Scent discrimination, 2 Jan 2013, part 2

In thinking through this whole process, and trying to decipher which scent the dog is keying on, I got to wondering about something.   Interestingly, this same subject came up while discussing our progress with my friend / Fizz's breeder.   When one re-uses a hot/scented article, and puts it back in the pile for the dog to find, a new scent is added (heavily!) to it:  the dog's own scent, via saliva.    But I want her finding MY scent.   Therefore, I need a fresh article for each repetition.   B/c once she's chosen and grabbed the hot article, it's contaminated with her saliva/scent.   So......more canning rings received sharpie marks today, and now I have 6 to work with as my hot article. 

We worked 2 sessions like this today (versus previous sessions where I was just re-using the same hot article).   The first rep of the first session, she was quite slow, worked for a long time, and chose the wrong one.   After that, she was correct each time (5 more reps).  However, she was still working slowly, and I could tell she recognized a difference in the game.

2 hours later, we came back for our 3rd session of the day, and our 2nd with new hot articles for each search.   This time, she was fast, confident and correct.   I kept adding more rings to the pile, I think at one point, we were up to 14 in the pile.   I could really hear her sniffing out the pile, checking and looking for the right one.   And when she found it, she confidently grabbed it.  YAY! :)   I also added in some favored 'shopping' items from around the house, things she dearly loves to hunt and carry.   She didn't even consider looking at them.

Our final rep was a bit of a stretch, and I knew it as I set it up.  However, I also know that Fizz is not easily over-faced, failure is not 'bad' to her (or to me!), and I wasn't worried that 'things go wrong' would be some unrecoverable incident......so forward I went.   We had played tug with an old jute tug that she really likes.  I put it down, near the pile, and between Fizz and the pile.  She would have to cross over it to get to the pile.  I also sat her back from the pile, and then called her in, while I stood near it (instead of me sitting right at it).   She didn't even look at that tug as she bee-lined for the pile, got in and worked it confidently, gave me the correct ring, and then we had a tug party!  :)  :)   When I tried to toss aside the ring so I could hold the tug better, she went and brought it back! HA!  GOOOD girlie! :)