Adding the Indication

Once a dog is at the level of the odor recognition test, it is time to start thinking about what indication behaviour would best suit the particular dog and handler. Sit, down, and a paw-point are examples of passive indication behaviours, while barking and scratching are popular active behaviours. Think about the practicalities of each, in addition to what comes naturally to your dog. If you are hunting morel mushrooms or truffles, then do not use scratching! If your dog ranges far, then a bark alert might be most useful. If you'l be searching around swamps and your dog hates to sit in water, then don't use sit or down, but a paw-point or bark might be fine.

Once you have chosen an indication, you'll need to isolate that behaviour, training it separately from your scent training sessions. Simply get your dog used to performing the behaviour wherever he is, in whatever direction he's facing. For example, have him sit while you're luring him away from you. Once he will plop his rear down without much accessory movement, you're ready to incorporate it into his nose-point alert: reward over source for the nose-point as usual, say "sit", pause feeding until he does sit, mark the sit, and resume feeding. Once he is used to sitting with his nose on source, beginning asking for the sit before feeding. Incorporate the Red Light Green Light protocol even at the earliest stages by not feeding until his nose is on source, even in the sit.