Abstract
When training and working a substance detection canine, a trained final response should be performed immediately upon recognition of odor (Generally, a 1–3 s window is preferred within our detection practices). Typical canine training places much emphasis on planning and setting up training scenarios to achieve specific objectives but not much consideration is given to how to end a training session. When the canine fails to maintain criteria, trainers are left trying to determine the cause of poor performance. One consideration often overlooked is a phenomenon called End of Session Cueing that may exist in detection training whereby a previously trained canine no longer responds to odor because it has taken on aversive association. This may be due to several factors associated with motivation. The sequence of events at the end of a session can be as equally important to maintain motivation for the task of scent detection in future sessions. This paper will identify and examine multiple factors associated with “End of Session Cues” in working dogs, how they may be responsible for poor final response performance and discuss potential strategies to address them.
Highlights
The trained final response behavior and how it relates to odor are a culmination of several factors which include but are not limited to individual and canine breed selection, behavioral genetics, trainer and handler skill levels and environmental experience [1, 2]
Human remains detection canines may be trained to bark upon finding the odor of human remains so as to not disturb potential evidence and to alert handler of the presence of the target odor when out of view
A seasoned handler or trainer would almost immediately identify the problem as a lack of focus, lack of motivation, or a reduced interest for the task of odor detection. All of these may be correct, how often do trainers/handlers observe the sequence of events at the end of a session and take that into consideration when evaluating these training challenges? This is why it is important to understand and identify End of Session Cues and how these cues and events can negatively impact performance
Summary
The trained final response behavior and how it relates to odor are a culmination of several factors which include but are not limited to individual and canine breed selection, behavioral genetics, trainer and handler skill levels and environmental experience [1, 2]. Over time as the training is moved to different locations or shifted to different contexts the canine seems to make a conscious decision to approach target odor, investigate the origin of the odor, ignore it altogether and engage in other activities not associated with odor detection. This occurs even if the canine has had much exposure to a certain type of search environment/context with a high rate of reinforcement. All of these may be correct, how often do trainers/handlers observe the sequence of events at the end of a session and take that into consideration when evaluating these training challenges? This is why it is important to understand and identify End of Session Cues and how these cues and events can negatively impact performance
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