#because anyone who knew better would be using better methods and materials to avoid cross-contamination | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

healingheartdogs · 3 days ago

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Every single time I see a resource from a sport scentwork trainer that recommends cocktailing odors for imprinting (imprinting multiple target odors at once) I wonder if they are truly that ignorant about how odors are made up and how they behave on a science level and how dog scent discrimination and odor imprinting works (which means they probably should NOT be selling scentwork classes if that's the case), or if they are in fact intentionally setting up their clients to struggle and fail more to sell more classes and private help since most uneducated clients (and I mean uneducated on a science level about this specific topic to be clear) are likely to turn blame on themselves for doing something wrong somewhere than to question the trainer they bought a class from.

#i do think most of them are simply uneducated and overconfident in their ability to teach scentwork #that is a very common issue i see in scentwork trainers #and i know its an issue because the methods and materials they use make it very obvious #because anyone who knew better would be using better methods and materials to avoid cross-contamination #at the very least for their own dogs to make their own lives easier if not also for their clients #theres a lot that positive trainers specifically with regards to scentwork can learn from commercial and police/military detection training #but because of the assumed lack of positive methods (an incorrect assumption) in those commercial and police spaces #positive trainers seem very determined to ignore everything that those spaces have to offer as far as the science of scentwork goes #just because some forms of training in those spaces are very negative and not science based does not mean they all are #they have DECADES of real world applied scentwork use with lives on the line and I think it's self-defeating for R+ trainers to ignore that #also like... that funnily enough is like the ONE area of military and police training that is usually COMPLETELY positive based lol #but they dont know that because they ignore those fields because they see themselves as better and thats a problem #even if you dont take methodology from other trainers who use different methods and have different backgrounds from you #you should still learn about their methods and the logic behind them #sometimes you will be surprised at what you find that they are actually doing well and that you can adapt to your own training method #and sometimes that knowledge will be more useful in figuring out how to fix the mistakes made by trainers like those #in the possible case where you get a previous client of theirs who needs help with a dog they have made worse or failed to help #idk this is mostly rambling to myself #if youve made it this far thanks for listening lmao #there is always something to be learned from other people doing the same sport or work with dogs as you #even if that something is just learning what NOT to do

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