"Good," and the dropper shoves the pan under 

 the string to the dog. The dropper MUST MAKE 

 NO MOVE TOWARD the feed pan until 

 "Good" is sounded. Continue this procedure until 

 the dog goes to the barrier and waits for rein- 

 forcement. Gradually reduce the number of 

 strings to one, and begin varying the string 

 height and distance. 



d. Step 4. Fade out the feed pan and dropper. 

 To begin, the handler will give food by hand on 

 every other trail. Gradually increase the ratio 

 of hand-to-pan delivery until all food comes from 

 the handler. At the same time, the dropper will 

 gradually move away from the string until he is 

 out of the picture. When this is accomplished, 

 the feed pan is removed. 



e. Step 5. As the pan and dropper are being 

 faded out, begin incorporating the sit response 

 at the string (tripwire). As soon as his dog stops 

 at the string, the handler gives the sit command, 



followed 1/2 second later by a light touch on his 

 dog's croup. When the sit movement is complete, 

 the handler reinforces. This procedure is con- 

 tinued until the dog consistently goes to the 

 string and sits without command. 



/. Step 6. Begin delaying reinforcement of 

 the sit reponse. When the dog sits, the handler 

 gives the stay command. After 1 to 2 seconds, 

 if his dog remains sitting, the handler reinforces. 

 Continue until the dog remains sitting up to 5 

 seconds before reinforcement. From this point 

 on, dogs should always be required to sit at least 

 2 seconds before reinforcement. This practice 

 will later insure that a dog's alert is pinpointed 

 and observed by all members of a patrol. 



g. Step 7. The handler will begin by having 

 his dog complete the search chain with tripwires. 

 He allows his dog to go to the string and sit. After 

 2 seconds, he recalls his dog to the heel position 

 before reinforcing. 



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