Walk On Water?

Finesse isn't going to be her style.  Her style is going to be more like that of a bull in a china shop. 


She is figuring out that if she just shoves her way through... she will get to the other side of whatever it is she needs to get past.  


We will of course hone this skill down to a bit of a finer art because we can't let her endanger herself.  But in some things, it is fun as all get out to watch.


Like the above picture.   She had the need to get on the other side of this body of water.  She tried going around, but that put her too far away from us.  Kaeden kept splashing to and fro with out a care, and that was driving her nuts.  Finally she just said screw it and ran as fast as she could across the water.


The water wasn't as deep as she anticipated it would be, but she still flew across.... and from my perspective, she nearly succeeded in walking (or rather running) on water.


She isn't all bull in a china shop though.   She plays games with herself by pushing her ball under the couch, then figuring out how to get it back.  She taught herself early on, however, to not push it too far under to begin with, and to hook it with her paw, not just frantically shove her paw under the couch hoping to bat it out one side or the other.    If you shove your paw in there, it forces the ball further back under the couch, making it impossible to get out.


The best part of all of this?  It continues to show us how much of a problem solver she is.... she gets frustrated if she can't figure it out, but instead of giving up, she works that much harder at finding the solution.


This means, when the search gets hard, Raezor will get tougher and stick it through to the end, solving the puzzle as she goes!

Teaching and being taught

 
Raezor has taught us so many things.  For as much as we have taught her, I think our learning has been tenfold. 

On a previous training day, it was obvious that Raezor discovered that Kaeden did search work too.  Unbeknownst to me, as I worked Kaeden on a longer cadaver problem, Raezor sat in her crate and watched.  I heard her howling from her crate, but it didn't occur to me that she was watching.  That she was studying.

Until the problems were over and all the items picked up and we let the dogs out to just frolic.  She did not frolic.  She ran, lickity split over to where Kaeden had been working.  She climbed, sniffed and investigated every spot he had been in.  Too bad there was nothing there for her to find.  To be sure the scent was there, but, as yet, she hadn't been taught much about it, so she didn't know what to do with it.

So we spent time working specifically on cadaver scent.  Allowing her natural interest and rewarding it.  Putting it out and directing her to search small areas and having that same party we have with a live subject. 

Then Kristi decided to let Kaeden do more teaching.  She leashed Raezor and Raezor got to watch as Kaeden worked his cadaver problems.  It was as if she took notes.  This first session, she absorbed the scenario and when it was her turn, she was at it big time.  I could hear the "I'll show him!!" come from her loud and clear.  Up the rocks, into the crevices, knowing no boundaries to where she could go, she found the items with the enthusiasm of a long trained cadaver dog.  

So, for kicks, grins, fun and excitement I hid another source and had Kristi let her at it.  Raezor checked where it had been, but directed well away from it... she expanded her search area like a champ and even had no qualms or issues with checking out the water near by.  She checked all the rock formations and had an intensity that rivaled Kaeden's when he works.  

Then she caught scent and maneuvered toward the source.  At first, she blew right past it, but she practically did a back flip to get back to it.




We repeated the scenario a week later in a new location, with different sources, and by the time we worked the second problem, she was heading back to Kristi to tell her about it.

The power of the language you know.  Dogs teach dogs.  Because dogs speak dog.  

Competition works too....

On to more lessons!

Moving right along.....

Saturday was a good dog training day.  Fantastic weather... good winds.  Great people. 

We have found that if we let Raezor figure out pieces of the puzzle called Search Dog, it sticks better for her.

It was an interesting set of problems because she was plagued by visuals that disturbed her.  Downed trees that took on the shapes of different kinds of boogey men were really bothersome to her.  It was fantastic to watch her body language flip back and for from "I have scent" to "CRAP!!  What the sam hill is THAT thing" and back to "I have scent" again.  We let her work it.... let her take her baby steps forward until she got close enough that the scent of her subject overwhelmed whatever fear she had of the trees misshapen monsters.  When that happened, it was adorable to see.  She simply melted into a wiggly mass of happiness as she worked closer and closer to each of her subjects.  Her first subject she actually climbed over the downed tree he was under and she landed on top of his head.  She made the decision on her own to return to Kristi without having to be called, but not before she weaseled her way into her subjects face and thoroughly licked the living daylights out of him.  AND she took the "show me" command to heart and flew back to the subject with out any encouragement or calling from the subject.  Her second subject, she climbed the tree to get to her, had to have the face to face contact and then make her way back to Kristi without being called and blasted her way back to the subject without hesitation.   

