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SCENT WORK
Dogs possess up to 300 million olfactory receptors in their noses; humans have about six million. The dog’s nostrils work independently from one another and can separate odors. While we smell the pot roast for dinner, your dog identifies the ingredients, such as the meat, stock, carrots, and onions. That is incredible!
Relying on the remarkable power of the dog’s nose, a fun and challenging sport called Scent Work was developed. This sport relies on your dog’s innate sense of smell to detect odors. We use the same approach as detection dogs, who learn to discern odors such as narcotics or explosives to teach your dog to identify a variety of essential oils, such as birch, anise, and clove. The dog’s job is to locate the odor while the handler builds a reliable indication and reward when your dog has found the scent.
For fun or competition, virtually any dog, regardless of breed, age, or size, can be trained for Scent Work! Join us in the fastest-growing sport in the country...your dog is guaranteed to LOVE showing you how powerful the canine nose is.
Intro to Scent Work
Prerequisites: None
You will get a peek into the theory behind scent, how to teach your dog to indicate the location of hidden scent, and build your dog’s drive to hunt. This is the same method used on detection dogs who alert to bombs, drugs, agricultural items, and medical issues. Dogs universally love the game of searching, finding the target odor, and receiving reinforcement from the handler. You will watch as your dog searches for food and develops confidence and independence, all while burning lots of mental and physical energy. Dog/handler teams work one at a time in the search areas, allowing each dog to focus and learn with minimal distractions. There is a small additional fee for your Scent Work Kit supply kit.
Advanced Scent Work
Prerequisites: Intro to Scent Work or Instructor approval
Your dog will begin learning to hunt for a specific target odor (birch) and communicate when it is found. As your dog learns the concept, we build on the foundation to advance scent discrimination skills. We will add three more odors (anise, clove, and cypress). You will be amazed and excited to watch your dog find the hidden scent!
Competition Scent Work
Prerequisites: Advanced Scent Work or Instructor approval
By now, your dog is hooked on the Scent Work game, so keep having fun! This class will focus on more difficult skills (ground-level hides, converging odors, complex air currents, and threshold hides) with different elements (buried, exteriors, interiors, vehicles, and handler’s discrimination).
