the best book I've found for breaking down the "how to" of training a nose freeze on source. Although Sara is British and the book is written for British competitors, the steps are easily adapted to NACSW or AKC trials. Sara's website is https://www.compasscanine.co.uk/

https://www.amazon.com/Scentwork-practical-workbook-scentsational-journey/dp/B08Y49S8Q7/ref=sr_1_1?qid=1697233814&refinements=p_27%3ASara+Seymour&s=books&sr=1-1&text=Sara+Seymour

Paul Bunker is a professional detection dog trainer and handler. His book Imprint Your Detection Dog In 15 Days is another good step-by-step guide to training a final indication. This book comes with links to videos showing how to train some of the exercises. Paul's website is https://chiron-k9.com/

https://www.amazon.com/Imprint-Your-Detection-step-step/dp/0578896516

Just for fun:

Want to train your dog to find your lost keys or glasses? Lili Kvam shows you how in A Dog's Fabulous Sense of Smell. She also explains in detail how to train your dog to follow a human trail, retrieve, and perform scent discrimination.

https://www.dogwise.com/a-dogs-fabulous-sense-of-smell-step-by-step-treat-search-tracking/

Foundation Game - Psyche!

 

"Psyche" is one of the foundation games I learned from the early Fenzi nosework classes. This game helps the dog learn to ignore the handler's behavior (which is often erratic and just plain strange at a trial) and just work to find the odor source. Some dogs are really good at tuning out their handler, and some dogs need to play this game often for their whole career. I'm looking at you, Tervuren. 😁😁😁😁  

Start the game with four electrical boxes, set about 3 feet apart. You can set them in a line or a square. One box is hot, the rest are blank. Tell the dog to search, and go stand near a BLANK box. Point your feet at it, stare intently at the blank box. If your dog goes to the odor box, treat and praise lavishly! Hooray! You made the right choice!

If your dog indicates the blank box, laugh and tell your dog how silly he is. DON'T PAY! Start the exercise again, and this time back off the blank box a little and move the odor box a little closer. 

https://youtu.be/KHM_qApW03Q?si=07G3CR1ua9xunXJs

Make this more challenging by adding more boxes, changing to different boxes (ORT boxes, tool boxes, etc) and faking a box that's far from the odor box. If you tap a blank box will the dog go find the odor box?

https://youtu.be/-c0AojxrRBM?si=G46z9qtbxJ_8Kmpa

Next, play Psyche in other elements. Set an easy hide, then try to convince your dog that it's SOMEWHERE else in the area.

https://youtu.be/9g0EO6XfeBs?si=AguBIf3n_-xzk_CK

One of my favorite games to play in class is "Picnic Table Psyche." I put a hide in a crack near a table. The table doesn't have any hides. Can you set twelve blank containers out, and have a hide on a nearby chair? 

My Paradigm Shift in Dog Training

Would you be surprised to learn that I never give my dogs commands? I never force my dogs to "obey commands." My dogs rarely opt out of a training session or work of any kind, and if they do opt out, that's OK with me.  

Anyone who has been in performance sports for longer than a few trials knows that once you walk into the ring or search area,  the dog has to WANT to work. The dog MUST OPT IN to the task. Maybe there is a dog sport out there that allows a handler to compel the dog to perform, but I don't know what it is.

I train my dogs to opt in to work from the very first training session. The dog must choose to work with me or there will be no training session. The "force free" training philosophy requires changing the trainer's mindset from "the dog must do what I command" to "how can I set up this training session so the dog demands to work with me?"

When I went to my first dog training class way back in 1992, using force and compulsion was the only way taught. We dragged our dogs across the teeter. We yanked the dogs through the tunnel. Poor Robyn, she could have been a really good agility dog if I hadn't been uneducated about training. Sorry, Robyn!

When I took my Cairn Terrier to "obedience" class in 1994, I was taught to pop that leash HARD when he got out of heel position. I walked out of that class with a dog who didn't like me, and definitely didn't like training of any sort. We never went back to "obedience" class, and I told Walker that he was just going to be untrained if that's the only option.

Thankfully, Walker went on to compete in agility, rally obedience, and other dog sports. I found better ways to shape behavior, and better methods of training using markers (clickers, mostly). 

I learned that behavior that is reinforced is more likely to be repeated. I learned that reinforcement comes in many forms, not just treats. I learned that cues can be added to behavior, and it's really hard to add behavior to a cue. So get the behavior first, THEN add the cue. And I learned that a cue is just a message to the dog that "you can earn reinforcement for this behavior now."

I practiced shaping/marking/clicker training to improve my timing. And I practiced more. I practiced shaping as many dogs as I could, as many behaviors as I could, then I clicker trained my parrot to do some simple tricks. Chicken camp is still on my bucket list.

I learned how to set the environment up to help the dog get reinforcement history for a behavior I wanted. I learned that ignoring unwanted behavior doesn't often work to make it go away, because unwanted behavior is usually being reinforced.

I've learned that force free training is really, really difficult for many people to comprehend and implement. People don't want to give up what they're comfortable with, even if their dog is not performing well in sports. The learning curve is steep, the mechanics of marker training takes practice. Correcting the dog is quick and easy for the trainer (not too fun for the dog, though). 

If you are interested in learning about shaping/marker/clicker training, there are lots of resources online. Here are just a few resources:

https://www.youtube.com/@kikopup

https://www.youtube.com/@dogsexplained

https://clickertraining.com/