Much has been said about what is needed drive wise to be an effective Detection Dog. Some argue that prey drive in a dog has nothing to do with detection work, or can be a distracter in the work. But the reality is many times a dog whose play drive is average or below, but is a high prey drive dog, can be trained to be an effective working detector dog.

First let’s talk about the play drive methodology for training detector work.  For years we all looked for dogs that naturally had or had been taught crazy playing with a ball or tug or to scratch for them. We all many years ago believed without these things it wasn’t possible to teach the dog to be a detector dog.

Over the years I like others had seen dogs which were super high prey drive dogs or to put it simpler, what we felt would be very good patrol dogs. These dogs maybe didn’t show much playing so we immediately ruled them out for detector dogs even if they showed high prey drive we said they had to be patrol only dogs. 20+ years ago cross training or dual purpose type training was extremely rare. So we looked for the specific areas we needed for that discipline, not being aware of the potential we were missing many times.  One main reason is back in that era, we simply didn’t have access to the type of dogs needed to do cross training. Then came imported dogs and we soon realized it only made sense to use the dog to its full ability.

We first trained all our dogs to scratch and we believed this was the only way to pinpoint or source or target odor. We all believed passive dogs were not nearly as accurate as aggressive indication dogs.  We used the high ball drive to teach the dogs and most were taught to scratch on boards or plexy glass for their toy. Then came the 4 box variable system and our thinking started to change.

The 4 box system was the main system used by the DOD for many years and even still today in most cases. Again this was a step forward but still play drive was the main requirement. Then  the idea that  maybe with super high prey drive dogs could be used if we could focus that drive toward detector work to our advantage. When you think about prey drive in basic terms it is nothing more than the dog’s basic instincts to chase, catch, and kill. So how do we use this natural drive/instinct of the dog for the work we want him/her to do.

We took this idea and the idea of the rabbit coming out of its hole or the ground and running away and we developed a training wall filled with holes, and shelves at each hole. The idea is to simulate that rabbit coming from its hole. We simply are using the reward object or play toy, in place of the rabbit. The dog still gets to chase, catch and kill the object. It also becomes the play toy between the two of you for doing the task requested of him/her. A training wall was developed. You will see it is nothing more than plywood walls, with a system of holes and shelf’s to hold the target odor. It can vary in size, shape, and design. The concept is what is important not necessarily the size.

With this design, we are teaching 5 at least basic things to the handler and dog at the same time. They are:

1)     Footwork- or speed of movement with the dog

2)     Blading or Blocking the dog so it can’t blow past us on a search

3)     Teaching the dog to go to source

4)     Search patterns for the dog and handler

5)     Leash control

I will touch on these 5 things briefly to explain their importance.

Footwork- It is extremely important. No matter the type of detector work your doing, if you slow down, stop, or even go to fast, it can lead to false indications, because the dog will start keying off your movement. With the wall you can teach the idea of keeping your feet moving even if the dog stops/alerts/indicates your feet should continue moving through the time he is paid (given his reward object).  You should always remember that all dogs work at different effective speeds. Some fast, some slow. You should always work at the effective speed of your dog, not the speed another handler may, or what someone may tell you. You must know your dog and their effective working speed.

Blading or Blocking- This teaches the handler to not allow the dog to blow past them and stay on task.

Leash control-Like foot work it is critical to not key the dog with the leash or unknowingly correct him/her by jerking them around with the leash.  These can be accidental type corrections, but to the dog it is still a correction no matter how subtle and can lead to problems, such as the dog walking odor, shutting down or others.

Search Pattern- The wall teaches the “Low to High” search method as well as detailing and directing the dog to work were you want him to work.

Going to Source- The wall is very good for teaching this, because the dog learns from the beginning the reward object always comes from source, or the hole which contains the target odor.

This last item is where Prey Drive comes into the picture. Because the dog thinks the toy is coming from the hole, in their mind it is like the rabbit coming from it’s hole. So the dog learns to stare at the source because at any moment it(the rabbit or toy) could come running out or even just stick it’s head out to look around ( we call this stemming the dog, short for stimulate the dog). In the beginning phase the dog is teased (stemmed) by another person with the toy to get the dog very excited and wanting to get at it.  The handler praises the dog for this behavior and then the dog sees the toy or rabbit go into the hole, now all he has to do is find it and he will get it at least in his mind.  The toy is kept alive by the movement waving and teasing, making noise (hitting the floor or wall with it). What we are doing is using the same concept as the beginning of bite work training. Prey comes alive, keeps the dogs interest and dog gets excited, bites the object (tug, rag, toy or rabbit)then the dog will be allowed to make prey  or bite the rag, sleeve etc. ( Payment for the desired behavior )

This process is repeated over and over with searches becoming longer and more difficult. Once the dog is methodically searching and locating then we can transfer the dog to building hides, car hides or locker hides. Keeping the same concept in mind in the beginning as you did in the beginning with the wall.  A 2^nd person teases the dog with its toy and makes the dog believe he is hiding the toy in the room, or on the car etc. The dog gets very excited and desires to find the toy.  He then searches and locates the target odor and he indicates (sits downs etc.), then he makes prey (gets his reward object to play with etc). It is very important the handler have the high happy tone of voice, plays allot with the dog when he finds the odor, and gets down to their (the dogs) level and play. It has to be fun and they always have to win when playing, because if it becomes a correction or not fun, then from the dog’s point of view why do it. Many handlers make this mistake, and forget the play, winning, and voice and how crucial they are to your success as a team.

It is also important that you not make the dog out the toy after playing or winning. We want to build that intensity and desire for it, so the last thing we want is a correction in the mix. Allot of guys do not like this part, because it is difficult to force the dog to release the toy. But it is important so that the dog feels it escaped and now wants more, then a correction scenario where he/she thinks they will get a hard correction if they don’t give it up. Soon they tend to realize if they don’t find it at all they won’t get corrected so why do it and they start walking odor then. It always has to be fun and exciting for the dog. It needs to be that chase, the hunt and desire. Without it your success will be limited.

 In the beginning we will choke them off the toy with their collar, later on once the dog is trained and working well we will then start making him out the toy. At this point the desire has been entrenched and methods taught so we won’t or shouldn’t be at least, hurting ourselves this way.

The wall is a great training tool for detector work. Certainly not the only way, and doesn’t work for every dog but it is one of the best ideas that has come along in many years. Few have seen one, and most are amazed at the simplicity of the concept and they way it works. The proof is in the results, the quality of working dogs you can train is amazing.

Al Gill

Master Trainer