Locating source, communicating source, and waiting for the handler are separate skills.
The hardest part often lives in the gap after source. The dog has found odor, the handler still needs time to read, move, call, or reward, and the communication must remain clear through the delay.
The webinar focuses on one specific piece of the search: communication to handler / waiting for response.
Judith will discuss how to build and maintain stickiness at source without turning the topic into a formal alert behavior class. The focus is duration and clarity in the dog’s communication at source. The dog must understand how to hold the answer, stay readable, and remain committed to source even when the handler moves, talks, thinks, prepares to call, or gets the reward ready.
Stickiness is not simply asking for a longer pause. It is the dog’s ability to keep the answer anchored at source while remaining readable to the handler. In some searches, the clearest behavior may be staying at the hide. In others, the dog may need to re-commit to source, re-present the answer, or maintain clarity while the handler catches up.
Judith will discuss how reinforcement history, reward timing, reward placement, handler movement, distance, pressure, and delay affect duration and clarity. We will look into how to build duration without creating conflict, flattening the search, or teaching the dog to depend on handler confirmation.
Additionally, this webinar will cover the common breakdowns include leaving before the handler responds, returning to handler movement, bouncing on and off source, continuing to search after locating odor, or losing clarity when the handler changes position.
The goal is to help teams build a stronger communication window at source. The dog learns to hold the answer clearly. The handler learns how to respond in a way that supports duration, confidence, independence, and clarity.
This webinar will cover the following topics:
- communication to handler / waiting for response
- what stickiness at source means
- locating source versus communicating source
- building duration after the dog has found source
- helping the dog hold the answer while the handler responds
- handler movement, distance, pressure, and delay
- reward timing and reward placement
- reinforcement history for staying at source
- leaving before the handler responds
- returning to handler movement
- bouncing on and off source
- continuing to search after finding odor
- re-committing or re-presenting source during handler delay
- maintaining clarity without creating handler dependency
- building confidence in the waiting moment
