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Written by river95
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Thursday, 05 April 2007 |
Dog Myths
Original Air Date 3/14/07
Episode # 74
The Myth: Can you teach an old dog new tricks?
The Experts:
Beverly Ulbrich-the dog trainer for Adam and CeCe
Jean Donaldsen – the dog trainer for Jamie and BoBo
Memorable/Quotable Moments:
Jamie: Bobo, you gotta behave, or we’re gonna make you into a coat.
The Action/Results:
Jamie and Adam pick up CeCe and BoBo at the NorSled DogRescue facility. They both get a trainer to help them, and they both have a week to teach the dogs to sit, stay, lie down, heel, and shake. They have a bit of trouble at first, but they eventually do get the dogs trained. Jess judges the results, and decides that both dogs have learned most of the tricks, except for BoBo’s slight problems with staying still. This myth is BUSTED.
The Myth: Can you get past a guard dog using any of these methods?
Distraction with Steak
Acting Aggressive
Acting Submissive
Wolf Urine
Scent of a Lactating Female Dog
Urine from a Female Dog in Heat
The Experts:
Eewan the professional guard dog
Mike McLaughlin is a dog handler at Tyson Kennels. He helps the gang test the myth by being in charge of Eewan.
Memorable/Quotable Moments:
Kari; Oh my God, this is not working, this is not working, this is not working!
The Action/ Results
The team meets Eewan, a professional guard dog, and Mike, his handler. They take turns testing out the different possibilities of this myth.
Kari is in the protective suit first, while Tory waves a juicy steak under Eewan’s nose. At first, the plan works just fine – Eewan is much more interested in the steak than Kari. Even after Tory throws the steak into the cage, Eewan is not interested in Kari at all. But, when the steak is finished, Eewan goes after Kari. This one is ruled PLAUSIBLE.
Then come the behavior ideas, which were submitted by a fan. Grant gets into the suit and acts submissive. The idea is that Eewan will not perceive Grant as a threat. That doesn’t work at all, unfortunately. Tory goes for the opposite end of the scale, and acts aggressive towards Eewan, but that doesn’t work either. Both of these ideas are BUSTED.
Then they go for the scent possibilities. Grant wears the protective suit, and then a piece of fabric that is doused in the scent of a mother dog. The theory is that the pheromones that the mother dog gives off calms puppies down, so it might work for Eewan as well. However, it doesn’t work, so that is BUSTED. Kari then gets back in the suit, and the fabric covering is doused with wolf urine. The theory here is that the dog will be intimidated by this smell. Eewan stopped for a minute, but he still attacked. This one is called PLAUSIBLE. The last one is urine from a female dog in heat. Eewan completely ignores Tory. He looks at Tory, and doesn’t even do anything about him. He is completely distracted, and this part of the myth is CONFIRMED.
Kari, Tory, and Grant also try their own ideas to trick the guard dog. Kari builds a giant hamster ball. Grant makes a remote controlled cat, and Tory makes a barrel that he can hide in. Grant’s cat was working, until the cat runs right next to Tory, and Eewan’s focus shifts. Tory’s can works to get the loot out of the safe, but the trip home is called off when Eewan figures out how to tip the can over. Then Kari’s hamster ball has the same problem – she gets the loot, but can’t get out of the cage. All in all, the myth is PLAUSIBLE.
The Myth: Can you foil a bloodhound, like we have seen in the movies, by using these strategies?
Zigzagging/doubling back
River Crossing
Pepper Decoy
Wash/Change Clothes
Masking the Trail with Coffee /Cologne
Urban Environment
The Experts:
Matthew Broad, Doghandler, San Mateo County Sheriff’s Department
Morgan the Bloodhound – scent expert
Memorable/Quotable Moment:
Adam: So, can you clearly communicate what clever canine conundrum you are currently concocting?
Jamie: What?
Scientific Fact:
Bloodhounds follow the scent of a person by smelling the dead skin cells that we leave behind.
The Action/Results:
First, Adam does some zigzagging and doubling back, and then climbs a tree. Morgan gets the scent, and finds Adam with no problem at all. Doubling back is BUSTED.
Then, Adam crosses the river several times, and goes up a stream for at least 100 feet. Morgan found Adam more quickly than he did in the previous tests! This is BUSTED as well.
Adam then tries to mask his trail with pepper, as is done in Cool Hand Luke. Adam runs to a barn, dumps pepper all over, and then climbs out the window. Morgan sniffs around, finds the trail, and BUSTS this myth as well.
When Adam tries to wash off and change his clothes, Morgan has a bit of a problem. Finally, however, Morgan does find Adam, and this myth is BUSTED as well.
Adam dumps coffee all over himself, runs for a bit, and then sprinkles himself liberally with cologne. Morgan found him again, and BUSTED the myth outright.
The urban environment is much more distracting to Morgan, and, even though Morgan does eventually find Adam, it is much harder. This last myth is PLAUSIBLE, but as a whole, this myth is BUSTED.
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