# SchH and Hard Surface Tracking



## Vandal (Dec 22, 2000)

How many of you, who are now doing SchH, would like to see SchH tracking done like this:





 
Since tracking areas are becoming a problem to find, wouldn't this be an interesting alternative? Tracking in the stadium parking lot and then just walk on over for the rest.


----------



## gagsd (Apr 24, 2003)

Well, no one could complain about the height of the grass.


----------



## 4TheDawgies (Apr 2, 2011)

I'm not very knowledgeable about hard surface tracking. Is all the spinning and speed acceptable or to be expected with such a hard track ? 

I would love to get my dogs to the point of hard surface tracking. It seems hard to train tho. Do most people do the spray on the ground to help at first? With most tracking people I know even when the dog had been titled they still track with bait in between trials. Or atleast reward with food for finding articles. Is that what they do for hard surface tracks too?


----------



## elisabeth_00117 (May 17, 2009)

One thing I have done with Stark early on is track on EVERY kind of surface. This is one thing that I did right...lol.

He is a tracking machine!

We live in the middle of the city and I used the mall parking lot to train article indication, I soon realized that Stark was tracking to the articles, etc.. and so we did a few small tracks on the pavement and it worked out... surprise! I have done them a few times since then, but definitely take advantage of tracking on different surfaces!


----------



## Liesje (Mar 4, 2007)

I used to track at a church that has two yards. When Nikon was young, either yard was fine for working scent pads, short tracks, or tracks with a lot of corners that I could work into either space. As he got older, I wished I could use those yards. One day I decided to start the track in one, cross the driveway, and finish the track in the other. Enough room for a SchH3 track. It was only like 6' of pavement. I hadn't ever tried hard surface tracking. He got to the pavement and panicked! Instead of the calm, methodical track he started casting, whining, frantically snuffing at the edge of the grass. I had a food trail on the pavement and still almost had to drag him across. What did I learn? Hard surface tracking is TOTALLY different, at least for my dog. It's not like changing lengths in cover or the type of cover. If we ever want to try it seriously I'll have to learn to introduce it properly.


----------



## Vandal (Dec 22, 2000)

I am talking about at trials.
Thinking it over, I guess it would present it's own challeges finding vast areas of asphault or cement. Unless you just went downtown and tracked the sidewalks, like this guy:




 
I just like watching the dogs work in a more natural way without all the polished training attached to it.


----------



## Xeph (Jun 19, 2005)

I know that even though it's not the same, the AKC VST does involve a segment of hard surface. I'd love to see hard surface tracking, though, like Lies, I'd need to figure out how to properly introduce it.


----------



## Vandal (Dec 22, 2000)

This must be the beginning training? I mean, eight weeks old has got to be pretty close to the start, doesn't it?


----------



## carmspack (Feb 2, 2011)

Hard surface tracking blogs BIRCH-BARK HILL

I did hard surface tracking / trailing in behind industrial plants and warehouses -- permission granted -- scaled walls, went behind dumpsters, up and down stairs , walked along a side walk , crossed the street , worked a track there , even did an overlap -- for a dog of mine named Derrick who got a Felony One at 6 months of age doing multiple surface tracking then , awarded by Billy Smith L E T S . Amazing dog . tons of fun to work . So creative . Makes you think about how scent behaves. We did the work in blazing hot summer .
Same dog did water searches working with police divers as the subjects.
Carmen
Carmspack Working German Shepherd Dogs


----------



## Vandal (Dec 22, 2000)

How did you start the training Carmen?


----------



## Vandal (Dec 22, 2000)

Here is another one from the same trainer. If you are a Tom Jones fan you'll like the video. lol


----------



## Lynn_P (Mar 17, 2004)

I would love to see this type of tracking.... it definitely is more of the dog's natural way to track. I don't think you could "force" track a dog to do hard surface tracking. I did some VST work with Jackson and it's interesting to watch the dog work out the problems.


----------



## Lynn_P (Mar 17, 2004)

p.s. Anne.. love the song.. lol.


