"Nose Work"

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

The Fall dog training program is starting in a couple of weeks, and I had planned to have Guinness take the Intermediate Agility class.  My trainer is going to also be offering a new program called "Nose Work".  Here's the description of the class...."Dogs have an amazing sense of smell and a natural desire to hunt.  The sport of K9 Nose Work is designed to develop your dog's natural scenting abilties by using their desire to hunt and their love of toys, food and exercise.  It's a great way for your dog to have fun, build confidence, and burn lots of mental and physical energy".  Guinness is a Doodle who loves to have his "nose to the ground"...he's a big time "smeller".  So, I'm thinking of putting him in that class rather than Agility (which he also loves).  Has anyone else been involved in this type of program, and how did it work out?

[Laura & Chewie]

Sounds very interesting...I'd be curious to know exactly what they do/teach in the class. I'm sure Guinness (and you) will enjoy whatever class you take together! I think agility looks like so much fun...my granddaughter would love to do that with Chewie, but don't know how old they have to be (Alex will be 9 in a couple months). Of course, he has to get more obedient first...LOL!

Have fun with whatever class you pick.

[Ellen]

Actually, I'm taking a 2-day "nose games workshop" with Riley in a couple of weeks. Apparently, it's a very popular class because it was sold out for the last 3 sessions. The agenda includes the following activities:

Working Session #1: Introduction to Nose Games: “Find It!” -- Find it Toss -- Find it in Plain View -- Find it Hidden in Plain View
Working Session #2: Work with Toys/Objects -- Hidden in Room -- Take Scent
Working Session #3: Training the Push/Mark -- Hidden in Boxes
Working Session #4: Check This/Look Here
Working Session #5: Review Day 1 work -- Scent Discrimination (salient scent)
Working Session #6: Review -- Introduce New Scent (non-salient scent)
Working Session #7: Review -- Scent Discrimination
Nose Games: Find Hidden Treat (owner doesn’t know where) -- Find Hidden Owner -- Scent Discrimination Boxes

I'll let you know how it goes.

[Leslie and Halas]

I haven't hear of it, but it sounds fun. If Guinness is s big time smeller, he'll probably love it. Let us know how it goes if you try it. Even though he loves agility, the change might be good and keep things interesting.

[Linda and Murphy]

This sounds like fun. I can't wait to hear more about it.

[Allyson, Peri & Taquito]

I think it sounds really cool. Why not try something different??

[shelly]

Wow! This sounds cool! LOL Tori does that all the time... there is one spot that she 'trails' in my in-laws living room as if 'somethings' under the floor... sometimes it gives us the heebie jeebies. I would love to do that, but I need to work on her car confidence and 'stranger behavior' first... but maybe I'll google it and adapt it to do at home. Enjoy! They BOTH sound great! Come on... haven't your kids played two sports or done two activities at the same time?! LOL... poor Tori - her activities come at the bottom of the totem pole!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I know there is a Tracking program through my local German Shepherd Club, and they do a lot of field training. Tracking is one of three certifications required for a Schutzhund title. I think there are also AKC tracking events, don't know if they've opened them to mixed breeds yet.
I think Guinness would enjoy this, and it might be a nice change of pace for you, too, especially if they have outdoor classes..

[Camilla and Darwin]

I have been considering doing this. There is a tracking class every Saturday by where I live. I've heard it's great fun for both the owner and the dog. I wonder how Darwin would do though. He really doesn't seem to use his nose as much as other dogs.

For example, I will throw a warm piece of hot dog to him, and it will land like 4 feet away. He looks around with his eyes, but doesn't sniff, at least not on the ground. It seems like he mostly will scan the area with his eyes, but won't sniff around. When he does use his nose, it takes him a surprisingly long time to find things... even aromatic things. Is this normal.... ? Am I missing something? Perhaps a class would be good for him to practice.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Jackdoodle is the same as Darwin. I don't know if it's his allergies, or what, but he cannot find anything by scent alone. His tennis ball can be right underneath him, and he's standing there looking around for it!
On the other hand, he has amazingly good eyesight, even with the hair in his face. The behaviorist who evaluated him when i first adopted him said he was "very visually oriented", whatever that means.

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

I think it's like everything else...they're all different. Guinness uses his nose way more than Murphy does. I hid a bag with a couple of new antlers in the back of my closet over the weekend. Guinness absolutely knew they were there because he could smell them, but Murph didn't seem to have a clue. Today while I was in the bathroom, Guinness got into the closet and sniffed out the bag...he had to maneuver around my clothes hamper and climb up on a sweater box to get to them...but when I came out of the bathroom he was enjoying a nice new antler. He even gave one to his brother. LOL You might give it a try though...it could be fun. I've decided to go for it and wait on the agility.

[Leslie and Halas]

Halas seems the same way at times. On our walk the other day, he was sniffing around on the ground, but he walked right by a pretty large dead mole. I almost stepped on it, and he didn't even see it, even though he acted like he was sniffing around for something. Yet at other times, he'll roll on something that I can't even see, so he obviously thinks there's something pretty good-smelling there. Maybe the mole just wasn't dead enough to smell good yet.

In the house, it may take him awhile to find a treat that I throw, even if it's pretty close to him. But if I put 6 grocery bags on the floor, he'll go straight to the one with watermelon pieces in it, and push his head into the bag trying to find it.

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

My guys both LOVE watermelon too. That's not something I would even expect, but the first time I gave it to them they went crazy, and now I use it as a "special treat".