Reply To: Mary & Salu

[Alana McGee]

Yay for Salu and nose touches! You are brave, but that’s good practice. Trust me, even veteran dogs will on occasion gobble a piece/ truffle. I was speechless last time Duff did it in practice as he has only once ever done it before. He was so excited to play the game. So remember that, it is the value we place place in it and their excitement usually, not the fact they “like eating truffles”. BUT WELL DONE!

More deli meats is often a solution… for humans too 😉

We absolutely LOVE that he was out the door and to the truffle. Way to go buddy.

Something to note with this: It is wonderful, yes. AFTER that 1st find however usually you’ll notice dogs take a few moments to settle and continue finding more targets/ truffles.

The dogs are hyped up. The sliding door/ door acts as start gate. Salu certainly knows the context of the game you are playing by your ‘hunt sequence’, however it may manifest. Whether it is you talking to him about truffles, or prepping treats, he understands what is going on. (it could even start 20 minutes prior when you took those summer truffles out of the fridge to go hide them. Eventually certain “places” will gain this connotation as well. It will be interesting to see how this translate to new territory when you drive to a new location (your son’s place or other) and how he transitions there. Don’t expect this behavior to right away be prevalent. Try as much as you can in these new scenarios/ places to replicate what you do at home prior to you and Salu going “hunting”.

0:08 nice. Salu has found it and offers a passive sit. mentally note that, it will come back later. He’s passing information to you. It’s away from source (that’s ok), it’s information. It means he did find something, your movement and encouragement has him re-alerting.

0:11 really nice from both of you. He seems very confident and excited in this reward. Well done Mary. 0:27 🙂 ):33 fabulous transition! Wow how far that has come. GREAT body positioning on your part facing the direction you want him to search. It, again is information.

0:54 Mary, this is pretty much text book perfect for this scenario on all levels. Not much to say, it’s fabulous. You & Salu are a really nice team here. Great rewarding with source in hand.

This was a nice exercise for you guys, with many successes in a tight area. You can see the shift in his behavior and engagement. 1:43 PRETTY. I am using a lot of “caps” because it is exciting and well done. Great job elongating this reward- retouch sequence.

2:07 again, even without a verbal cue (simply you stood up and moved with intention), he re-engauges. This is a good endurance exercise as well for that element (many targets in smaller area). This is the most re-engaging of the game after finds we have seen him do to date. well done team.

You only do it briefly, but start to be aware when you direct him back to an area, a useful skill on orchards (inside the cones in this case), that you don’t “front/ block” him. Meaning stand directly facing him as he is approaching. Cheat your self a little to one side or another, truffles can be under our feet. He works it fine here, but in more stressful situations it could block him from an area.

2:39 you give him nice space, and good timing on when you close distance.

Really nice Mary. Kristin and I say Good work team! Breakthroughs, huzzah!