Description
Level 3: Let’s Go Truffle Hunting: Practical Application and Sustainability
Get ready for a real truffle hunt! It’s no coincidence that we scheduled this course for fall because fall is truffle season here in the Pacific Northwest and also in Europe. It’s time to get out there in the field!
This class will transition your truffle hunting skills into the forest and onto orchards to reliably scout out these culinary delights! You will learn to work in tandem with your dog to negotiate a variety of environmental factors when locating these underground treasures. We will guide you step-by-step to successfully transition you and your dog, as a team, to finding real truffles in the wild or on an orchard. We will do this by introducing you and your dog to large and complex open area searches. We will then progresses to buried hides in a forest or orchard setting, proofing for distraction, searching negative space, and solidifying alerts for precision in the field. The class also includes games and exercises to strengthen your bond with your canine and boost confidence. Introduction to Truffle Hunting and Developing a Reliable Truffle Dog Team are strongly recommended prior to enrolling in this class.
Full Students as well as Working Students in Hybrid classes who successfully complete the Truffle Dog Training series of classes will be offered the opportunity to Work with Truffle Dog Company.
Truffle Dog Training Series:
Level 1: Introduction to Truffle Hunting
Level 2: Developing A Reliable Truffle Dog Team
Level 3: Let’s Go Truffle Hunting: Practical Application and Sustainability
Registration
When you register for a class, you will receive email confirmation of your account with Truffle Dog Company. If you do not receive an email, please check your spam folder and add our email: info@truffledogcompany.com to your safe sender list to ensure you receive important electronic communications regarding this course.
Following registration you will immediately have access to your first lesson as well as the forums specific to your chosen course level. Course content is available by clicking on Developing a Reliable Truffle Dog Team under the My Classes menu. For Full Students and Auditors, the forum(s) will appear in the lesson sidebar as well as at the end of each lesson.
Full Students will post questions and homework assignments for feedback in their individual forum topic. This allows each team’s progress to remain organized and easily accessible. Please allow 48 hours from time of purchase for your topic to appear in the forum. We create forum topics manually. If you signed up as a Full Student and a topic titled with your name does not appear within 48 hours of purchase, please contact us.
Course Structure
The program continues where Developing A Reliable Truffle Dog Team left off. It begins with transitioning your training into the forest and orchards while maintaining the reliability of your team’s truffle location skills and precision alerts and continues with handler skills essential to maintaining the longevity of a reliable truffle dog team.
Objective: By the end of this course most student’s dogs will be able to:
- Locate the scent source of a truffle buried in a forested and/ or orchard setting
- Work through distractions and re-establish connection
- Search negative space effectively (meaning an area without truffles present)
- Have a reliable, repeatable, and precise alert
- Locate real truffles in the wild
Lesson Plan:
Week 1 How to set up Forest Hides, Basic Forest Hides/ Boxes
Week 2 Multiple Target Proofing Indoors/ Outdoors, Target Hides in the Forest
Week 3 Buried Hides in the Forest, Handler Skills
Week 4 Fading the Target, Locating Real Truffles (students will need to acquire fresh truffles prior to this lesson)
Week 5 Relationships & Dealing with the Unexpected, Hunt Sequence, Distractions and Endurance Training
Week 6 Training for Dense Areas, Checking Trailings, Handler Skills – 2 Person Harvesting, Large Area Searches
*The syllabus is subject to changes based on the skill levels of Full Students enrolled. Students interested in working on orchards will be guided in setting up training scenarios in orchard environments.
Each lesson will include written instructions and video demonstrations for exercises.
Homework assignments for Full Students will include weekly video submissions for feedback as well as to demonstrate proficiency of the skills presented in each lesson.
Full Students and Auditors will have access to the discussion forum. Full students may post questions and video for feedback from the instructors. Auditors may view the discussion forum but will not post. Self Directed Students and Hybrid Class Students do not have access to the discussion forum.
