The program commences with an introduction to basic groundwork for truffle scent training including games and exercises to strengthen your bond with your canine and boost confidence. It proceeds with a step-by-step guide to include how to create reliable alerts and strengthen searching behaviors.
Objective: By the end of the course most student’s dogs will be able to:
- Identify the source scent of a truffle.
- Locate a hidden truffle indoors with limited distractions.
- Begin developing consistent alert behaviors.
Success Criteria:
- When presented with more than one identical targets, the dog will correctly identify the one containing truffle scent with at least 80% accuracy.
- When given a verbal cue, the dog will correctly locate a single hidden target indoors 4 out of 5 times without showing signs of frustration or stress.
- When locating a truffle scent, the dog demonstrates an initial identifiable alert with 90% consistency.
Lesson Plan:
Week 1:
Designing Sessions for Optimum Learning
Scent Imprinting/ Identifying the Correct Scent
Basic Indoor Box
Week 2:
Shaping an Alert
How Scent Moves
Week 3:
Teaching Reliable Alerts
Intermediate Indoor Box Hides
Week 4:
Advanced indoor box hides
Week 5:
Advanced Indoor Hides (without boxes)
Week 6:
Multiple Hot Targets
Scent Discrimination
Exercises and Assignments:
Each lesson will include written instructions and video demonstrations for exercises.