She is moving right along and doing a fine job of it! 

Working In Stages

She loves what she does.  This job suits her.  Her mind needs challenges.  She needs puzzles, day in, day out, or she invents her own.

Today, she was faced with a challenge.  Not a search challenge, but a challenge none the less.  Kaeden was in the water.  She wanted to know what Kaeden was doing.  But that meant going into the water.  It wasn't deep enough for her to have to swim, but she didn't trust that.  You could see her trying to figure out how to get to Kaeden without getting wet.  She gave up on that, only to readjust her parameters so that she would only get 'just so wet'.  Her chest touching water was her limit.  She circled the water.  First clock wise, then counter clock wise.  Then back again.  Then she tried running across the water really fast, and discovered she still got wet.  So, more circling.  Kaeden, I think, felt he had found paradise.  She was leaving him alone, and he was doing his thing undisturbed.  He looked rather smug.  

Then she gave up and plunged in.  She reminded me of a agoraphobic trying to step out into sunshine.  In she was and then she was fighting with herself to stay in with Kaeden, or run like heck to get out.

In the end, run like heck won out.  Then she tried another entrance into the water only to get herself caught in the bushes and scare herself.  She was able to get herself free and then flew across the water to get back to 'high' ground.

It was funny to watch as she then tried to entice Kaeden to come out of the water by trying to tear up a bush near the water - she'd rip a stick off and then turn and look at him.  Then she'd pounce on the bush and look at him.  All the while he ignored her.  She expressed great relief when we finally called him out of the water and back to the truck so we could get to work.

She is a natural, this one.  A natural trailer, and natural air scenter, a natural search dog.  Today was no exception, as I purposely walked THROUGH a newly constructed building and she followed my trail through the building - going from hard pan dirt to cement and back to dirt again.  I have said it before, and I have no doubt I will say it again. She has done this before.   

And of late, she has been finding her voice.   From trying to get our attention to help her get her toy back from Kaeden, to tonights newest antic, barking for dinner.  THAT was a Please trick.... 

We shall see....

Mensa?

I don't believe I have ever seen such an adept puppy.  I am not trying to pat my own back or toot my own horn.  I am simply commenting on how often my jaw drops to the ground at the next thing that Raezor does.  I feel almost like I don't have a hand in it.  Like Kristi doesn't have a hand in it.  Like we're just along for the ride.

Which probably means I should just enjoy it.....

That said....  She did a problem with a brand new subject on Saturday.  It was a cold, blind start.  But one mistake was made.  The subject was not given a radio.  We had no communication with him for him to let us know when she found him, or to even talk to him about anything.

This had disastrous potential consequences.  What if she found him and didn't want to leave him... perhaps he would do something, inadvertently, to scare her in an attempt to make her leave to go back Kristi.  What if she found him and did indeed leave him..... to go off and explore the world on her own... thus discovering SHE could make the problem last longer if she didn't come back. What if HE didn't go where he was told to go.... how would we ever make this successful....

All these thoughts were racing through my head as we walked out to start the dog.  What I SHOULD have done was stop everything for 10 minutes and walk a radio out to the subject and my worries would be over.  My blood pressure would come down.  The swelling blood vessel in my brain wouldn't burst.  And all would be right with the world.

Oddly enough, that thought never occurred to me.  In fact, that thought didn't occur to me until right now as I wrote it.  

Instead, I ranted over and over to Kristi as she set the dog off with the 'go find' command....' how is this going to work?!  This could be a disaster! This is going to be awful...' and we notice that Raezor was ranging about 100 feet in front of us, obviously working a scent cone and set to disappear across the creek.  I pushed Kristi off and said, you NEED to catch up to her or this is going to be horrible.

There was no catching up to Raezor.  She had scent, she was GONE... across the creek and beyond.  

Before Kristi could get to the creek, I saw something that I flat out couldn't believe.  From the other side of the brush and creek, here came Raezor, just as hard and as fast as I had ever seen her, and she was intent on getting to Kristi in the most expedient way possible.  Kristi read her correctly that she had been into the subject,  and set her self to cue the alert, but she never had a chance because Raezor was in the air launching before the request was made.... contact was made and she did a flying kick turn and headed into the subject long before the "E" in SHOW ME was yelled.   Back to the subject she flew... and to top that off, Kristi STILL hadn't caught up, so she spun back around and back to Kristi she ran... and the sequence played all over again.

