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Forwarded Response:
Brielle Video 1:
Great job Brielle staying at source. Is she licking it?? Has she ever eaten them, or tried to? This may be something that comes up for you later based on this behavior. At 0:12 see her drop into a down as an evolved part of her alert sequence! Awesome.
Brielle Video 2: You are handling the line really well. Watch Brielle’s tail- that is a BIG indicator for her. Also note the look she gave you on the other target (as that is where it was previously). That look seems like part of an alert.
What right now is your alert in nose work? Does she pin her nose on source? The find was great, and she does know value of source odor which is awesome, but in the field (or orchard in your case) you & Jim won’t know where the truffles are and so you need to make sure you can interpret her alerts. They will continue to evolve, and when she finds it and is sure- it looks like she is licking it!
We cover it in the next class, but we may have you start working with naked truffles in a controlled setting so we can see how she responds to them. With licking, or a mouth retrieve, or eating them. If she does eat them, there are a few things we think it would be good to work on such as a touch and then backing away, so she doesn’t get into the habit and rewarded for behaviors that could lead to her eating your truffles!