Room setup and materials

Materials Required:

• See through dividers to partition space (ie; exercise pens).  
• Clock with a second hand for timing the test components.

• Under-footings taped in place, short end against wall: plastic bread delivery tray, plastic wavy roofing material. You can substitute other items such as a section of exercise pen 30” (76 centimeters)

Passive Items Include:

1. 2 different statues other than a dog – ideally with big eyes and 50-70 cm tall
   
   

   

   

   

2. Stuffed animal on chair

• Electric box fan (higher speed flow, quiet if possible), rug runner or tape on the floor to mark where the handler should walk 2 feet from fan.  About 24” x 24” (60 cm x 60 cm)
  

  

• Stuffed bone or Kong- with Kong Paste or similar filling like frozen wet dog food enjoyable to dogs
• Sandwich in plastic container with a plastic with holes in top. Sandwich is made fresh on the day of testing.
• Noise:
  1. Loud vacuum cleaner
  2. Metal container (lunch box) or metal tin for cookies with metal items in it
• Standard height table (about 24″wide x 42″long x 30″ tall) for the dog to jump up on for the exam. Non-slip mat or surface on the top
• Guide Dog Harness- various sizes to fit properly. Handle needs to be modified so it will lay down on the dog’s back and also be able to be removed easily or fixed in a position it does not touch the dog’s back
• Distraction dog (Non-reactive to other dogs, preferably a small dog, different breed from dogs tested)
• Scavenging items placed on floor- three 1” diameter Velcro dots or squares that contrast with the floor color. These are used to mark location 1-3.
  

  

• Doll- about 2 feet tall example child size Mannequin:
  

  

• Access to stairs or test after
• Woof stick, flirt pole (for chase)
  

  

• Novel objects: mechanical toy that rolls, mechanical toy that makes noise & moves
  

  

• garbage can 20” tall – place very smelly item in garbage can (we used paper with bacon grease)
• Leash
• Unusual person suit
  

  

• Plant in a pot, with 5 drops of urine from a spayed female on each of 2 pieces of paper towel
• Flying bat or similar- Amazon sells one. Hang is so it is 6 feet (1.8 meters) from the floor. Best to hang using a fine line such as fishing line that is tied to a hook or a loop of line from the ceiling.
  

  

• 5 24″x24″ rubber mats if using a room with slippery floors. They can be used as follows:
  1. @ the grooming table for lift off and landing
  2. @ the fan event to mark the 2′ area
  3. @ the bat event
  4. @ the flirt pole event (1-2 for the longer run)
• Upright solid items to use as a tight space. Height about 1 meter (3 feet), length about 2 meters (6 feet). Place the upright item so the width that you walk through is 21 inches (53 centimeters)
• People required: 5 minimum- 6 is better (helpers can be less skilled volunteers)
  1. Handler- should be skilled in dog handling and communicating with dog
  2. Helpers: H 9 tasks – bring in dog to be tested, examine dog, give kong & novel object, bring in distraction dog, speak in megaphone, shake noise can, handle flirt pole, open umbrella
  3. Unusual person- helpful if skilled
  4. Videographer

Room for conducting the test

• Organizations without a suitable room often rent or borrow a room
• Room should be unfamiliar to the dog.
• Features of the room
  • Shape- square or rectangle that is not narrow.
  • Size- can vary from 25 to 30 feet (7.6 to 10 meters) long and 20 x 30 feet (6 to 10 meters) wide. Some organizations have used even smaller spaces with success
    • Example of unusual spaces- Horse barn with a very wide center walkway
    • 15 x 20 room
  • Low distraction – no people or dog traffic moving through the room or visible outside the room during the test
  • Good lighting
  • Ideally a door the unusual person can knock on and enter the space
  • Ideally no carpet on the floor
  • Electrical outlets to plug in the vacuum
  • Space for the videographer, loose dog to walk by and for observers to sit and score the dogs
• Room Setup: