Tonight was all about containers... and Gimme continues on her mission to whack and otherwise trash as many boxes as possible. She seems quite gleeful about it.
We did four searches, one hide each. There were 18 boxes in three rows.
Our first turn was pretty true to Gimme's new found identity as the great masher. Joyce had the brilliant idea to turn the boxes over that didn't have odor in them - since that makes them a little sturdier. Joyce said Gimme only stomped 5 or 6, but everyone else thought she only missed stomping 5 or 6. At least she is still sticking the right one when I keep moving, so that is very positive.
The second turn I tried moving faster and while that did keep her from being so forceful in her box attentions, it didn't really make her any more accurate. Joyce thought it might be revving her up too much.
Turns three and four were off leash (even though container elements and ORTs are always on leash) with the handler standing still at the end we started from - only moving in when the dog indicates the right one. Gimme does still indicate wrong boxes and then looks at me to see what I'm doing. The second time off leash she didn't do that as much... "as much" being a relative concept.
Interestingly the second time off leash with me stationary the box with odor was at the far end and she wasn't as inclined to go that far. Its not like she isn't perfectly comfortable moving away from me... certainly on interior searches that are off leash she is perfectly happy to be all over the room without me in tow. I think its likely she was just trying to figure out "what is wrong with her now".
Joyce wants me to try an exercise at home with identical boxes. Basically I start with two boxes and Gimme gets a treat when she indicates the correct one and nothing when she indicates the wrong one. If she gets the correct one without first indicating the wrong one, then she gets a lot more reward - a jackpot. When she is consistently getting the right one first, then I add a third box, then a fourth and so on.
We don't know whether Gimme just thinks its incredibly fun to trash boxes (which would mean she isn't "odor obedient", which hasn't been the case with her other fun things). Or perhaps she has somehow gotten the idea that its about indicating a certain number of boxes. After all, she is still getting rewarded when she indicates wrong boxes - it just takes longer. For her that's not necessarily a bad thing, since she enjoys the game so much. She clearly knows which box has odor in it, since she sticks it when she indicates it and I keep moving - there just seems to be something in the process that isn't clear.
I expected Joyce to suggest taking her away from the boxes for indicating the wrong one, but there is a pretty strong bias to stick with reward based solutions in nosework and Joyce knows me well enough to know that's the only answer I'd be comfortable with. There are times to interrupt rehearsing a wrong way of doing something, but my strong preference is to explore reward based solutions first.
I like this solution and will be interested to see how it works. I use jackpots on other things (differential reinforcement) and Gimme understands the concept. For instance I was using it yesterday with the light switch training and it was very effective. So I think this is a good plan for Gimme. Naturally I'll report back.
Of course, I have to confess that part of me will miss the fun of watching Demolition Gimme go postal on the containers. I do love her antics...
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