Anybody done K9 Nose Work?

[Pat and Traveler]

Trav and I are taking a class in K9 Nose Work.  This is a for-fun class, not to be confused with drug sniffing, cadaver-finding, or other working-dog trainings.  (And would you really want your dog to alert on a car truck while you were on your daily walk?!)

In a large room, a number of boxes are scattered around, one of which contains a high-value treat.  The dog searches, finds the treat, gets rewarded and praised.  It’s fun for the dog, and fun to watch other dogs do their searches.  There are more advanced trainings, but this box training is the beginning.  It’s a good class for dogs that are dog-reactive or shy as they work one by one, staying in the car between turns.  The dogs in Trav’s group are at various stages in their training.  One little terrier is a no-nonsense worker and just trots in, finds the treat, and is finished.  There’s an old lab that wanders arthritically around, only mildly interested in treats. 

Trav loves playing ‘find the fox,’ at home, and will patiently search the living room til he finds the hidden toy.  This game didn’t translate at all to the nose work.  Trav was delighted to see a row of people sitting in the training room and wanted to say hello to everybody.  After some coaxing, he found the treat.  He loves going to this training, but I can’t say he’s a star searcher.  He did do a lot better at our last class and found the treats in practically record time. 

If you continue on in the Nose Work, the dogs learn to search the perimeter of the room, vehicles, etc., and to search for three specific scents–birch, anise and clove–and there are trials and competitions.

Has anybody else taken their dogs to this training?  

[Pat and Traveler]

Kona is really fast--that must be quite a challenge!  If you don't know exactly where the scent is, it could be hard to know when the dog has found the right place/scent.

[GBK]

Kona did not start out fast at all....  It is the confidence they gain by knowing what they need to do and wanting to do it that drives them, at least that's what I see.  Her tail is always up when she is searching, and she has a labby tail most of the time and it hangs just normally.  She really does use her tail as a happy meter.

Pat here is Buddy working.  You can see the teacher uses boxes they have to get their noses into and really work to get open.  Helps us see their signs when they find the scent.  You can also see that Buddy found the scent on the top of the box pile, but until he put his nose inside the actual box that had the scent he was not rewarded.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zf-fGqBlASA&feature=share

He is so overjoyed to do these classes, he skips through the field of boxes, but always finds the scent :) 

[Pat and Traveler]

Have to grin along with the happy dogs!  Love the tell-tale tail.  We are using open boxes, so really have to be there fast when the dog alerts.  At this point by 'alerts,' I mean when Trav starts munching on the found treat.  Yes, I think he is just beginning to realize that he has a job in the middle of all this fun--and he truly loves to work. 

[GBK]

LOL I totally understant Pat!  Just wait, once you get to the birch scent in your odor class, you have to treat them everytime they alert on the scent.  You should see all of us in class sprinting to shove a treat in their mouths when their nose comes close to those little holders or the box they are finding again.  But everyone is in such a good mood :)  Buddy always makes everyone laugh, when we searched a car last week, he was spinning in a circle before each hide in the first go around, what a nut.

[Pat and Traveler]

I don't know yet what Trav's alert will be--since I guess he can't eat the scents. :)  Buddy must be a hoot to watch!   There's a really shy dog in Trav's group that's doing very well--she has a great nose, but apparently any loud sounds will scare her into running. 

[Pat and Traveler]

Wow!  Murphy is a natural at scent training!  I don't see Trav ever getting really focused like that, but he may surprise me. 

[Cyndi, The Boys & Callie]

Tank has done it for the last 18 months or so. He loves it. He is working with birch and is very good. When he gets home, he's exhausted and goes to sleep but it is a good tired but it is a good tired.

My husband usually takes him and stays with him in the car when it's not their turn. They can tell when it's their turn to go back in. He will be starting vehicle searches in January. Great sport.

[Pat and Traveler]

I'd love to see Tank work!  Interesting that the searching is really tiring for the dogs--in a good way.  I was just thinking that if we are doing this in the summer, I'd have to just walk Trav around between turns or stay in the car with him.  I saw a video of a dog searching a vehicle.  Looks like that takes some serious concentration.

[Cyndi, The Boys & Callie]

I used to have a video of him during a class which I would share at the drop of a hat.  But, I can't locate it.  I think I deleted thinking I could find it again on youtube. So much for plans.    For Tank, it is not physically tiring, it's mentally tiring.  He will come home and play with Sully and Beau for about 10 minutes and then he goes upstairs, jumps on the bed and is out for the night.  We didn't do this sessions with all the holiday crazies and he seems to miss it.  We'll start back up in January. 

[LucyR]

Ozzie just passed his ORT last Sunday for birch, anise, and cloves.  He is now eligible to compete at all trial levels.  This ORT is something that is really worth doing.  If you are serious about moving forward in Nose Work, you need to join the National Association for Canine Scent Work (NACSW) to become a member and enroll your dog.  You will be notified of all the ORT tests and trial venues that are upcoming.  The ORT tests are appearing more frequently now, but NW trials are still pretty hard to find.  But all that will change as the sport becomes more and more popular!  This is the most fun that we have ever had at a "competition" sport...largely because the dog always succeeds and has a good time!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Congratulations! It sounds like a wonderful activity for both dog and handler!

[F, Calla & Luca]

It does.