----------



## NancyJ (Jun 15, 2003)

Nice videos

I know there is Kocher methods and a lot of folks like Steve White and SIAB- both have articles here. I think SIAB now less complex just water to concentrate scent. The little pup is so precise I wonder if that technique was used. I see more scent piling up against buildings, going down intersections etc with a trailing dog. But then is the puppy tracking or trailing? Footprints easy, human odor more dispersed.


Canine Training Articles :: United States Police Canine Association


----------



## Vandal (Dec 22, 2000)

Might make people rethink those puppy tracks, scent boxes, trenches, etc. 
I saw these videos last year and was immediately intrigued. Looks like fun and like you said, can't much be "forcing the issue" when you are doing this.


----------



## carmspack (Feb 2, 2011)

Anne I am sorry to say that this dog had it naturally. It is something I strive for in breeding. 
You may remember Shelley from the euro list? 
When she approached me saying that she had joined a local SAR group and had done time ground pounding and map and grid work and all the other skills and was now ready for a dog.
Good timing . I had two. A female which she was asking for , and a male. I had a rough idea of their native talents already . When someone comes to look at dogs I demonstrate them to allow the people to see. The female was good , she was friendly and outgoing and did play ball and did go and make an attempt to search . 
The male however had this real fire in the belly and he would search to the point of obsession . We could have pulled up lawn chairs and had lunch and the dog would still be searching.
I sent her home to think about it -- her heart was set on a female . I said that we could meet at a large mall with huge anchor stores, PetSmart , Sears, Home Depot , acres and acres of parking lot. A track was laid . We arrive at the site . I bring out the male , we start on an area where we had been suggested to start -- the whole thing was blind to both of us --- . Dogs nose goes down and he runs the course, hard surface , warm spring , people stopping to stare , cars passing , dogs coming out of the backs of cars to be taken into the PetSmart. Dog had total concentration and followed the track which crossed over to grassy islands , embankments and even elevated cement planters with trees in them. It was in one of these close to the roadside where he found the little leather toggle. 
So Shelley was convinced and took him home that day . Sceptical that there may have been trickery Shelley took him within days and did her own little track in one of the hardware stores and parking lots in her hometown Port Perry . Surprise -- he did it. He did it because he needed to do it , bred in the bone , always acurate. The SAR team could not figure out what his motivation was ? In fact we were told to create a ball drive for him so that he would pass the tests. So we did , but that was not his motivation. We could hide things in the dead of winter in school yards and leave the item for a day or two and the dog would search. We did winter searches in dark in snow storm , tossing something into a seasonal storage area full of display racks , rows of grocery carts , skids , pallets, dumpsters. Then go to the local Tim Hortons , warm up and yack for an hour , take dog to scene and he would go ape searching .
HIs sire Danny aka "Scout" of Kingston Police dept (SWAT) had the same drive to track. His sire Kilo produced many many many TD's TDX's , rcmp SAR, bomb dogs , narc . police/ dual etc. So Danny would have been Carmspack Kilo - German shepherd dog bred to Carmspack Alza - German shepherd dog

so once Danny "Scout" was evaluated and accepted into a police dept for training I took a breeding from him. The dam was Yeuletts Inge , daughter of
Cito huas TTH Cito vom Haus TTH - German shepherd dog and female Yeuletts Shelby who is from high in trial Gunter Diegel praised Schh3 dog Rampa Rampa - German shepherd dog I see the pedigree is missing information on the data base but it is not missing to my records. Rampa was bred to a female who was a son of Rex Iris and Arika Kuhnhof (Urban Hopfenstrasse x Holly Kuhnhof ) This son of Rex Iris , Petro Kuhnof was bred to Yeuletts Salada who lived to nearly 17 years , was rcmp SAR as were her sisters Stash and Jasmine , and brother TomBrown RCMP -- and their father was Rallos Farmenblick Rampa - German shepherd dog, himself a working police dog in Washington State. A female "Tetley" sister to Salada, Stash, Jasmine, TomBrown , was my brood . One of her males is the black dog that opens my website, a dog with Metro Toronto, Purina Hall of Fame award, and of Tell another one of the very first dogs to create the k9 unit for Toronto. To this day that maternal line is continued on and built upon.
I did all this to show you that there is a deliberate genetic selection for the talent.

