Steve was at Dubbo Zoo recently introducing Molly to her first live odour of Plains Wanderer at their magnificent breeding facility. The Plains Wanderer bird is critically endangered and Steve is training Molly to locate them to enable their protection. Because of the importance of this bird, Molly is being trained differently.

Please note that Molly is on a long line because of the Zoo’s requirements just in case Molly jumped on the wire or did something that could have made the birds react. Molly in future will be working completely off any leads because Steve does not believe that if a conservation dog cannot be controlled by voice or by whistle it should not be allowed under any circumstances to work in the conservation field.

In the first video of Molly’s training, Steve got her to just hold position.
In the second video you’ll see how Molly locates the bird then starts walking backwards away from the target odour (the live bird). This ensures that the bird is not only found in the wild, but no stress is placed on the bird.

Steve knows exactly where the bird is because there are cameras in the aviary and he is connected to the keeper by a 2 way radio. He is told exactly where the bird is and where Molly is in relation to where the bird is. This way Steve knows exactly when to reward the dog.

By having Molly walk backwards away from the birds Steve will reward her with the ball and that way there is no impact on the bird.

Molly is bridged at the source of odour, but the reward comes after she moves backwards by Steve throwing her ball reward in the opposite direction away from the bird. Again that way the bird is never put under any stress. After calculating the strength of the wind and the direction the dog is pointing, scientists and environmentalists will know the exact location of the bird will be at a specific distance in line with the dogs nose.

This would be excellent protocol for explosive detection dogs don’t you think. Move away from the target odour before you get rewarded!

This training for the Plains Wanderer bird is done under strict supervision and watch of their keepers to ensure there is no disturbance to the birds. The keeper is in a separate nearby building with direct camera access of the birds at all times. This way Steve can be alerted if there is any stress on the birds so then he would immediately know to pull the dog out.

Steve is often asked if detection dogs do an active response eg: jump, dig or bark etc. Never does that occur with Steve’s dogs. All our dogs are passive response. And in this instance even more caution is factored because of the importance of this bird.

It is important to understand that Molly has been trained with the bridge word ‘yes’. When she hears the word ‘yes’, that immediately tells Molly that the behaviour is correct and a reward will follow. Steve has trained Molly to find odour and then back away. While she is backing away she is bridged with the word ‘yes’ and her ball is thrown in the opposite direction of the bird. That way the bird is never disturbed or put under any stress.