Orientation

Lightly restrain the dog while a helper shows him a piece of food before placing it out of his reach. Clearly say, "food!" or a word of your choice before releasing your dog to get it. The word you choose should be distinct from whatever verbal cues you will use in scent detection. If you don't have a helper, put your dog in a "wait", in a crate, or tethered while you place the food. After several repetitions, you can begin hiding the food in empty cardboard boxes or around the room. You can also mix it up by hiding enrichment-feeding toys, such as KONG's and snuffle mats. The key is to ensure immediate payoff, such as by smearing peanut butter on the outside of the KONG or by topping a snuffle mat with extra kibble that hasn't been hidden in the fabric.

Choose an Odor

These next two parts of the homework are just for you! If you plan on competing in K9 Nosework, then you will start with birch oil, which you can order at a variety of online retailers, such as K9 NWSource. Be sure to select the kit with an airtight storage container unless you have your own. If you aren't interested in competition, then try to find an odor that you yourself are motivated to find! Examples that are provided with the class include morel mushrooms, deer antlers, or pine fatwood.

Consider Indications

How do you want your dog to definitively indicate that he has located the source of the odor at its strongest point? In this class, we will focus primarily on the alert, your dog's natural body language response (sustained sniffing at the source), but once your dog is proficient enough to add the indication, this final behaviour should be so second-nature to the dog that he can do it while actively sniffing something, and without turning to look at you. Sit is an excellent choice for many. Throughout the entire course, you will need to practise your future indication in totally separate sessions from your odor training. While luring your dog with food in your hand, say "sit", and reward your dog for sitting where he is, with his nose still glued to the food in your hand. You can initially use a slight upward motion to help lure him into a sit, especially if he is already inclined to turn toward you when he hears your voice. You will then fade this upward lure until he will sit facing any direction, including away from you. Once you're at this point, you can practise just one or two repetitions a day until we're ready to incorporate the indication into scent detection training.