Hi Annie:
Dottie seems to have an idea of the search cue, it does not matter I find, what the actual search words are, Dottie does get the game! In the first search, there is a little more encouragement for Dottie more than I would like in the search, however I understand you were told to do so and it worked for you and Dottie. When Dottie indicates. at 52, she really digs it out, which is nice. When Dottie chews on the bag with the truffle, I would suggest getting in at the source quickly and rewarding with her toy or food. The chewing on the truffle is retrieving at this time, also rewarding Dottie quicker at the source would probably eliminate the chewing on the find. At 1:38 where Dottie is barking, I think this can be remedied by actually starting her again. As in an imaginary start line, or taking her back to you and starting her once, with a cue find em…and let her go. In the second search Dottie again improves with her indications and really shows you she knows where the hide is. That was great!
Dottie improves a lot without verbal encouragement with each search, so well done! By the 3rd search at 2:46 there was a definite start line, and at 3:02 Good girl praise after the indication. Nice job! Each search showed improvement on Dottie’s searches, she does know what the game is, and likes to search. Overall very nice improvements in each search sequence in this video.