When Austin is Away Bo Will Play

Play scent games, with low scent samples, that is. We don't do scent training with samples when Austin is at home because we don't want to confuse Bo with the scent of Austin's live blood sugar. Our samples range between 85 and 70 and Austin's target is 120. You factor in Austin running above target and you can see how a live blood sugar, coupled with a scent sample of 85 could be confusing. So, all our training with scent samples is done while Austin is not present. When Austin is at home or in public with us, we use live blood sugar to train Bo.

For the past few days Austin has been overnight with family members and I've been doing extra scent training sessions. Our sessions include games where I hide a low scent sample and give Bo a command to find the low. Once he finds the sample, he is rewarded with a high value food and a game with me involving his favorite toys. Between sessions, I will also take him outside to play and sniff as a reward and give him time to rest. Tonight we had two sessions indoors involving  games of finding a low hidden in a container and two sessions outdoors involving recognizing a low scent on my body. He hit on the low the first time all but once -- when a lemon peel in one of the containers was enough to distract his focus. When this happened, I told him 'let's try again' and I took him out of the space, moved the containers and then brought him back.