The ACT! Result tracker

I love to revolutionize the detection training world. A couple of months ago, I revealed one of our latest innovations for double-blind detection training. It’s called the ACT! Result Tracker! It is a fantastic system, including the necessary equipment to be able to train totally double-blind. The ACT! Result Tracker is another innovative solution to reach the next level in your detection dog training. And I like to tell you all about it. The secret to training for the highest level is what we call ‘double-blind training.’ From experience and science, we know that dogs are excellent observers. They are, of all the animals, the most attuned to us. They can easily read our body language. They can quickly see our habits. They hear the subtle changes in the tone of our voice. Yes, they monitor us all the time. I’m sure you remember when you felt sad and lonely and that your dog made contact with and comforted you. It’s like they feel us; their contact with us is on a deeper level than most people understand. This wonderful and strong bond between dogs and humans can be problematic when we train detection dogs. Because when we want them to use their nose, many dogs observe the human(s) around them to be able to find the target odor. Let me explain this in more detail. 

 

When we start with detection training, it is amazing that dogs can find the items we hide for them. Seeing them fanatic searching for their ball, kong or already a target odor is thrilling. And when they find it, the reinforcement game will start. Like the play, or they get some of their delicious food. Dogs love to play these detection games with us. If you are reading this, you already work with a detection dog, and I don’t need to explain how to start this training. But I want to highlight some important details that are often overlooked. Imagine you are going into a room to hide a target odor for your dog. The dog is outside the room and can not see you. After hiding the item, you bring your dog into the room and ask the dog to search.

It is a basic search exercise in which the dog not only learns to use its nose but also learns another lesson here. And that is ‘observing my handler’ because if we want it or not, we will give subtle cues to our dog. As soon as the dog comes closer to the hidden target, you will change something in your body language. It can be your movement, breathing, posture, or hands. It could be the tension in your face or only the eyebrow you lift. Dogs will notice these subtle changes in you; you can not mask it! If you want to know more about this, read the story of Clever Hans (Kluger Hans). It is a story about a horse claimed to have performed arithmetic and other intellectual tasks. But it turned out that the horse was very good at observing human behavior. 

 

What dogs learn here is that observing the handler is helping them a lot. Dogs start to move through the room and pay attention to the subtle cues of the handler. It is not only helping them to find the hidden item faster but later in work; they start to use these cues also to make the discrimination between target or distraction, which I will explain later. Dogs need to inhale and exhale 5x times a second to be able to find the odor source. So, paying attention to the handler’s subtle hints helps them develop another tactic! Often, this new tactic brings them much faster to the reinforcement with less effort. To overcome this, we need to work blind, and of course, the best is to work double blind. For many dog handlers, it’s scary to work double-blind. And here is the catch: only double-blind can bring you to the ultimate goal, being able to trust your detection dog fully! 

 

The difference between blind and double-blind is the information people can give the dog. In the first basic exercise I described, the dog can read his handler.

Because the handler was hiding the item, he knows where it is and will give subtle cues to the dog, even if he/she doesn’t want this. To overcome this problem and make sure the dog will not pay attention to its handler but will use its nose, we ask someone else to hide the item. The dog and handler stay out of sight of the search area. Someone will hide the item(s) and then call the dog handler so that they can enter the search area and start. Although we think the dog is now only using its nose, dogs quickly develop a new tactic here. The dog begins to pay attention to the other person(s) in the room. Have you ever done or watched a detection exam? The dog handler works with the dog, and the examinators and the audience follow the dog team.  People talk to each other, walk at a certain speed, read something on their phones, and suddenly, the group acts differently. Talking stops, people stand still, phones are going into video mode; yes, the dog team is close to the source. When these cues are visual for us, you can be sure that the dog knows he is close to the source! So even when we all tell each other we are doing blind searches, you now know it’s not actually blind because the dog is still getting information from people. 

 

The holy grail in detection training is working double-blind. It is the moment that the dog team starts to work when nobody around knows where the items are hidden. The easiest way to set this up is to ask a friend to hide some items in a search environment. After this is done, ask your friend to leave that environment and be totally out of sight. Then you go to that room, building, the cars, or the outside area and start your search. Now you have no idea where it is. Your dog can not get any information from you, but there is also nobody else who can give information to your dog! Double-blind doesn’t mean that nobody is allowed to watch your training! Of course, others can be there if nobody knows where the target item(s) is hidden. And if you really want to test yourself, ensure you do not instruct the helper where and how to hide the items. On top of that, it doesn’t ask to hide a specific number of targets. Only ask how long you can search, and you have no clue if there are 1, 5, or maybe no targets! 

