FE520 Week 2 Discussion

[Alana McGee]

Hi,Regarding the week 2 homework, should we still be putting blank/cold tins out or not since the actual hides will be slightly obscured?

Thanks,
Alyssia

[Alana McGee]

Good question.

We would say you don’t need to if the hides are obscured.

One thing to note when placing the hides. Walk around a bit and leave ‘your’ trail in various places. You will find out very quickly if your pup is just tracking your scent to where the hides are located.

[Alana McGee]

I’ve been meaning to ask about how to know when the dog is hunting for truffles and not using the track we leave, especially since we’re also tracking now. Makes sense to walk around like pigpen leaving dust everywhere.

[Alana McGee]

In the week 2 video with Calie, can you explain how you use”find it” and “show me” as cues?

Calie is a hoot to watch. She’s fast!

[Alana McGee]

How does weather affect scent? Heat, cold, light rain, heavy rain, snow, etc. What types of weather help or hurt the dogs ability to find scent? Are there times when you find the weather gets to a point where the dog is unable to locate scent?

[Alana McGee]

I’m trying to get an idea of the conditions that truffles like to grow in and habitat indicators if any.

Are there indicators in your forest areas that clue you in to the possibility of truffles – other than specific tree species since truffles are mycorrhizal.

Where are they found in relation to the drip line of the tree?

Does the amount/type of ground cover help or hinder truffle production/locating?

Do they tend to be found on flat ground vs moderate or steep hillsides?

Do they tend to be found in lower areas of the terrain or close to logs or lots
of downed wood?

Do you ever find ‘fairy rings’ of truffles?

Are ‘fly clouds’ ever found over truffle areas?

Do you see a preference over fully shaded, partially shaded or sunnier areas?

Does the direction of the hillside have an effect?

Do you find mushrooms in general in the areas where truffles grow and if so are
there indicator mushrooms for truffles?

[Alana McGee]

Lois –

Yes, you want to walk around in random patters and touch various areas of the search space. Be sure to touch branches and areas off the ground as well.

You won’t always know for sure but your best practice is to make sure you contaminate the area with your scent! When doing blind hides, be sure to tell your assistant to do this when hiding your targets.

While doing surface hides, you can also throw your targets out into the search area without ever setting foot in the training space! We do this a lot when grass is tall enough to obscure the target when it lands. Just make sure your target is sealed tightly. We have thrown them and had them break open, spilling the truffle out (which made for a fun new training scenario too).

[Alana McGee]

Lois –

I say “did you find it?” as confirmation that I see her alert. She knows I am coming.

When I say “show me”, I am asking her to re-alert and pin point the source. When they are buried, this looks like a nose target. For Callie, a surface hide is very exciting and she will often pick them up and throw them at me.

[Alana McGee]

Hi Annie- you have lots of questions there and I will get to them all in turn (later this afternoon)- Just so you know it is coming.

Odor and scent are a massive topic and could be a course unto themselves. If we haven?t talked about it yet- I?ll go back through all lectures to confirm from 510 as well. Scent is something we touch on later in this course- this includes pooling, troughs, eddies, heat, cold, etc.

Take a look at the review from the first lesson and see the bit about anabatic & katabatic winds. That also applies to heat and cold. Scent most certainly does effect how truffles are found. Understanding how scent moves is critical for being able to set your team up for success.

I’ll go into this more later and get to each of your questions. I have a feeling this was material and diagrams covered in 510, but I’ll confirm.

[Alana McGee]

Hi Alana,

Thanks. I am doing a little research on truffles in our area. It appears there is a chance of finding Oregon Black truffles about 2 hours north of us. I’m going to check with some friends to see if they have any recommendations for areas to try.

We do have some other edible types that are with live oaks and tan oaks that are not as far away.

Also, have you found the age of the forest to make a difference?

[Alana McGee]

Hi,

Just wondering how can I effectively start using tug as a reward for finding the target
and still keep the reward time long as if diffing up a truffle?

Would starting the reward with a mix of treats and praise and towards the end of the
pretend ‘truffle digging time’ present the tug item?

[Alana McGee]

Hi Annie!

Slow down a sec, so we can catch up.

First off, we recommend you don?t actually start looking for truffles in the forest yet until you have practiced in forested environments with buried truffles. Again, set yourself up for success. We can?t stress enough not jumping the gun on this.

I know for a fact there are truffles in the Bay area. You don?t have to go hours north.

There are definitely Oregon blacks and whites up in the Eureka area in association with Doug Fir and Sitka, but there also are Oregon blacks (Leucangium carthusianum) in association with pinus/albies/ pseudotsuga in the Pt. Reyes area. You also have many white tuber species complex that do associate with tan oak and white/ live oak.

[Alana McGee]

This will all be covered in the forum topic about truffles, and that conversation should be shifted over there, as you are not the only one who is interested. I haven?t had a chance to post in it yet. But that is where these questions should go.

And yes, age of trees is critically important when talking about Doug Fir, and most other species. There are limits on either end too young and too old. It will be specific to the species you hope to find and the host tree.

It is unlikely you will find Leucangium on oak. You will more likely find tuber species.

[Alana McGee]

Hi Alana,

No worries. I haven’t introduced truffle scents to Ashley and don’t have plans to for quite a while. I am not ready to go out looking for truffles. I’m just doing some research into where to go and from what I have read late winter is when they tend to be ready in our area. While we wait for rain, we can take a day trip and research areas.

I have only hunted at Pt Reyes once – that’s the 2 hours from us place. That’s where I was thinking would be good for Leucangium. There might be some places in Santa Cruz, be we have never had much luck there.

I’ll do research on scent on the side.

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