Thread by @CIA

Heide, Indigo, Freya, Suni, Lulu & Nicole are out of the booth & learning new scents on training room floor:

bit.ly/2wYlt5M
#CIAK9

The ladies performed so well in the booth, in fact, that they began their floor exercises 2 days earlier than most previous classes!

1st week is focused on “line discrimination” – learning to find the scents they’ve been imprinted on in cans spread across the floor.

Those puppy evaluation cans are back!
Trainers use cans to form lines, circles, & various odd shapes for the pups to search.

The trainers place tiny tins containing scents into cans. As they add new scents for the pups to learn, they’ll now do so using these cans.

Pups are learning 2 important concepts:

1: “seek” – search for explosive odor

2: “sit” – when they find a “hot” (i.e. explosive odor)

Trainers teach pups to sit when they find an explosive in real life, so the dogs won’t bark, pick up, or in any way disturb a possible bomb.

Cans are arranged in straight lines, & trainers present a can to #K9 by walking backwards using hand to show pup where to sniff.

Trainer Andy runs Suni through can lines & she catches on quickly, excitedly searching for the explosive scents.

When Indigo sniffs “hot” can & sits, Trainer Steve erupts into reverie of “Good girl!! That’s my baby! Good girl, Indy!!” & gives kibbles.

The trainers’ jumping, squealing & praise is all about getting the dogs excited & making sure they’re having fun learning their new jobs.

If you have missed any “tails” in our #CIAK9 series, you can catch up here:

bit.ly/2wJQuJg