 

The reason that double-blind training is so nerve-wracking for a lot of handlers is because of multiple reasons; 

 

One of the most awful excuses I heard was some years ago from a group of police dog handlers who were doing human scent identification lineups. Even when strict procedures were introduced to hold them accountable and ensure they would work double-blind, they managed to corrupt the system. They found a way to very subtly inform each other before they did the real operational ‘double blind’ test. When the handler and his dog stepped into the scent identification room where the test was prepared, he knew the suspect’s number! With this information in mind, they could clearly influence the dog’s decision, making this test unreliable! Eventually, when in court a judge found out that they had committed fraud, it had major consequences. More than 2000 criminal cases were sent back to court. The whole scent identification program was terminated. Handlers got fired or taken away from any dog training programs. Later, when these handlers were asked why they did not follow the strict procedure, they came up with a surprising answer. They told the investigators that their dogs always performed very well in training. But when there was an actual criminal case, they were nervous. Not the dogs but the handlers were anxious, and they thought they could handle their nervousness by just knowing the suspect’s position. And they were convinced that they, as professional police trainers, would not cue their dogs. Well, if you want it, we will all cue our dogs! Dogs are just too good at reading humans! 

 

We all know that working double-blind will significantly benefit our detection dog. 

We all know that we can not hide our subtle cues. By now, we all know that reliable work can only be done if we train double-blind. And if we know that double-blind training will prepare us for real operations. Why don’t we do it more? Because it feels uncomfortable. We like to stay in our comfort zone. And for many handlers, working double-blind is out of their zone.  But remember, you can find the magic outside of your comfort zone! There is growth, new grounds, trust, confidence, and challenges! 

 

Some handlers tell me it’s hard to organize a double-blind search because you need someone who can prepare it for you. When I asked them why that’s difficult because every colleague, friend, or spouse can hide something for your dog, their real reason is coming up: trust issues! This is a double-edged sword in the detection world. Imagine you ask a colleague, a detective, or even your team leader to hide some items for you and then leave the search area. You start your search, and after 30 minutes, you and your dog find two items. Now, you need to return to the person who made the exercise for you and ask for feedback. When you explain you found two, he starts to laugh or look at you with a big question mark. He asks you, “Where are the other four that I have hidden?” You feel bad, and your dog immediately picks up your low energy. This can cause trust issues between the dog handler and his team chief. Questions about the dog’s reliability in the unit and trust issues between the dog and the handler. At the moment, he points to one of the items and tells you that this is not one of the target items hidden by him, and then the damage to trust between the handler and dog is done even more. The dog is missing a few items and indicated on items with no target odor.

 

The Clever Hans story not only highlights the fact that dogs use our cues to find the source of the target odor, but When dogs have found something of their interest, they also monitor us to get more information about this item. Is it the target, or is it a distraction? Because dogs will indicate all sorts of items and need to learn to discriminate between many different odors. A dog may be indicated on something that smells strange, something that is just placed in that environment, or something that looks familiar. When the handler has no idea if it’s the target or a distraction, starting the reinforcement process is difficult. And here is the devil in the details: if we can not reinforce the dog in the double-blind search, how can we make this enjoyable for the dog? I mean, dogs quickly learn the difference between training and operation. And as soon they understand that difference, you will have a big problem. Because now the dog knows that in a specific context, it will be trained and be highly successful. In the other (operational) context, success is seldom possible, and if they find something of their interest, no reward is given. Dogs learn this quickly. They recognize the ‘training’ environment,’ they see familiar persons, they see the known vehicles of other dog people, they hear their other dog friends, and they scan the energy of their handler. In an operational search, all of this is not there, a big red flag! 

