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Positive Dog

Sniff this!

Published 1 day ago • 1 min read

Runa is learning to be a truffle dog!

There are three separate skills for scent detection, whether we are talking about hunting for mushroom, competing in scent detection sports, tracking, or air scenting for a lost person.

  • Searching for the target odor
  • Finding the source of the odor
  • Indicating to the handler that they have found the source

Each of these skills can be taught independently and need to be kept in balance. Too much emphasis put on one of the skills and our dog will false alert, miss hides, or become confused or frustrated.

I made the box in the video for imprinting odor - teaching Runa that truffle odor is important. Today, and for the next while, I'll be teaching her that the truffle odor predicts food, and then how to indicate.

Separate from this training, she is learning searching skills that will help her in truffle hunting, in SAR, and in whatever scent sports we tackle in the future.

Scent activities, whether for practical use, sport, or enrichment help dog gain confidence, learn problem solving skills, and can go a long way to helping dogs learn how to regulate emotions.

Thank you to @bctruffles1 for the truffle dog starter kit

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2738 Holden Corso Rd, Nanaimo, BC v9x 1n5
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Positive Dog

Christina Young, BSc, CDBC, PCBC-A

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