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Practical training

The place to write about, ask for advice on and upload videos on the challenges you face in the practical training.


Training locations

Hello!  So I'm a little behind with the training due to sickness/surgeries/workload but the progress is going well.  I am at the beginning of Module 2 and Atlas is doing very well with primed sends.  Our first training location with the reps proved to be good for primed sends as well when we advanced to pre placed.  Now that we are moving to 4-6 different locations and prepping for the introduction of the laser, should I have him confident enough in each location to do pre placed toy/bowl sen…

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Hello!  So I'm a little behind with the training due to sickness/surgeries/workload but the progress is going well.  I am at the beginning of Module 2 and Atlas is doing very well with primed sends.  Our first training location with the reps proved to be good for primed sends as well when we advanced to pre placed.  Now that we are moving to 4-6 different locations and prepping for the introduction of the laser, should I have him confident enough in each location to do pre placed toy/bowl sends at each before I start introducing the laser?  I have found that he is doing great with the entire priming visual setup with the toy and bowl and increasing distance at newer locations, but he doesn't always go directly to the bowl if it is pre placed at these newer additional locations.  Is it moving too fast to introduce the laser if he is not reliably going to a pre placed toy/bowl at each of these newer locations (but is reliable with the primed setup)?

A second follow up question.  I'm sorry if you cover this in future videos and I'm getting ahead of myself, just trying to prepare.  I would like to have a "look for the laser" command.  I have seen other handlers (common in SWAT) deploy their dog down a hallway and perform a forward down to hold a hallway intersection or area.  From there, they give a "Laser" command to the dog and it is his command to look around for the laser from his held position away from the handler.  Once he locates it visually, he watches the laser go to the target the handler puts  it on.  From there, the handler gives the normal "go to" command (just like given from his primed position at his side) and the dog leaves that position and goes to it.  My question is, if this "look for the laser" command is something that I would like to have, would the appropriate time to start implementing the command be right when I first introduce the laser?  I imagine I would do the systematic primed setup, dog ready to go, turn off the lights, and as I'm turning on the laser and moving it to the bowl, I give a calm "Laser" command (calm and keeping him in place) and pair it with him seeing the laser come on.  Then I would send him with my normal "go to" command.  Would this be the correct implementation of it?  Any thoughts or potential issues you see with it?  Again, I apologize if this is covered later and I got ahead of myself.

Thank you again for this!  We are progressing well with it even if we are behind!

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Question on when to move up to Mod 3

Telly finally managed to get beyond the 30 Meter mark in the dark yesterday with two good clean sends in a new location at 40m.  I am inclined to linger at the module two exercises for a few more days to solidify the concept of "go to the light".  We no longer have a detection function due to some of Oregon's legal measures passed recently.  Would it be OK to try a down command since she was doing that at the end of the plain non laser Voraus (before the bowl exercises)?  or should we attempt…

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Telly finally managed to get beyond the 30 Meter mark in the dark yesterday with two good clean sends in a new location at 40m.  I am inclined to linger at the module two exercises for a few more days to solidify the concept of "go to the light".  We no longer have a detection function due to some of Oregon's legal measures passed recently.  Would it be OK to try a down command since she was doing that at the end of the plain non laser Voraus (before the bowl exercises)?  or should we attempt an article search.  My concern with the article search is her being visual and just running to the article instead of the dot first.  Thoughts?

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Sometimes we have different ideas on the landmark

I have noticed the last two days when working on introducing new areas and moving back that sometimes Telly and I have a different idea on what exactly the landmark is.  She is picking out landmarks so that is good but when the distance moves back sometimes a relatively close item that did not stick out so much to me is the one she picks.  Usually the item is pretty close in distance to the other (the one I chose) like about 2M.  When she gets close and sees the target she adjusts.  Does not …

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I have noticed the last two days when working on introducing new areas and moving back that sometimes Telly and I have a different idea on what exactly the landmark is.  She is picking out landmarks so that is good but when the distance moves back sometimes a relatively close item that did not stick out so much to me is the one she picks.  Usually the item is pretty close in distance to the other (the one I chose) like about 2M.  When she gets close and sees the target she adjusts.  Does not happen always just sometimes.  Maybe I am not picking out the better landmark ?

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