How to teach your dog to find chanterelles
What could be better than spending time with your dog in the woods during the autumn months? The forest offers a wealth of goodies like berries and mushrooms. Sure, it's great to bring home a whole basket of goodies, but your forest adventures can also be a fantastic way to keep your dog active and engaged. Below, we outline the steps to teach your dog to seek out chanterelles in the woods.
Chanterelle search
Step 1: Place a chanterelle along with a treat about 1 metre from your dog. Try to spark their interest in the chanterelle so they want to move forward. Use a hand signal and let your dog go ahead and eat the treat. Call your dog back from the chanterelle and repeat step 1 several times.
Step 2: When you see that your dog has started to understand the task, you can begin to add the verbal cue "Chanterelle" along with the previous hand movement. Repeat until you see that your dog understands the cue means to eat the treat next to the chanterelle.
Step 3: Now, vary the distance between the dog and the chanterelle. Let your dog start at 1 metre, then 3 metres, 5 metres, and so on. Repeat step 3 several times.
Step 4: Return to a 1-metre distance, but start hiding the chanterelle with the treat under some moss or grass. Repeat step 4 several times.
Step 5: Now, we'll remove the treat from next to the chanterelle! Do as in step 2, but don't place a treat next to the chanterelle. Instead, quickly approach your dog and reward them from your hand. Repeat step 5 several times.
Step 6: It's now time to remove the human scent from the chanterelle. Your dog's nose is amazing and can detect that you've been in contact with the chanterelle, so from now on, handle new chanterelles with gloves. It's also wise to remember that dogs are experts at picking up scent trails from us. Therefore, it's beneficial to now throw the chanterelle for the dog to find.
Your dog's nose is fantastic, but it's also important not to train too intensely, as nose work requires a lot of energy. Therefore, make sure to keep training sessions short and take breaks.