Now, my tune changed from "how horrible this could be" to "You are so f-ing lucky"  but inside, I was marveling at what I had just witnessed.  I had just witnessed a 5 1/2 month old puppy do an entire search problem, with all the elements intact.  No hesitation on her part, all concentration and joy.  She did exactly what every mission ready search dog does, without cues, without radios, without all the 'crutches' we should have had.  This she did with less than a handful of trainings where the alert/refind sequence of trainings had occurred.

Now, I am not saying "poof" at 5 1/2 months, she is a trained search dog.  Far from that.... she absolutely needs to work, be worked, and be trained to make her rock solid bomb proof.  What I am saying is that this puppy has put all these pieces together and when we were pressured and worried and concerned, she did the job.  This should predict a high probability of success for her as a search dog in the field when OUR stress level is so high because of the situation, she will be well driven to perform correctly.

And then there was the Vacuum

Once again, Raezor has amazed me.  In the rain, with a blind start in a negative area.  Out looking for scent.  Off checking this trail or that one.  Looking like the pro we're hoping she'll become.


The world doesn't seem to scare her.  She can race through it.  Fly over it.  Leap upon it.  She studies situations and sizes them up, and figures out how to get past them.  It seemed as though there was nothing she couldn't handle.


Nothing.... until she met the vacuum.

She has studied it.  She has sized it up.  She has tried to figure it out.  But she just can't get past this one.  She knows the sound it makes just rolling on the floor, not even being turned on.  She tries to approach it... sniff it, bite at it, but still it confounds her and she MUST bark at it.  She must try to intimidate it away, except she isn't all that intimidating.

 

 Luckily, there aren't any lost vacuums we must search for,  because I think that's where we'd run into problems.

Hungarian Leaping Rainforest Dog

How many ways can she amaze me?  Between the last post and now, I am not sure I can list them all.  She worked a night problem with a brand new subject and in a brand new portion of forest.  Raezor moved out in front, never hesitating, never worrying.  Just pushed out and worked.  She checked trails to either side of the path- ON HER OWN and worked her way right on down toward the subject.  And when she had moved on beyond the subject, the fact that her nose was working was obvious when she came to a very loud, very definitive screeching halt in the dirt that I could hear without seeing her, spun herself around and launched right into the subject.  The second problem was equally impressive with her automatically checking both sides of the path, and any opening into the forest.  When she hit the scent cone, she glided through it right to the subject.   We drove home that night with our mouths agape and our minds whirling.


Tonight... we did a blind problem with me as a subject, her starting in a known negative area, and me as an unresponsive subject, anticipating beginning the refind/alert sequence in a forest new to her.  Just how many curve balls can one puppy take?


She was FABULOUS!  With the go find - out she went ... looking for scent.  As soon as she crossed my trail she lit up like a Christmas tree - initially she back trailed me.  My partner let her work that a bit and then redirected her.  She got into air scent and that was all it took.  She flew right to me, circled me, slightly worried about the noise of the very large deer behind me (at least I hope it was a deer... after hearing the stories of the bear from the fire captain up there, I am actually forcing myself to believe it was a deer) and then she dove into me.   She was thrilled to pieces to find me.  It took a little coaxing from my partner, but she did leave me and zipped back to my partner, launching herself onto her without any command (can we say jump alert???) and flew right back to me... I was blown away!


But wait, there's more!  For the low low price of puppy love, she took one more curve ball and hit  a home run... A friend met us up there, and then Raezor did a 3/4 blind problem in the dark with a brand new subject she had NEVER met before this training.  She studied him leaving with great care.  Just a whine or two escaped her lips... but she stared intently into the dark, waiting to be released.  And when she was  - BOOM - off she flew.  NOTHING and NO ONE could stop her.  She picked up where he left the path and went into the woods with ease... right on into him and with a bit of coaxing, right back to my partner with a flying leap at her and no issue getting her to go back to the subject.


We are amazed.    I am not sure that 2 steps ahead are going to be enough.  We might need to be a mile ahead of her....

Keep Swimming

What a fabulous training today.

Raezor did her first stranger runaways in a brand new forest.  She showed great drive and great focus and was thrilled to pieces to party with a new subject.   And her hitting and following the scent cone was an absolute thing of beauty.   She had a blast!!!! 

