discussion / Conservation Dogs  / 24 November 2022

Thinking out loud

I am a scat dog handler and have been looking to add tech. into my odor training. I got a fresh idea of making a self-dispensing machine that automates when a small novice puppy leans to smell the scent. The reason for this is I would want to see if an immediate reward will increase effective training and dependence on handlers. The best concept of this can be seen in this video. I would love to hear more ideas on this. Please feel free to ask me anything!




Hello Naomi

Using a remote reward device is not unusual for detection dog imprinting. I prefer a clicker so that I can transfer to field training easier than with a remote reward device. With the remote reward device, people typically people also use a place board for the dog to wait on. There are videos online of the remote reward device system being used in detection to give you some idea of the protocols.

Feel free to ask any questions,

Paul 

Hi Naomi,

Sounds like exciting work!  I'm not a dog trainer but we did publish 2 articles on automating dog training, here about modifying the Treat and Train, and here.

All the best,

-harold