How do I train?? Won't be exciting to watch. It is walk on hard surface. drop leash , dog follow . Just like the genetic obedience. Go to Mike's . Take dog out of van. Give her a minute to adjust to wearing collar. Walk. Keep walking. 20 feet later drop leash and there is the pup at 14 weeks ? in animated perfect heel position giving handler focused eye contact , doing a track (2) first time ever , master track in high wind having to figure it out. Then doing a recall from some 150 feet to pull her away from her littermate brothers , and to get a speedy return and sit in front, to have a natural retrieve to hand. 
To Mike's males from the litter doing an accurate search , first time ever , working cones. 
To Sue doing a schutzhund track with her Blast , who got his TD but she swore she wished she could have done the TDX first , the TD was too easy for him, and now he is even better with hard surface.

I can't give you any technique. I know what to do with my dogs and that is to allow the nature of them to be expressed and not trained.

You are free to ask Mike psdontario -- you can contact Sue Coutts -- she has a female "Elle" now "Kira" who is a total natural at search and is driven and accurate and self motivating and has done hard surface working in warehouses and buses and senior citizens residence getting ready for the final dedicated scent and indication for bed bugs. She has found things as small as pellets . Date of birth Nov 3 2010 - same as the genetic obedience female "Ming" (the merciless) .

It is what I expect so I present the situation and just go. ? It is not so much training as an expectation of performance because it is there by genetics -. Same as Ellen expects the same from her sheep herding dogs.

Carmen
Carmspack Working German Shepherd Dogs


----------



## carmspack (Feb 2, 2011)

Anne the video, that's what it looks like. Lift the dog out of van , plunk it on ground and go. One difference with how I do it -- my locations are not so empty . There are people coming and going , distractions. I don't line the track up with a border , side of landscaping . I go right down the middle of a parking lot -- lets scent move around more. Very excellent little puppy. Good handler. Nice and calm on both parts . That was a treat to watch. Thank you for that. 
Carmen
Carmspack Working German Shepherd Dogs


----------



## Vandal (Dec 22, 2000)

Ok, so, you take a young pup, go to the Walmart, lay a track by walking across the parking lot etc, drop an article, go get pup and he follows it. No previous work with the article, like the man in the video did, just start like what I just said, correct?


----------



## carmspack (Feb 2, 2011)

when I had this litter Carmspack Agro - German shepherd dog
I demonstrated to Mike Clay (psdontario) the entire litter at around 5 or 6 weeks doing a track to reunite with me. The pups hit the corner and did not overshoot. Effort was enormous , hot summer , age, energy level at that age . They took a bit of time bursting through the underbrush and when the did we could see that they had been held prisoner by the meadowsweet which is a mounding tangle mess and has a stickyness to it. They came out with strands of meadowsweet stretched across their fronts. Huge welcoming party -- .
Here is one of the dogs chosen from that litter at 14 weeks, first track at Mike's. He gets hung up on a tree and still pushes forward. Second half of youtube there is the distraction of his best friend , Mike's daughter , and he is so focused on his job it is as if she is not even there . Neither track location was known to Paula who is doing the video work 



 
and here he is at work - https://sites.google.com/site/countrylanepsd/carmspack-agro-success-page and here is one of his finds shortly after joining the community as a police k9 Saugeen Shores K9 Unit Saves The Day

Now the one thing that I do so that I can observe them at 5 and 6 weeks of age is to go out to one of my fields. Take some ground meat , very small chunks of food and throw it as far as I can , as wide a range that I can. That day the dogs feed themselves by hunting for their food . It helps them connect the dots. After that food is never on the track . They consider it a hindrance . "get this junk out of my way !!" . The first day find the food lets me see who has tenacity, who has a natural inclination to use nose, who is so convinced that there is more to find long after the last morsel is gone, and who goes back the next day to see if he gets lucky. Of course it is he and she , not just the he's.

Carmen


----------



## carmspack (Feb 2, 2011)

that is correct . the item has no value .