Later we went to Station 17, where she explored the woods, and showed more of her independence that will be invaluable.  When we made it to the lake, she watched Kaeden swim with envy.  She wanted to do what he was doing.  She wanted to be where he was.  But she couldn't bring herself to do it.  She climbed the rocks, and then scrambled BACKWARDS up them.  She flitted about on shore, getting her toes wet, then her legs... but still, she couldn't quite screw up the courage.

And then she just did it.  Leaped from shore with all her might and splashed in.  Much to her surprise, water is wet and you sink when you hit.  But, true to form, up she came and swam with all her might back to shore.  

And I suspect, that is how she will be with most things.  Jumping in with all four feet and figuring out how to swim.

One Step Ahead

She's growing up so fast.    She goes and goes and goes and stops.   This is a stopped moment.

Yesterday was a fun fun fun training day for her.  I decided that since she seems bored by the 2nd runaway, we'd change it up a bit.  We'd do one long half blind run/walkaway, see how she did, then put her away and work Kaeden, and then do another problem.

The first run/walkaway jazzed her to no end.  I hid IN a hole.  She was just sure she knew where I was and when I wasn't in her 'profiled' spot.... her brain kicked in and used her nose to figure it out.  She was racing toward me, then blew by me.  But alas, after she blew past me, there was no more scent.  She flipped around and followed the scent right in to me!!!!  This was the first problem where she wanted to play and play and play....  we went back to the truck playing the whole way.  

Then we worked Kaeden.  I didn't know Raezor knew how to howl.   I don't think Raezor did either.  She whined.  Cried.  Whined some more.  Then an odd sound came out.  Then more whining.  The odd sound.  Then a full on howl.  It was all we could do to not laugh out loud and distract Kaeden from his job.  A job he did beautifully I might add.

Back to Ms Raezor.  So to throw more curve balls at her, we decided to do a totally blind problem.  We got back to the truck, I left the putting of Kaeden away to my partner and I just kept walking.  I went to a predesignated spot and just waited.  I left a scent article along the way to introduce that concept too.  I was nervous.  Was I throwing too much at this young pup?  Was asking her to search for someone in an area she had never been to before, never seeing them leave, tossing in a scent article and doing it at twilight when all the shadows are as scary as they can be just a bit too much?  Was I making a horrible mistake?

I have to admit as a sat at that tree with 3 bats swirling around me (who needs mosquito repellent when you have your own bats???)  that I thought about what advice I would give if a handler had come to me and said: It has been three weeks since we started puppy runaways with my dog.  She seems a little bored after the second one now that we've switched to my wife being the victim, what should we do?  I don't believe I would have said to advance the problem to a fully blind problem in a brand new area, while tossing in a scent article.  So, while I bit my nails worried I just screwed up, my partner said: GO FIND.

Raezor first went screaming over to where I had been, pounced, and I wasn't there.  Not deterred in the least, off she flew.  She put two and two together and went through the gate, and along the fenceline.  Still not finding me, she zipped back toward the gate and found the scent article and was thrilled!!!  My partner praised her and told her that was awesome, now go find her...  and all business came out in full force.  I was able to watch the whole thing (and tried to encourage the bats to find a different viewing post) and it was awesome to watch.  She coursed back and forth over my trail, all the while moving forward, picking up speed.  This time she only made it a little ways past me before realizing she needed to alter course.... and this was one proud proud proud puppy of what she had done.

I am amazed.  I have thought more than once that she came to us a puppy, programmed with dog already with a lot of her actions.  Now.... I am wondering something a little more spiritual....

Trust and Intelligence - and a little pouting for good measure

Show her something once.... maybe twice.... and WOW.... it seems she's got it.

Example?  She likes to jump, especially up.  So....This morning I placed her on a chair and motioned for her to jump up to me.  It took twice, and she got the idea (and had the trust) to jump into my arms.... tonight she is doing it on the command "Arms".....

And.... punish or correct her???  I think this little girl was a queen in her previous life... Or maybe a 3 year old. She doesn't take kindly to being told NO or that what she is doing is wrong...  She has a phenomenal pout.  Like don't talk to you, lay in the other room, back to you for 20 minutes pout.  It is actually funny to watch.  I can see it being an issue  that we will have to work through with her and search work.

She was introduced to cadaver Friday.  She has a natural interest in it, so her continued training should turn out well... and letting her watch Kaeden work really amped her up for the next round of introductions. 

