When we talk about threshold hides, we typically mean hides within a few feet of the start line or containers in position one to three of a line. Others may have a different definition but this is the one I’m using for the purposes of this discussion.
It’s pretty common for dogs to rush to the back of the search area when they are released at the start line. But we want our dogs working from before they even cross the start line.
How do we do this? Train thresholds! Teach the dog that the hide may indeed be just as they enter the search area.
Of course, there are a number of caveats to this type of training.
There is a difference between a dog blasting to the back of a search area and THEN starting to work, and a dog that needs to go to the back of the search area to pick up the odor of the threshold hide.
What does that mean?
Just because a hide is placed six feet into the search area, doesn’t necessarily mean it’s available from the start. Perhaps the odor is flowing towards the back of the search area or indeed from side to side. It may also be complicated by the presence of other hides.
With all that said, training with thresholds is worthwhile because it allows you as a handler to ensure that your start line protocol sets the dog up well for moving across the line and being in work mode straight away.
It’s very important when you are first starting threshold hides that you don’t handle your dog and hang back to keep him at or near the start line. The goal with all of these setups is to educate the dog, not to simply find the hide at all costs.
Let him or her blast to the back of the search area if they want to, and let the hide placement train the dog.
So how to set this up? Well it’s pretty easy. Assess your search area and note places where you can put a threshold hide as close as you like to the start line. Watch your dog. Think about how you are setting your dog up at the beginning of the search – is he actively looking forward to the search area and sniffing? Or is he distracted?
We’ll discuss some container drills in a separate guide.
Here’s an example of a two hide search with a threshold hide. He could – if he wanted – blast to the back and solve the second hide first, but as you can see he’s working from the time he’s released.
Keep threshold hides as a part of your general training setups to make them something the dog is used to encountering so they don’t come as a surprise.
Do you train thresholds with your dog? Let us know in the comments section below and ask any questions you may have!
Happy sniffing!