"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?

[Leslie and Halas]

Halas' favorite for quite awhile was cantaloupe, but now he seems to prefer watermelon. He goes nuts for it.

[Eva (Lilo and Rocky)]

I have taken beginner and advanced nose work and tracking classes with one of my dogs to give her a productive outlet for her natural scenting abilities (she prefers hunting deer which isn't so great). I'd say try it and see if your dog likes it. Lilo loved ALL the exercises, and we continue to practice at home and in the field. She does get tired after a while - I recall the trainer said that nose work requires the dog to fully concentrate. One of her favorite games is to track down a hidden piece of hotdog in a wooded area. I lay out the track and age it a bit (and hope no one steals the treat), and off she goes. It's great fun and she always gets a reward at the end.

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

That's great to know....thanks, Eva. I hope Guinness likes it as much as Lilo.

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

That's really interesting, because Guinness came home from his class today absolutely exhausted. He's been sleeping ever since. He didn't do anything very physical, but he really had to use his brain and his sense of smell. I hadn't realized how much problem solving would be involved, but there's almost as much of that as there is in scent detection. Murphy is really mad that he won't play. He tried taking Guinness's collar in his mouth and "dragging" him out from under the credenza. Guinness never moved a muscle.

[Azure & Muppet]

I read about this program in a dog magazine. It sounds challenging and fun, but unfortunately it's not available in my area. The classes are located primarily in southern California, although they have workshops nationwide. It's not the same as tracking, but uses some of the same principles. I'll attach a link below for those that want to learn more.

K9 Nose Work Link

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

Yes, this is the same program that I signed Guinness up for. My trainer does a lot of the search and rescue training in our area and has three of her own search & rescue dogs, so I'm sure she'll be great with this program. I'm thinking it could be pretty comical on the first day when Guinness meets the rest of the class. I'm picturing the big, "burly", sporting dogs and their owners. They'll probably have a good laugh when they take a look at my "little Guinness". I'll take pictures. LOL

[Nancie & Gracie Doodle]

Oh, for sure you need to take photos. What about the Murph? Isn't he ready yet?

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

Murph is going to be in Intermediate Obedience. I really want him to be reliable with his obedience training before I put him into another class....it's just a lot easier. I'll definitely take pics.

[Nancie & Gracie Doodle]

Oh, and I just posted that we don't have classes like that in So, California. I guess I had better check out the link!!! Well, I just checked it out and the classes are all a 2 or longer hour drive for me. So...still nothing in our area!!! How sad :(

[Nancie & Gracie Doodle]

We don't seem to have all the fun things offered to us out here Southern California. Yes, we have Agility but it is hard to come by and Therapy but that is about it. Up in San Jose my daughter says there are luring classes which she wants to do with her Rhodesian Ridgeback Luna. So, when we were driving back from the High Sierras last month we saw a Bass Pro Shop and my husband wanted to stop and buy some "animal scents". He got duck, rabbit and one other. Now he likes to scent Gracie's tennis ball and play "Go Find". She seems to like the rabbit best. He makes her lay down outside at the back door while he goes around the corner to the back yard. He then does a grounder throw across the lawn with the ball landing in a bush or shrub or behind something. He releases her and off she goes...nose to the ground. It is amazing how fast she finds it. After a few times though the lawn gets the scent all over it and then it is harder for her to find the correct track. We noticed that after she turned 3 years old she started sniffing and tracking on walks and in our yard. She retraces her foot steps when she runs for the ball and also probably is sniffing skunk, opossums and kitties since that is about all we have in our area. No bunnies or squirrels!!! I would love to find classes like you guys are talking about. Gracie loves to play games!!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

The classes your daughter mentioned may be "lure coursing"; I've seen lure coursing events at German Shepherd exhibitions. The dogs who do best at it have a very high prey drive. It doesn't have anything to do with scent or nose work, it's entirely visual. They have a dummy, often just a white plastic bag, on a rope pulley that moves around an oval track, and the dogs chase it. The winner has the fastest time.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zNJqGu5Acwc

[Nancie & Gracie Doodle]

Yep, that is what the class is called. Luna is quite a "prey" driven dog. She snatches birds right out of the air. Megan had to take the bird feeders down!!!! ha ha...she never even thought that Luna would snatch the birds but when I was there dog sitting for a week I watched her take quite a few down...mid air!!