Sunday, March 1, 2009

Kaleb the retired SAR Dog: A 2nd Graders Science Project.

TITLE:  How a Dog Uses its Nose. Feb. 28/09

ABSTRACT: Kaleb will show the Grade 2 kids how and why a dog uses his nose better than a human can, a dogs nose is a powerful scenting tool. The children will also learn about the power and wetness of a dog's tongue - this however, is unrelated to the experiment.

OBJECTIVES:
- Learn how a dog uses it nose, and what factors make it easier or harder
- Learn why it is better than a human nose
- See the dog work and search for hidden articles, and people by using its nose

EQUIPMENT: Kaleb, Sport Socks (for adding children's scent too), Scent Bottle (to check for wind direction), 4 innocent children.

The Kids scent up the Sport Socks

Pete shows how the scent gets carried by the wind, Kaleb is fascinated.

SAFETY RULES:
- If the dog comes running at you, be a tree
- Cover your face to keep it safe from "the Tongue"
- Hold on to your toques and mittens

OMG!! Rule #1, I said be a tree!!!!

PROCEDURE: 
Demonstration 1.
- 4 Children will scent up the provided sport socks and take off running in all directions and hide the socks in the park in various locations.
- Kaleb will be brought in afterwards to find the socks. He is let off leash and told to "search", he uses the wind to pick up the scent.
- Kaleb will alert by laying down on the article upon finding them.

Searching ...

Alerting ...

Playing!

Demonstration 2.
- 4 Children and me, will go hide on the bushes and pretend we are lost
- We patiently wait to be found by Kaleb
- Kaleb finds us, and licks us all
- Kaleb returns to his dad to show and tell him what he found
- We are all rescued
Kaleb in the distance (you can see him coming), the kids loved it!

RESULTS:
- All children were licked, some multiple times
- The dog found all humans, and all sport socks
- The Kids loved playing with the dogs afterwards, more than they enjoyed taking part in the experiment

4 tired kids, 2 tired dogs :)

CONCLUSION:
- The Kids and Parents, oohhed-and-awwed at Kaleb working, and they would all cheer when he found something
- the Kids enjoyed playing fetch with the Dogs
- the Kids quickly learned that playing with Gyp was more fun than with Kaleb, as she drops the ball in your hand EVERYTIME, and Kaleb sometimes drops the ball to lick you in the face

Playing ball with Gyp

Playing Ball with Gyp and Kaleb

Kaleb running with the ball and kong ....

10 comments:

manymuddypaws said...

fun!!! i bet K was in his glory!

miradukesadie said...

OMG! There is a difference in our dogs! Mira would be a quivering mess around all those children!

It looked like fun though =)!!!

Amber-Mae said...

Great demonstration Kaleb!

Butt sniffs,
Solid Gold Dancer

onecollie said...

how fun!!! I used to have obedience demos in my yard for the neighbourhood kids.....they are always such an appreciative audience!

Anonymous said...

This is cool. What a great way for kids to learn. I need you at my kids' schools!

Kristina Zambrano said...

awesome k-man you did a great job teaching all those little humans! =o)

Katrin said...

I bet K was totally in his element. He looks so happy in the photos, grinning as only a flat coat can. :-)

Laura said...

Loved this blog! Leah sent me the link. We have a 1 1/2 year old flat-coat and just completed a Search & Disaster Dog weekend course taught by trainers from Edmonton.

Dawn said...

Wow, I wish all kids could be exposed to such a great learning experience. Kaleb sounds like a wonderful dog, and I loved that his tongue got a few licks in too!

Judy said...

That is a very cool story. I live the way you wrote it up. What a great experience for all the dogs, all the kids, and you. I bet the kids will remember that forever