 

The reinforcement procedure causes the biggest problem with the difference between training and operational environment. In training, handlers often receive immediate information about their dog’s performance. If the dog alerts on a target odor, they hear YES or receive in another way that the dog is right. They can pay for this directly or indirectly through reinforcement. That is also true when the dog is wrong, like a false indication. A verbal NO or other signal will ensure the handler will not reinforce the false alert of his dog. The problem is that that dog can often pick up these cues, too. And they know that in operational searches, there is no immediate feedback. The dog can quickly understand the difference between training and operation.

On top of that, many handlers will not reinforce their dogs during operations because they are afraid that they will reinforce a possible false alert. But what about Bob Bailey’s phrase, “You get what you reinforce?” If you don’t reinforce the positive alerts, why would the dog work for you? With my latest innovation, the ACT! Result Tracker Method I offer you an excellent fast method to scan the found item. It will give you direct information about whether it’s a target or a distraction! And you don’t need anyone else to confirm this. With the small handheld scanner, you will scan the code on or near the item your dog has found. And in the display, you will see ‘TARGET’ or ‘DISTRACTION’. 

 

Working double-blind with the ACT! Result Tracker Method will boost your overall detection training. If you get an alert from your dog, getting information from someone is no longer necessary. You can no longer just throw a kong or give a bridge signal. Now, you need to find the hidden item together. Because there, you can find the QR code that you need to scan. You will see TARGET (= reinforce) or DISTRACTION (= reset) when you scan it. You and your dog must find the item; this procedure is exciting teamwork! And this will benefit your operational work! 

 

Use the revolutionizing ACT! Result Tracker Methode (RTM) to boost your confidence in detection. It is an excellent system to train totally double-blind. It’s introduced to enable you to reach the next level in your detection dog training. The RTM is your ultimate companion for achieving your training goals. It provides a clear pathway to work double-blind to obtain definitive confirmation of TRUE or FALSE alerts. The unique detail in this system is the handheld scanner that gives you direct feedback on the display if it’s a target or distraction on which your dog is alerting. At the same moment, this data point (target or distraction) is sent to your spreadsheet and collected for further analysis. The unique ACT! QR code stickers do not only inform you about targets or distractions. A unique coding also refers to your list of targets and distractions. That means you can use different targets in your search, like different target odors, different amounts, different soaks, or targets in mixtures. You can hide 24 distractors in one search and get their separate data! The QR codes are available in three options: easy-to-remove stickers, permanent stickers, or magnetic folie. This method gives you precision, enabling you to confirm alerts with absolute certainty while ensuring 100% positive reinforcement for your dog’s accurate detections. This method is a true confidence booster, transforming your detection dog into a bio-sensor expert. With the ability to work double-blind, you gain unprecedented control and reliability in your training session.

Moreover, the RTM offers a variety of engaging detection game options, allowing you to challenge yourself and your dog while overcoming the Clever Hans principle. You can cultivate trust and reliability in your dog’s abilities through consistent practice within a short timeframe. Recent training workshops all over Europe showcased the effectiveness of this method, with both trainers and dogs expressing enthusiasm for its results. Order your ACT! Result Tracker © today in my online detectiondogshop.com and receive complimentary enrollment in my latest online course, “Boost your Confidence in K9 Detection.” 

 

This is not only for K9 professionals.

I love that detection is not only for handlers in police, military, customs, wildlife detection, and other professionals. Since nosework was introduced in 2006 by Ron Grant, Amy Hert, and Jill-Marie O’Brien, detection has become mainstream for all sorts of dogs and their owners. They opened the way for many dogs to enter detection, giving them a fantastic activity and making many dog people happy. Because detection is an amazing world and such a great sport. In their research, C. Duranton and A. Horowitz wrote that nosework induces positive judgment bias in pet dogs. In Applied Animal Behaviour Science volume 211, February 2019 pages 61-66, they highlighted; 

• Nosework reduced dogs’ latencies to reach an ambiguous pot in a cognitive bias test.  

• Nosework increases dogs’ positive judgment bias or “optimism”

• Practicing nosework allows dogs to express natural behavior and be more autonomous.

• Behaving naturally and making active choices are two critical factors in animal welfare.

• Olfaction-based activities contribute to dogs’ welfare.

Unsurprisingly, many ‘problem dogs’ will turn into much nicer dogs after being introduced to nose work games. It is an excellent ‘medicine’ for coping with unwanted or problematic behavior.