Reply To: Tim & Molly

[Alana McGee]

Nice harness Tim!

Forgot how FAST she was. Wowza. That is a start gate procedure. Love watching it.

In the first video, is this the size of area you’ve typically been working in the last few weeks tim?

Molly certainly has style. 0:36 BEAUTIFUL headcheck. 0:45 good work you Tim on providing the encouragement when you realize she is honing in but not yet at source. For other students reading this, when we say encouragement when dog is on odor working to pinpoint, this is exactly what we mean here when Tim demonstrates it with Molly. Notice WHEN he is saying it in relation to Molly’s behavior. NICE Tim! Notice how he is also closing the distance to Molly during this time. You get to be an example today Tim 😉

She’s so genuinely excited when she finds it Tim, it is hard not to smile. Well done on your part with all of this. She does a GREAT job, much improved on staying at source.

How deep were those buried ones?

2nd Vid: 1:08- again, Great timing on when you ask her if she “got something” it is information to her. Nice closing distance. You’re an excellent example! Well done Tim. AWESOME re-alerting on it outside of the hole at 1:28

As for your question on buried vs dry/ wet.

Yes. When you start buying it becomes a complex environment in multiple ways.

Buried is harder because it does mute and disperse. How it does that and to what degree is determined by moisture content in the soil. Also Odor doesn’t necessarily come out of the ground right where the truffles is. It depends on how friable the soil is and moisture content. (Ice is a whole other issue that can dramatically impact it- but you won’t have to deal with that luckily!)

Dry can be hard because odor doesn’t cling, but when a dog is right on source they can pinpoint easier. Imagine a yellow tennis ball in middle of a football field full of red tennis balls (It’s just what came to mind because I am staring at Lolo asleep with one as I type). It’s hard to find initially, but when you see it, you see it and can go right to it.

Wet is easier and harder (each dog handles it a bit different). It is easier in some ways because odor is now clinging to the ground more and so there are larger volumes of particles for the dogs to find. However it can now (when wet) disperse odor over a much larger area, so you’ll have false columns of odor leading not to source, aka higher concentrations of odor can pool more easily in more spots. With experience in damp environments dogs naturally adapt to this pretty well. But that is why you really need to practice when it is wet. Dog’s need experience to draw from navigating those soil conditions. It can be more challenging at first for sure because there is more odor they have to sort through to find the correct one that leads to source.

Does that answer you question? I can wax on about it forever, so let me know.

This looks good Tim.

Try an experiment where you cluster some targets. Not right on top of each other, but close, that adds complexity as well. Do it when wet. (DONT BURY THEM TOO DEEP) Molly finding one then another discerning the specific and individual odor trail of each when they are close and mingled around one another. something to try anyway! (Also realistic for your orchard)