This is Jason and River’s lesson 2 video.
It has proven very difficult to try and get a passive alert from River, something we have not done in years.
We were getting frustrated often while attempting this video, so we did the best we could while trying to stay in the guidelines of the lesson.
I used winter white truffles, something we have never trained on, River has always used blacks.
Today’s treat was carrots.
I tried to catch her passive alerts (nosing) and reward for them as well, something we have not done in a long time.
We stayed in the garage. That proved a challenge as we are both not small dogs.
To try and incorporate the scent as it relates to wind, I opened the back door and cracked (no jokes about mine!) the roll up door, creating a nice breeze. This was fun to watch as you can see River leave the camera area, following the breeze and the scent trail.
We kept it short. I treated River on first alert and then again for showing me with a more direct alert on the target itself.
Normally, when I say “good”, River knows to stop. In the field, this is where I would retrieve the truffle and River would be rewarded once the truffle was in hand.
I always end a session with the ball, it helps us both to know that we are done and there is no need to continue looking. . .cause River will. . .forever.