12d (edited) • Nosework
Handler Behaviour At Trials (how it can lead to false alerts)
Even when you may not feel stressed at a scent detection trial your dog knows something is different.
In a trial environment, handlers often change their behavior in subtle ways, including:
• Slower or hesitant movement
• Holding their breath/changing breathing patterns
• Tighter leash handling/clumsy line management
• Stopping longer at “interesting” areas
• Looking harder, leaning in, or hovering over objects
• Talking more than usual or repeating verbal cues
• Taking the lead or presenting/prompting more than in training
To your dog, these changes can look like information. Many dogs will indicate simply because you look like you’re expecting one. That doesn’t mean your dog is guessing — it means your dog is responding to you.
How to work through this in training?
Simply trying to “not be stressed” isn't the solution. What we can do in training is proof against handler behaviour!
• Committed Movement: In training, even when you know where the hides are in a search area, make sure that you commit to your path whether odor is present or not. I'll be honest that this point has a lot of grey area, but when we're working hides known to the handler in training I consistently see patterns where the handler will hover towards where odor is and avoid where odor isn't. They'll follow their dog deep into a "hot" section of the search area, but stand back when the dog heads towards a blank area. Smart dogs often start using this to predict where source will be and suddenly when the search is blind and the handler lingers too long somewhere the dog might indicate (or the opposite problem where the dog misses hides because their handler doesn't follow them).
• Train with intentionally “wrong” handler cues so your dog learns to trust odor, not body language; run searches where you deliberately stop, hover, or hesitate where no odor is present
• Try the "Silly Handler" exercise where you might breathe different, talk more (or less) than usual, move strangely, or other silly things (keeping in mind that we don't want to spook your dog)
• Film yourself at trials to catch stress behaviors you don’t realize you have!
• Add mild pressure in training and practice mock trial searches (blind searches, time limits, formal start routines) — not all of the time, but at least some of the time!
I really could go on and on with more exercises and tips, but I have to end this post somewhere! Just remember that the goal isn’t to remove stress — it’s to teach your dog that their handler's behaviour doesn't predict the location of odor.
** One more piece to keep in mind **
Some dogs will also indicate under pressure simply because they’ve learned that alerting ends the search. The handler is stressed and that feeds down the leash and stresses the dog who just wants to get out of the search. That’s a separate — but related — thing, and we’ll dive into that one another time.
THE TAKEAWAY
Handler stress is normal. False alerts aren’t a failure — they’re feedback that tell us where we could benefit from more training. When you adapt your training clarity will follow.
** TELL ME **
What handler behaviour(s) are you aware that you do when you're under stress? I'll add one of mine in a comment!
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Handler Behaviour At Trials (how it can lead to false alerts)
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