Doing It All – Importance of Early Sensory Exposure

Doing It All – Importance of Early Sensory Exposure

Recently, I watched a one-year-old Labrador Retriever fail two Junior Hunter tests because he stopped short of the marks and set up a hunt to no avail, as his duck was 25 yards deeper than he was. Earlier in the year, I watched another Junior dog experience the opposite problem in which she ran straight to the area of the fall, which was in moderate cover, set up a hunt, and never found the duck. I was sure she was within a foot of the bird more than once. Both dogs needed help to locate the ducks and bring them in. Both of these dogs love birds and are good retrievers, so to fail these tests (which were typical ones) was a puzzle to me. Why? Looking at their early training experiences helped me analyze both dogs and fix their problems.

“Tristan” came to me for field work at nine months. He came from a performance home where he had been slated for Conformation, Obedience, and Scent Work. His owner had started him in Scent Work, which he really enjoyed. That early experience taught him that using his nose was great fun and got him rewards. Moving to field work, dogs also get to use their noses, so I expected no problems. He picked up the basics very quickly, working his way out of the training yard and into the truck to do marks in the field.

Since he arrived mid-summer, I had a group of dogs that was pretty far along in their training. The marks we were doing at the time were tougher than what I usually did for new Juniors in that we were usually in cover and ran different types of terrain and distances. If Tristan had a problem finding his marks, I let him hunt, but eventually asked the gunner to help him. That seemed to work. He did very well in water, as most marks were pretty visible. By the end of the summer, I decided he was ready to enter hunt tests.

He did great at two UKC Started tests, passing both, where the marks were 40-50 yards with light cover, but not mowed. Two weeks later, he struggled in two AKC Junior Hunter tests in which marks were indeed longer but in similar cover. As I watched him in total surprise, I noticed that he abandoned his visual location of the birds and put his nose down to hunt, starting about 30 yards from the line.

Suddenly, a thought popped into my head that this dog, who began his early training in Scent Work, defaulted to his nose rather than using his eyes to run to the area of the fall and then using his nose. He had it backwards. Part of the reason this happened to Tristan is the existence of lots of duck scent in a field used the previous day by another test and by dogs that ran through the cover spreading duck scent everywhere.

In addition, the dogs that ran before him dropped their birds on the way back to their handlers, again depositing duck scent in spots between the location of the bird and the line. This behavior exhibited two things: Tristan has an incredible nose and his training had inadequately prepared him to run through fields full of scent. I’d left a hole in his training. When setting up field training, we design a series of marks that work for both beginner and advanced dogs. It’s a more time and energy efficient way to run twenty dogs in one training session. It has been our custom to run the beginner dogs first, thus failing to get them used to drag-back scent created by numerous other dogs running first. So, this realization will help me change our habits in the future, to help this dog and to avoid the same issue with others.

“Bridget,” on the other hand, had the opposite problem in that her early training was all visual. She started her training in mowed grass where she could see her birds and run directly to them. That method taught her to trust her eyes instead of using her nose. So, when she failed three Junior Hunter tests in a row at one year of age, I sat back and analyzed her performance. The most memorable mark in a hunt test was a 40- to 45-yard mark straight ahead of us in tall heavy grass. She ran directly to the area of the fall, trying to rely on her vision alone rather than her nose to locate it.

I swear she nearly stepped on it several times. I further decided that if she had used her nose, she would have found that bird very easily. So, I put that theory to the test and added a hide and seek type game to her training plan. I took a dead bird and hid it in a pile of grass clippings at home. Then I walked her around the yard near the pile of grass clippings, asking her where her birdy was.

She got all excited and hopped around looking here and there. After she struggled to see it, I became aware of sniffing sounds and could tell that she was using her nose. She soon found the bird, uncovered it, picked it up, and brought it to me. I played that game with her for a week or so and then put her back into training. She was much better and passed her next four Junior Hunter tests to title.

These experiences started me thinking about other sensory issues and how developing them is key to performance in other venues. I began recalling other examples of dog issues that have impacted performance. These examples surround both touch and sound sensitivities. Lack of early exposure to these may affect performance in many venues ranging from Conformation to Dock Diving to Agility. A simple example is a Conformation dog that has not experienced a variety of floor surfaces and may balk at walking on those breed ring mats.

That same dog may be very hesitant to mount a dog walk or teeter in Agility. Touch even extends to water dogs that haven’t been exposed to water as a youngster, then, at eighteen months, won’t go into the water. Or again, the Conformation dog that doesn’t want the judge to physically examine him. Puppies that are not exposed to all kinds of sounds may be easily frightened by loud noises at any kind of show or trial. Gun dogs so sheltered may never become accustomed to gunshots. So, these basic needs are key to enabling any puppy to become a confident and balanced companion that is capable of pursuing life as a competent show, performance, or family dog.

Many breeders are aware of the importance of these experiences for puppies, so if you have expectations of your puppy taking on a life in the ring, checking with one’s breeder can determine which type of early puppy work has been done. Once a puppy goes home, that process should continue.

Many vets scare new puppy owners about exposing their puppy to Parvo until vaccinations are complete, but the price one pays to over shelter a puppy may be a high one. Remember, early exposure or training can imprint strongly on puppies, which is why I expose them to factors associated with multiple event types to help prepare them for a variety of venues. It can be done safely, so be creative and help your puppy learn and grow up happy and healthy. Don’t make the mistake of many who focus primarily in only one or two areas. If one intends to do multiple types of events with his/her puppy, early training and exposure should be balanced, fun, and not too intense or negative. That approach helps to mold a dog into one that easily transitions from one venue to the next and loves it.

Happy molding your next Super Puppy!