Timber- Part 2, Training Begins

Timber, the five year old, heeler/shepherd out-of-service Service Dog, came to Cody for a spell to see if an old dog can learn (or relearn) new tricks.

Immediately identifying Jeremy as her "person", Timber faithfully followed him everywhere.  We actually intended for her to be handled by our Type 1 son, since her future placement would be with a boy similar in age.  But, Timber had already locked onto Jeremy and was very uneasy when out of his sight.  So NOT a lab!

Although she would do scent training sessions with our son, she would quickly find Jeremy as soon as she was released from "school".

Initially, we encountered a difficulty when scent training Timber.  Unlike our voracious labs that devour anything, this little doggie wasn't the least bit interested in kibble.  Hmmmm. . .how to scent train when doggie isn't motivated by the treat?  Find a BETTER treat!  Thankfully, I soon discovered Timber loves cheese.  And to motivate her even more, Jeremy used small raw meat scraps for their sessions.

Armed with his training tin and raw meat, Jeremy set out to see if Timber could learn the scent.

Let me interject for a moment. . . have you ever watched someone else's kids for an extended period of time and realized how unlike your kids they are?  That's how training Timber was.

All of our labs LOVE their scent training sessions.  Once they figure out the "game", they put their nose to the tin exuberantly until the training bag of treats is gone, and even then they still want to play.  After a few rounds of the game, they get into the habit of "checking you" to see if they can find that smell.  That's how the process develops.

Not this girly.  When presented with the tin, she eventually came over and gave it a sniff-- barely.  She liked the raw meat treat, but only enough to poke her nose at the tin about five times.  Then she was done.

After a few weeks of multiple training sessions per day, Timber was not making progress on the scent.  In all of their sessions, Timber never came and "checked" Jeremy looking for the scent.  Jeremy concluded that likely, Timber had not been a DAD; her temperament suggested that she was better suited as a PTSD dog. 

We had to consult with Sherry and let her make the decision.  After thought and prayer, we jointly decided to approach the situation from a different angle.

Since Timber was so focused on her "person", perhaps if Jason learned how to scent train, eventually, Timber would associate his lows with the scent game he played with her, and alert him when low.  This is, of course, the process of scent training.

For our labs, food is the motivator.  For Timber, devotion is her motivator.  It was worth a shot.

Stay tuned for Part 3 to find out with us how Timber's story ends. . .or begins!

Here is the link to part one of Timber's story