----------



## carmspack (Feb 2, 2011)

WalMart is a little nuts busy . 
My last dog that I did this with was Sumo last late Aug Carmspack Sumo - German shepherd dog when that dog was only months old. 
I took my daughter and grand daughters to a mall with Old Navy as one of the anchor stores (Ajax) and a large grocery anchoring the far side. I laid my track while the girls were in the Old Navy getting back to school clothing. Went back to the van. Brought Sumo out , and let him rip . He needed to go across the parking lot , down an embankment (grassed) to the sidewalk along the sidewalk to the entry for the cars coming exiting off the street into the mall, then to the back of the store in a straight line. Then I played with an indian rubber having it ricochet off the back wall of the building , getting him ball cuckoo. This dog has a strong natural herding drive and a wide grip and push with his hind feet. This is the one that I want to take to a border collie person just up my road that does herding classes. We are surrounded by sheep in my neighbourhood. 

Laurel Satov on this forum with her dog Journey who is Sumo's sister has the same experience in tracking . She is interested in competition in schutzhund , being a member of Joanne Plumbs club. Here we are going to have to fight the dogs natural tracking skills to slow it down to the obedience excercise that schutzhund tracking is.
Fred Boutin with his regionals dog Chunko sch h 3 Carmspack Chunko - German shepherd dog had to do the same thing . He had to repress the tracking drive to get the obedient foot to foot.

There is a nice picture of Journey that owner Laurel posted on the forum.

Carmen
Carmspack Working German Shepherd Dogs


----------



## Vandal (Dec 22, 2000)

Ok, I saw that video some weeks back. The dog sees the track layer, which is the way we used to train it in SchH a couple of centuries ago. 

I have no problem believing a dog can track on cement, I tell myself the cement we call tracking fields here is actually vegetation.


----------



## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

Where I track Karlo there are parking lots separating the grass areas, I've tracked him across the drives several times and he stays on, nose down. But I've never tracked him on just pavement. 
Sometimes when I think he'll track just fine on grass, he'll cast or lift his head...when I think he'll lose it due to crossing a lane, he stays focused.


----------



## Samba (Apr 23, 2001)

I know dogs can track on cement. I have been to VST seminars and hope to take a class soon. There are many ways to do it. Some dogs are naturals and that is a great thing but not all of them are so endowed.

We put food down frequently just like in the grass. One of my friends who is a judge starts by putting her hands down on the cement for the "steps" to add scent. I just take my shoes off as I can't do that Yoga!

The articles are rewarded when they get to them. In VST they are going to be pretty flat and there will be metal and plastic.

Steve does that water thing where the distilled water is pumped down the track and food dros used. The moisture to help retain scent at first. 

For my dogs the transitions are often hard. When I am working on hard surface intro, I don't go from grass so much. Our instructor had us do that in class last week though and some dogs transitioned well.

My friend is trialing in VST this weekend. We use college campuses a lot. Her dog is good at it. She earned her TD when 6 month old pup. Then TDX on first try. The VST has been harder but I am sure ths dog will be CH Tracker. I think it is the hardest AKC title to earn myself. Fascinating to watch her dog work on cement, through breezeways, around buildings with swirling winds.

Ed Presnall has a book on component training for the VST. There are, of course, many approaches but I have been reading his stuff lately.
Mastering Variable Surface Tracking: The Component Training Approach by Ed Presnall - Reviews, Discussion, Bookclubs, Lists

It does require more natural work by the dog and is great to watch. Schutzhund tracking, not so much.


----------



## Vandal (Dec 22, 2000)

Thanks Carla.


----------



## Samba (Apr 23, 2001)

Here is a lady starting with White's HITT. Steve abandoned that adding human scent to the water idea. I am glad as I thought it was gross.
The sprayer must be unused for other things. The water distilled as tap water will have a scent. The moisture helps to hold scent for the tracking introduction. 

Here is another vid with the distilled water used...






If you can find a crack in the cement to follow, I think it helps to hold scent some for the beginning training sessions.


