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0:33 That head shake is something to pay attention to! We don’t recall Speed doing that much before and may be a behavior you can pick up on. One that means “I smelled truffles but I’m not quite sure”. In which case it might be worth taking him back to that spot to double check. IF there is one, great. If not, tell him good boy “thank you for checking” and continue on.
1:19 god work on this one and how to react on a previous hole with trace odor.
1:26 PERFECT! REALLY well done!
1:40 Nice job recognizing that was not an alert and allowing him to go on. You is giving him the opportunity to experiment with other behaviors that work. It has nothing to do with the act of you not indulging him. More to do with the fact that you are giving him the FREEDOM to investigate smells and decide which ones are worth his known alert. And you aren?t jumping the gun every time he shows interest in a smell. That is very hard! Good work Lois!
The moment at 2:35 is SUPER realistic, and YES, good Speed.
We also love how you set up scenarios like that of the ?creek bank?. Very creative and good practice!
3:06 is exactly what will happen in the wild. Especially that enthusiasm on your part when you find it! BUT, you were so excited you picked it up before Speed interacted with it.
This will happen. It is partially WHY we want you to pick up the targets before delivering rewards to the dog. 1) the reward doesn’t come until the truffle is in you hand.
2) IF in all that enthusism Speed swallows a truffle but knows the criteria is truffle in hand=reward, he will be a bit more mindful about NOT swallowing it the next time so he can get his reward.
*Please note this is slightly different for dogs that actually eat them more regularly, but the principle applies in that case too- we just would add more to the sequence then
This requires a long history of consistent behavior of picking it up before rewarding.
Well done though.
The other thing, is if you couldn?t find that truffle that was lost, don?t dwell forever in that location. Present him with a target in your hand (because after all, he did find it you just collectively lost it), reward, and then leave the area.