My partner will be doing pretty much all the handling from here on out.... I get to be the subject for a few, then the transition to different people and then longer problems will begin....  We will be spending the rest of this dogs life figuring out how to stay one step ahead of her... or probably two steps....maybe three....

A step in the right direction

I have been trying to upload an adorable photo of Raezor, but for some reason, the photo simply won't load.

That frustration let go of, I must share these things.

Yesterday was a phenomenal success.  We went to the airshow, and she met people of all ages... and children laid down on the tarmac and let her crawl all over them.  Then children laid down and crawled all over her.  People got down on their hands and knees just to receive the sweetness and joy that Raezor exuded the entire day. 
Plane after plane after plane flew over, roared by and thundered along, and the whole time, not a flinch of worry showed on her face.  The A10 raced and careened to and fro... and thru it, she slept.  THAT, in fact, is the picture I wanted to share. 

And HERE it is (after 2 days of trying to upload).

Today, we responded to a search in the woods.  The subject was found before we got there, but it gave us a great opportunity for a new place for puppy runaways ...  but first, to get acquainted with the environment....

Recent road work had created  a TON of soft fluffy dirt.  And with joyful abandon, Raezor pounced time and again, reveling in great clouds of dust that she created.  We laughed uproariously at her and a part of me was slightly jealous that I had grown too old to pounce around in dirt like she did.

Once the pouncing and dusting was over, we took our now red, black and white puppy further into the woods.  The first runaway was ordinary and fun, and she was focused.  The second one, however, made us both proud.  So much in the way of brush and downed trees abounded, that trying to get a clear line of sight for a puppy of only a few inches tall was rough.  So we decided to heck with it, we would try anyway.   My partner ran and called and called and then hid.  She said nothing more until Raezor found her.  Raezor thought she knew right where my partner went.... and she pounced expecting the reward, but alas, no one was there.  From that moment on, Raezor was all business.  She put her nose down, circled around not once, but twice and decided on a direction, for which she received praise from me as she was right.  And then she just worked forward and pushed herself out further and further.  I could read that she just couldn't believe that my partner could be this 'far away' - but she wasn't giving up.  Then she caught air scent and tried to follow that in.  It took some patience and perseverance on her part but soon, she was on top of my partner and the party began.

And so we move forward.  She is going to be a dog that craves challenges, like the one presented today.  And we will be pressed to figure out the right challenges along the way.  Pretty much from here on out, with few exceptions, it will be my partner handling Raezor.  And they are going a step in the right direction.

The Future Looks Bright

My partner has got her hands full, but I think, in the end, this pup will grow into one heck of a dedicated, tenacious SAR dog that won't give up. This is going to be fun.  Raezor has got a head on her shoulders.  You can watch her think things through.  And in her head, there isn't anything she can't do.

She watched Kaeden get up on top of the picnic table.  She watched him get down.  She watched him one more time, and POOF, she was all over it.  Up was easy.  Down was a tad worrisome for her for just a minute.  Then she watched him one more time, and that was all it took.  Down she went.  She added a nifty variable the next time we did it.

She saw nothing wrong with leaping into my arms.  It seemed natural to her.  Too bad I wasn't ready for it!  I didn't exactly drop  or miss her, but it was close and rather comical.  She didn't let it deter her or bother her.  We did it again, and this time I caught her.  Whew!

She has independence down.  I can see this as a huge positive for her SAR future.  She will need it to be out there, looking for the scent of the missing person.  I can also see this as something we will have to direct into that focus.  Right now, if something catches her fancy, she is hard pressed to be redirected.

It is fun though, when she hears the "Raezor COME" command and begins her flight to you.  It is at full speed with abandon and almost no thought to the end result of a stop... somehow she manages to get stopped and she even automatically offers a sit.  She never ceases to impress me.

This weekend will be a big one.  She has 2 days of PR at the Chico Air Show.  What will she get from this experience?
- meeting a zillion people - something she, so far, desperately loves.
- patience at waiting for the next thing to do - something her handler needs to learn too!
- Sounds and sights we could never duplicate anywhere else... jet engines, prop engines, loudspeaker announcements, music, applause, whistles, cheering... you name it, she is in for it!

Expect cute pictures of her with my next entry from this weekend.

Thanks for your support!

And so it begins again

The adventure begins again....  a new puppy in my life, 5 1/2 years after the last puppy, and almost 10 years since the one before that.

So, what are the possibilities?  Search dog is on tap...

Three puppy runaways and I think she may just have what it takes!

We'll See!!