----------



## NancyJ (Jun 15, 2003)

YES SIAB, the article by Steve White is on the USPCA web page I linked and they don't mess with the t-shirt anymore just a clean sprayer with distilled water.


----------



## Samba (Apr 23, 2001)

Cute Scottie doing HITT. Nothing like a lovely Scottish reel to track to.






Note he checks the cracks...scent grabbers those.


----------



## Vandal (Dec 22, 2000)

Cute dog but I think I like the Tom Jones song better.


----------



## G-burg (Nov 10, 2002)

> Ok, so, you take a young pup, go to the Walmart, lay a track by walking across the parking lot etc, drop an article, go get pup and he follows it. No previous work with the article, like the man in the video did, just start like what I just said, correct?


Let's all go out and try it and see how well our dogs do..  WE can all compare notes afterwards..


----------



## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

With my luck we'd probably run across an active meth lab...they seem to be everywhere around here!


----------



## Samba (Apr 23, 2001)

A meth lab in the parking lot!? Now that is bold. They still generally keep them in the houses and apartments here. Always some cooking going on around us too. 

There are parking lots that are pretty vacant on the weekends here and after hours. I will try to give it a go as Hogan needs to revisit pavement anyway. We are having days of rain though, so no worries about having to add "hydration". Ugh.


----------



## NancyJ (Jun 15, 2003)

A new way is to cook it in 2 liter bottles, sometimes out in the woods. So beware of any plastic coke bottles with liquid in them (used to be all you had to worry about was drunks peeing in them) We learned about it during a hidden meth lab class.

New Method to Make Meth in Soda Bottles Makes it Easy for Anyone - Associated Content from Yahoo! - associatedcontent.com


----------



## dOg (Jan 23, 2006)

Great thread.

Thanks!


----------



## Tim Connell (Nov 19, 2010)

I like the methodology of training on the most difficult surface first, then all the other surfaces are easy in comparison.
I've used HITT methods with a couple of dogs...with a police dog type track which is not nearly as precise as a sch track. If using HITT with a sch dog, be sure to keep them slow and methodical. I had challenges keeping the speed down with very food driven dogs.


----------



## carmspack (Feb 2, 2011)

Generally a good way to start is to do a master track.
The area that you select could be in an area that is light industry , or park , or church area , someplace where you have a small parking lot and areas , benches, sign boards , landscaping where you can place yourself . Did some helper work for dogs going in for SAR . We had permission to use a very large parking lot of a light industrial area (Markham) with an adjoining hydro power corridor . There was the parking lot , cement sidewalk , gravelly area. I laid the track , but then decided to hide in plain view sitting three or four steps up a fire escape . Dog totally flumoxed. The handler and I were making eye contact shrugging at each other. Dog had to work it out. But important lesson learned , teach dog elevations -- this is important for all specialized scent detection dogs . 

Miss a bath or shower, wear clothing that is "rich" . Take a quick jog to get your personal scent aroused . This is how I would assist a dog by creating more skin rafts more volatile scents , same effect as the lingering scent of someones perfume after they have left the room. Then get your dog and pack him up. Have a location in mind and go there.
This involves a second party. You arrive at your destination. You take dog out and give a short bit of play , building desire to engage with you. Put dog away in crate . Give him a visual , flap your arms , call the dog. Then the friend closes the door so that he can not see you. Meanwhile you are walking your path and making yourself obscure. If the location allows you can zig zag to walk on grassy area which will hold the scent longer and allow the dog to confirm his course. When you have walked your distance and you are obscure , the other party with your dog lets the dog out , clipped on to the long line as the crate door is opened. It is important that your assistant be totally neutral , no chatter or friendly which will divert the dogs thought on getting back to you . Just like the man did with the little malionois in the youtube. Crate open, dog tucked under arm, dog dropped on floor and dog gets in to action. The helper has to remain quiet . Let the dog figure it out , let him connect the dots . No guidance, no praise , no direction . Stay to the back of the dog and let the pressure on the lead move you forward . The dog is looking , not the helper. The hiding subject has to be quiet also , have the dog locate without you bringing him in by voice or motion. 

