Dog Training - Nosework

Geller, Tamar, and Jonathan Grotenstein. 30 Days to a Well-Mannered Dog: the Loved Dog Method. Gallery Books, 2011.

1/19/18

For my final post, I decided to try a fun game with Marcy that involved her amazing abilities to track scents. This game, while being enjoyable, will also be the next step in teaching her how to retrieve lost items based on the scent she picks up from it. Since this will be a new concept to her, I can expect this to take a longer time, but hopefully by the end she will have mastered it.

To start, I set up 3 containers without the lid in an open area. I placed thin cloths over the top to cover where the treat will be hidden, but not hide the scent. Geller instructs, "Let your dog smell the food, then 'sneak' it into one of the boxes without letting your dog see which one you've chosen" (Geller 329). She also mentions that you can utilize the "stay" command in this game as well (Geller 329). The main objective for Marcy was to correctly choose which container held the treat.

The first obstacle I ran into with Marcy was getting her to smell the treat without eating it. Every time I held out the treat for her to smell, she would lunge at it with her teeth. I had to tell her to sit a few times before showing her the treat. As soon as she got a whiff of it, I took it away. Then, I placed her in a separate room to hide the treat. I then brought her back in the room to choose the container. At first, she only looked at me, not knowing what she was supposed to do. I pointed at the containers and said "treat" since that's what she best responds to. Her ears immediately perked at the word, so I continued to point at the containers. Eventually, she started to sniff around the boxes, using her paws to try to take the cloth off. She was clawing at all of them, probably missing the point of the drill. I had her smell the treat again, then immediately pointed to the boxes again. She went to one of the boxes and poked her nose at it. I took off the cloth. She hadn't chosen the right one, but she was getting the idea.

I decided to try a different food that had a stronger scent. I let her smell some ground beef instead, then placed it in the container. This method seemed to work a lot better, as she picked out the correct container on the first try. I set it up again, and she picked the right container once more. To make sure she really got it down, I added boxes to make it a little more difficult. I don't think she really paid much attention to them because she always went straight to the container with food. For the final level, I decided to hide the food outside of the box, to see if she could find it somewhere she didn't expect. The first few times, she went for the containers. Eventually, as she sniffed around a little longer, she found the food. I tried hiding it in different places (but still close enough to smell it), and almost every time she found it. 

Overall, I think this game went really well and it really improved her ability to use her sense of smell to find hidden objects. 

Would you consider trying this game out with your dog?
What are some other games you like to play with your dog?

I 

Introductory to Water Polo Training

Water polo is a very intense and physical sport. It demands very strenuous training and conditioning to be able to compete at high levels. There is also a mental aspect to the game. In like all team sports, there are rules restraining things such as being off-sides, starting fights with other players, and using the walls and the bottom of the pool to your advantage. Water polo is also played with very good teamwork. Teams that do not have the chemistry and ability to work together do not make it very far in winning. Winning takes all 7 players in the water playing together in offense, defense, and transitions.

Leg sets during practice with 5lb ball

Myself playing at Junior Olympics in August

 I have chosen to use a book from Japan that my grandmother gave me in order to better my skills. The book is titled "Japanese National Team Training". It is looks into many different scenarios that can happen in games, different types of ways of how to train, what mindset you should be in for practice and games, how to really focus on one part of the game that you want to work on. and plays that your team could try out and see if they work. One example from the book that it explains is give the ball to the 3 position or your "point" position. On the left side of the pool, the number one offender will slide up and the number two offender will slide in. This makes the defense think that the ball is going to the left side of the pool. Then have the three offenders on the right and line up in a horizontal line. You then have the number 4 offender set a pick on the number 5 defender. The 5 offender will try drive across the pool to draw the 4 defender and the 6 defender away by going to the cage and looking like a threat of scoring. This will leave the number 6 offender open because they went behind the number 4 offender. They should have a open look in the middle of the cage with no one guarding them.

White (Offense)
Dark (Defense)

My major goals through reading this book is to strengthen my legs and work on my passing. Using your legs is very important in water polo. Legs are how you can get out of the water and make it easier to pass or shoot the ball since your arms and body do not have to fight through the water. They also help in defending because you can use your legs to tread the person you are guarding out of position. In the picture, you can see my teammate Johnathan Borte, who was a senior on our Kentridge team, get out of the water to his suit and was able to give a very powerful shot on goal. This gives you a downward angle to the goal and makes it much harder for the goalie or shot blocker to defend it. 

My teammate Johnathan Borte

Japanese national team member showing mobility

The books states that "Legging up gives mobility and more free movement in arms. This creates better shot attempts, better and quicker passes, and also more intense fakes against the goalie" (Minami 341). Using your legs in water polo is very important. You use them throughout the whole game. This is why I want to strengthen my legs. "In order to strengthen your legs, you must be dedicated to do it every day in practice. Work on your legs individually for about 15 minutes. Then you can work on passing, faking, and shooting while trying to tread as high as you can while maintaining that height" (Minami 342). Overall, over this project I'll be posting on how well I have developed, especially with how much my treading and passing improve.

If you have any comments, questions, or concerns, please let me know. 

Thanks, Milo Andersen

Bibliography:

 Minami, Takahisa. Japanese National Team Training. Vol. 1. Shinchosha, 2012. Print.

Question: What can you do out of the water to also help with my goal of gaining more strength and working on my hand-eye coordination for passing?