The focus of this class will be to expand our understanding of the different element searches that occur at a trial, and to develop the necessary foundation skills as they apply to all the elements. The different elements are Containers, Interiors, Exteriors, Vehicles and Buried (AKC).

That may sound like a lot, so most importantly remember, we are want to connect with our dogs and have fun! We are empowering them to do something we could never do and asking them to communicate back to us the info they gain from their brilliant noses! Their job is to find the odor wherever it may be.

Up until now we have been working on the basic skills your dog needs for value for odor,hunting for odor and staying at source. Now we will introduce that odor can be in other locations! With a strong foundation – and a strong value for odor, their skills should carry over with little difficulty to the other elements. As always, we need to go at the right pace for our dogs and not over face them. Make sure to only add challenges incrementally that they can handle and still learn from. If you ever find yourself in a situation where a hide is too difficult – PLEASE, just abort, give them a cookie and reset it up (when they are not looking) and make it easier.

Another theme that will be carried throughout this course is to develop an independent searcher – a dog that is able to problem solve the new scent puzzles that we will start presenting to them. We don’t teach them how to naturally use their nose, but we set up training sessions to incrementally challenge them to develop stronger “scent detection” skills. We want the dog to realize that we know NOTHING about odor and are helpless to help them find it!

So, let’s jump in and have some fun!

Nosework 102

By Freedom Canines International

Nosework 102