When the dog finds -- tons and tons of praise, but the helper falls back and is not involved. 

Have your well groomed helper go to the take out counter for coffee or take out --

Go home and have shower !!!

Carmen


----------



## Samba (Apr 23, 2001)

Well, it has taken me awhile but I finally got to starting on the pavement tracking today. 

Teaching more footstep tracking for competition though. 

I was told by my friends who do VST competition that dogs can become visual with bait and articles on the hard surfaces. Found some food that I like. It is Ziwi Peak.

Natural Range Of Premium Pet-food Products - Ziwipeak - Natural New Zealand Pet Nutrition

The food pieces are smallish and flat. They do not show at all on the pavement I used today. Articles are flat like a CD case, dark wall plate, black leather, etc . Wanted to be sure these had a low profile. 

I went barefoot, first stepping into the dewy grass for moisture. (Ouch, feet tender from a winter in shoes). Since my girl already knows how to track I did not put the food in every step... about every three. She knows corners also, so put one in.

Samba did start and track it easily. She passed up food as she does when she is following scent well. She made the corner without any searching. 

I used the ends of the yellow painted parking spaces to make sure I went straight and so I would know where it was laid. 

Someone told me they do about a month on pavement only to get it solidified.


----------



## carmspack (Feb 2, 2011)

resurrecting this old thread . Here is some new material showing "Blast" doing a multi surface , hard surface track after being idle while his house mate Trust was being prepared for her UDTDX trial. BIRCH-BARK HILL 

Carmspack Fancy - German shepherd dog (sister to) this is his pedigree. There is another brother , Badger with the same tracking talent , ideal for SAR .

Carmen
Carmspack Working German Shepherd Dogs


----------



## carmspack (Feb 2, 2011)

Nice to see that Samba seemed pretty natural at the hard surface track. I would expect it from her.

With all the nasty and violent weather and the need for Urban rescue , urban search dogs , especially brought to attention with the tornado in Joplin (can't even imagine it) I think it is a good idea that we start preparing more dogs , breeding, raising, training, certifying , dogs to be at the ready to respond to situations like this. Of course we need dedicated , qualified human handlers also. My hats go off to those team members .
Carmen
Carmspack Working German Shepherd Dogs


----------



## cliffson1 (Sep 2, 2006)

Carmen are you sneaking down here and training with our County Sheriff/Emergency Mgt Corp...lol What you posted are many of the things we do on Fridays when we work scent/tracks. We have GS, Mals, Bloodhounds...we were working on elevation and under bridges/overpasses the past week. Also, we have a favorite industrial park attached to an airport that allows us to go across unused runways. The more exposure the better....we actually have everyone bring dirty clothes not washed and put them on for exercises. Good Stuff Carmen.


----------



## carmspack (Feb 2, 2011)

thanks Cliff - almost a lifetime ago Sue Barwig commissioned my friend Ruth Yeulett and I to create a script for a video that she was going to produce for one of her commercial ventures , which was a video on the selection and training of the SAR dog. We took it from prebirth (selection of appropriate breeder) , birth , observation of pups, starting to make the cuts to selection , raising and educating the canine candidate right up to the final climax where the dog is the hero of the video. She loved the script and started the production till too many "hands" got involved each wanting to be put in to the spot light - so the project was shelved . Unfortunately Sue Barwig passed away , which I feel was a great loss to the GSD community. She owned the copyright so we could do nothing with the material . 
The blog site that I provide shows you Trust, Blast and young female Elle/KIRA all coming out from that kind of breeding and selection. Her previous GSD Spook was a daughter of my Kilo. Sue Coutts does a fabulous job walking behind the dogs !!! 
If you look at the blog site you will see Elle/KIRA working (with permission) in a very busy shopping mall , highly contaminated scent field , doing scent work in preparation for her career in bed bug detection. 
xxxxxxxxxxxxx
On that note I am copying an article printed in The Toronto Star Sat May 21 written by Star "Living" reporter Barbara Turnbull .
Scents & sensibility -- Man's best friend now sniffs out peanuts and prostate cancer , and helps veterans cope with post-traumatic stress 
"Ramsey Foster was 18 months old when someone fed her a corner of a peanut butter square. "Within a few seconds she started to react," recalls her mother, Amber. "I had to throw her in the van and rush her to a hospital. She was blue by the time we got there."
Since then, the Fosters -- Amber, dad Justin, Ramsey, now 5, and her sisters Kamden, 8, and Rylee, 13 -- have largely stuck to home on Campobello Island, N.B, because Ramsey is so sensitive that she isn't even safe at her nut-free school.
Her airborne allergy has resulted in a number of reactions in grocery store carts and at restaurant tables, even after Amber has thoroughly wiped them down. Ramsey wears an epi-pen (an emergency epinephrine device) around her waist at all times.
But life is about to open up for Ramsey and her family. They returned home last with with Gus, an Australian labradoodle trained to detect minute particles of four kinds of nuts.
The two week training period at Angel Service Dogs in Monument Colo., was the first time Ramsey had met other children with allergies as severe as hers . It was there that Amber and Justin learned to direct Gus to sweep a room before Ramsey enters.
"It's amazing" says Amber "He gets it right on"
The family is looking forward to their first visit to a movie theatre, among other things. Even so, they will take the same precautions, Amber says, "but Gus is another tool to help protect her."

