Farm Dogs Could be Trained in Food Refusal to Aid Hydatids Eradication

New Zealand Journal of Agriculture, Volume 98, Issue 5, 15 May 1959, Page 495

Farm Dogs Could be Trained in Food Refusal to Aid Hydatids Eradication

By

S. F. RILEY,

Sergeant-in-Charge, Police Dog Section, Police Department

FOOD refusal is the name given to a type of training for dogs under which the animal is conditioned to refuse all food except that offered to it by a certain person or accompanied by a certain command known to the dog, or given to the dog in a certain place. A worthwhile contribution toward combating hydatids could be attained by teaching dogs, through food refusal lessons, to leave carcasses of sheep alone when they come , across them and so to a certain extent preventing the picking up and passing on of this disease, which is so ready to find a host among humans, especially children. An additional advantage is that dogs so trained will not poison themselves by feeding on poison baits or poisoned rabbits when large-scale rabbit destruction is being carried out.

EOOD refusal is very important for police dogs, and there seems no reason why it cannot be taught to an intelligent sheep dog. The groundwork of all police dog work is obedience, and food refusal is taught toward the end of this stage of training. While a young sheep dog is being trained this extra exercise could be incorporated without interference to its main training. If possible, training should begin when the dog is young and before it becomes set in its ways. The experienced police handler begins training when a dog is about 5 months old. It is far easier to train a young, dog in good habits than to break an old dog of bad ones. The handler in taking, over a young dog immediately conforms to a routine and the young dog quickly learns to realise when it is free to romp and attend to its needs and when it is under discipline. Quite a time before it comes to the stage when it will be introduced to food refusal a pattern of feeding is laid down and becomes habit. Our young dog is fed once a day and only by its handler, using a special command, always if possible in the same place and at the same time and with the same feed bowl, which must be removed, with any left-over scraps, when the dog has finished. The dog is not allowed to drink until commanded to do so and he is watered once a day to train him against leaving his work, such as when on a “track”, to go to water. Under exceptional circumstances such as hard work

on extremely hot days he may be taken to water and commanded to drink at a time other than that prescribed by his routine, training. For a sheep dog the system described could be adapted so that the dog is conditioned to feed only on command or at its kennels and above all never to feed on carcasses or refuse. In training a dog a few trainers commonly administer punishment or admonishment too late after a fault. For example, a trainer calls his dog to return, but the dog disregards the order and plays truant, though eventually returns to the trainer after repeated calls; the trainer is exasperated and at once administers some form of punishment. The dog nearly always associates punishment with the last thing it did, which in this case was to return to the trainer, and its confusion can be imagined. Correction must be immediate and at the beginning of the offence. In this case it would be better to commend the later correct decision of the dog to return than to punish the prior fault of playing truant. Training A dog is a scavenger by instinct and will seek out the most revolting refuse, including all kinds of excrement and putrid meat; he will even roll on it and enjoy doing so, and he must be prevented from, both actions. * The strictest discipline will be necessary to turn the satisfaction of eating into something that. will be disagreeable except at the appointed time and place. The dog must be taught to refuse food on the ground, offered or thrown to him by a stranger, when he is on the

lead, running free or away from his trainer, or in his kennel, or thrown to him in a stranger’s house. A dog can be taught that eating in a certain situation, as in a room or a paddock, is associated with pain or discomfort and consequently it will avoid eating there. The trainer must be prepared to keep the dog constantly in view in early training so that he is able, to intervene when the dog seems to be about to pick up food or is about to roll on it.

A dog is activated largely by his sense of smell; his nose is in constant use, and a preliminary warning of a dog’s intentions in regard to potential food can be gained by a trainer who has him under observation. He will sniff the ground occasionally, often while moving, but at times he will stop and investigate a spot; this could be the moment he is likely to commit the forbidden act or to use the spot for urination. If the former, the trainer can be ready with the correction. This is difficult while the dog is running free, as the trainer is often not in a position to apply the correct and strict compulsion necessary the moment the undesirable act occurs; strict discipline after the act is no use.

How Food Refusal is Taught

In the first stage the police dog is taught normal . obedience such as to follow at heel, to come when called, and to sit down and stay. He is then taught while on the lead to refuse food offered by other people.

The food is offered by hand by a helper and should the dog attempt to sniff or take it, he is given a smart tap across the nose by the person offering it. This is accompanied by a harshvoiced “a-ah!” or similar noise by the trainer and the food is offered several times. The dog is then left in the down position and the trainer retires out of sight of the dog, but keeps it under observation, and the exercise is repeated with the helper walking by and casually dropping food to the dog. It is important that the helper should not retrieve the food from the dog: The trainer should remove the dog from where the offered food is lying to another place. It is also important that the trainer should not give any food to the dog as a reward after the exercise, and from now on the trainer should be the only one to administer correction.

In the next stages food such as fish, meat, carcasses of small animals and birds, and anything that is likely to interest the dog can be placed about in a paddock beforehand on the route the trainer is likely to take. The position of the objects and the paddock should be changed from time to time. The exercises should be repeated as often as possible and methodically to prevent the dog forgetting the dis-

agreeable aspects of it. It is useless to give a dog, say, half an hour’s training today and allow a few days to go before renewing it, when he will have forgotten. Some training each day is advisable. If the objects are left for some time, they will offer greater temptation to the dog, for they will become putrid. Temptation should be placed in the dog’s way and he should be deliberately provoked into performing the undesirable act to ensure his being broken of it as early as possible in his training. A piece of chain, the lead,

or a short, blunt stick can be carried and thrown at the dog at the right moment, accompanied by a stern reprimand. The writer knew a gamekeeper on an estate who quickly taught the owner’s dogs not to lift their legs against some rare shrubs. He used to carry a catapult and some acorns. A well directed acorn striking a dog from the rear as it was about to urinate quickly checked it, and the dog never knew from whence the correction came. The dogs soon learnt to respect the trees on that part of the

estate and there is no doubt that this method could be adapted to food refusal and could be quite handy when the dog is at liberty. It is a good idea to train the animal to refuse food from the trainer when he tempts his dog and to receive food only at the usual place and from the usual dish and when given the command. This command or sound is important, as it enables the dog to be fed by his trainer when away from home. Food should be offered to the dog or left under all sorts of conditions and in various places; if he shows interest, he must be given the appropriate correction immediately. Food can be thrown or left at different times by both helpers and trainer while the dog is in its kennel or in the house and the trainer should keep the dog under observation without his suspecting it and be ready to apply immediate correction. if he shows interest. Training must be varied in every way, in food as well as times and conditions. Even when the dog is considered fully trained he should receive a refresher lesson from time to time.