In recent years, the evolution of service and diagnostic dogs like gus has moved at breakneck speed. It seems as though every month brings a new study showing new uses to which their olfactory and empathetic gifts are being put to use .
Man's best friend has no difficulty learning new tricks.

Master CPL David Desjardins served four stressful tours of duty -- in Bosnia, Honduras, Bosnia again, and then, the worst of all, an eight month stint in Afghanistan.
He returned from Afghanistan in 2001 and retired from the forces in 2008 after being diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder three years before. His condition was marked by massive mood swings. One minute he would be so depressed he couldn't leave the house, the next so angry he kept his wife Darlene, and three children Christopher, Kourtney and Kayleigh at arm's length, the next so frightened of triggering a bomb he couldn't stop on the grass.
A career soldier, it is difficult to draw Desjardins out about those dark days. Stoicism is part of his job description. "You don't feel normal over here after being there," is about as expressive as he gets.
Medication and therapy helped. But when a hip injury during a training excercise put him in a wheel chair two years later it was another major reversal of fortune.
Then, 18 months ago ---- almsot a decade after his return from Afghanistan -- unexpected help arrived with four legs and a wet nose.
Maggie is a two year old rescued Rottweiler with a dual assignment. As Desjardin's post traumatic stress dog she has been trained to wake him up if he is having a nightmare.
In public , she ensures he has sufficient space around him, a frequent concern for people suffering PSTD.

xxxxxxxxxxx interjecting comments here recalling previous thread on why can't you pet and socialize with "service dogs" seems like one very good reason xxxxxxxxxxx

continue with article

(Psycchiatric dogs can also be trained to shake their owners from flashbacks and stop panic attacks before they start) As his mobility-service dog, she gives him support when he stands ups and goes up or down stairs.
And in both her roles she makes him laugh. "She's a big goofball, so the comedy aspect is there," says Desjardins, 41.
It is no exaggeration to say that as a result of Maggie, Desjardins has reconected with the person he once was. "I'm back and functioning, participating in society." he says laughing frequently during the phone interview. "I have a new appreciation for my sife and kids. We're a happy, cohesive family. It's funny to think that an animal can have such a profound impact on your life,"
Then he adds quickly , "If I didn't get help when I did it would be a totally different outcome from what life is today."

Stanley Coren , a Vancouver psychologist who with 12 books about canines under his belt is the closest thing we have to a spokeshuman for the dog world, observes that it is only the past 50 years that science has confirmed that the bonding qualities we ascribe to dogs are real and demonstrable . "once you start to do that, you start to expand out to see what additional things they can do."
Maggie and Gus are just two in a growing legion of such dogs.

* Seizure-assist dogs are trained to stay close to their human companion during seizures (often licking the face or hands) as well as fetch medications or call for help . Even more specialized are dogs that can detect an oncoming seizure to 45 minutes before the attack. To alert its owner, the dog may circle, paw, bark or maintain close eye contact. "What we know on how dogs can allert to a seizure before it occurs is still a mystery." said Dr Basim Uthman, a professor of neurology and neuroscience at the University of Florida's college of Medicine and Brain Institute in an article on epilepsy.

* In a study published earlier this year in European Urology, a Belgian Malinonis shepherd, trained to recognize the scent of prostate cancer in urine, correctly sniffed out the cancer in 30 or 33 cases .

* Similarly, Gut magazine reported a study earlier this year in which a Labrador retriever could detect colon cancer by smelling the breath of patients with 95 per cent accuracy . It was a 98 per cent correct when the sniffing stool samples . More remarkably , the dog could spot early stage cancers and could discern polyps from malignancies, which colonoscopies can't do.

* Entomologists at the University of Florida found that trained dogs can detect a single live bed bug or egg with 96 per cent accuracy .

* A German shepherd named Buddy has had a long association with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans in Saint Andrews, N.B (New Brunswick a province of Canada), tracking salmon and clam poachers. More recently he made the news by becoming the first lobster egg sniffing working dog . It's illegal for fishermen to keep egg bearing lobster, but indentifying them is difficult because the carry their eggs beneath them . Before Buddy , officers had to turn every lobster by hand to check them . "It speeds up the time. The dog can do probably 20 crates in five minutes where it would take us probably five hours." John Stuart, a fisheries officer told the CBC (a broadcasting network like NBC/ ABC).

* Dogs have even shown their worth -with a more than 80 per cent success rate -- in detecting ovulatin in cows, a crucial consideration when the animal is being mated with a bull or through artificial insemination.

Dog traning centres around the world are working to fill the rising demand. It isn't very cheap. Service and diagnositc dogs cost between $10,000 to $40,000 depending on the level of training required.
One of the most ambitious is the Bergin University of Canine Studies based in Santa Rosa California. Bonita Bergin founded the school, formally designated as a post-secondary institution, in 2004 to fill the need for certified trainers. here they start training pus at 3 1/2 weeks (initially for just five minutes a day) rather than the standard eight weeks for service dogs.
By 12 weeks they have mastered 90 commands. "That alone -- learning how early they can learn and how much they can learn -- is pretty exciting." Bergin says, adding that students seeking a master's degree "must create an innovative program for their thesis, often addressing the need for dogs to help with rarer disabilities.

It is in this softer area of training -- focusing on the heart and brain rather than the nose - that may be the dog's next fronteir .

For example, kids with poor reading skills have made progress with Reading Education Assistance Dogs (READ) , largely because the dogs don't laugh when mistakes are made. Similarly, companion dogs have long been involved in senior's centres and nursing homes.

Dogs are working in hospitals, with at-risk young people - in virtually every corner of society where companionship and loyalty can help .

Teaming dogs with soldiers, as in the case of Desjardins, has picked up the momentum in recent times. Last year, for example, the U S Senate earmarked $2 million to study the benefits of service dogs to physically and emotionally damaged veterans -- and programs are opening throughout Canada and the U S .
Meanwhile in Cambridge Ontario, a new program run by National Service Dogs is providing veterans in the London (Ontario) area with dogs to help them with PTSD symptoms and re entering civilian life.
Mara Engel, who heads the program says she's in no doubt that the dogs will prove to be a positive force for emotionally scarred soldiers.
"If you've got someone becoming anxious in their environment, just having a dog laying its head in their lap and then making contact with that dog is a great tool," she says .

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

and no matter how sophisticated we become in our machinery -- dogs offer us something that goes far beyond (my words)

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

I have had dogs with the Dept of Fisheries and Oceans , a branch of the RCMP , in British Columbia. The dogs duties included identifying fish leaving the park and identifying fish species that were caught out of season.

enjoy the article --
Carmen
Carmspack Working German Shepherd Dogs


----------



## Samba (Apr 23, 2001)

Any one else give the pavement a try? 

I am working on corners on it now. Soon will go to the university campus and try things around buildings.


----------

