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03-14-2010, 08:39 PM | #1 |
Banning Thread Dictator Donating Member | K9 Nose Work Seminar I went to a very cool dog seminar today and thought I'd pass it on for people who may not have heard about it. It's called K9 Nose Work (Scenting) and was taught by a retired California police officer who has trained and worked with police dogs. The Web site of the national association is www.nacsw.net if you'd like to find out more about it. It's the newest dog sport out there, and they have national competitions to see which dog can find a scent in a room the fastest. I was real skeptical about whether Yorkies could do it, but the first video they showed was of a Yorkie named Sluggo competing at the highest level. He was amazing. The best part about it is dogs don't have to have ANY obedience skills to participate. You want to get them in touch with their own instincts and figure things out on their own. In fact, in our class, the best-trained obedience dogs struggled more than dogs with no obedience skills. They kept looking to their trainers for direction. In the seminar, they started by putting out about 9 cardboard boxes. One was marked FOOD so those of us watching knew what to look for. The dogs were shown the treat in the box, then an instructor mixed the boxes up. The owner then led the dog through the boxes on leash. When they found the right one, their reward was the treat in the box. If they lost interest, the instructor would tap one of the other boxes to get the dog focussing on the boxes again. It was that simple. No praise involved, no direction, no corrections. The dog had to follow its nose to find the right box, and its reward was the treat inside. Later, they let the dogs do it off-leash. All of them stayed motivated until they found the treat. At the higher levels, the dogs learn to identify scents, i.e. a Q-tip with the scent of birch, anise or clover on it. The Q-tip is placed in a large room, and the dog has 3 minutes to find it. Sometimes, they placed it in the bumper of a vehicle. Other times, several feet above the ground. When they find it, they're rewarded with either a treat or a toy. It was amazing. The instructor said it's great for instilling confidence in problem dogs or occupying nervous dogs who might otherwise resort to chewing up the house. He said they're even teaching it in shelters to help mellow out neurotic dogs. I'm real excited about it. My local obedience school sponsored it, and they're going to start offering classes. At the very least, it will be a fun game for us to play in the house. Check out the Web site, and if you ever hear of a seminar or class in your area, definitely consider it!
__________________ Mike ~ Doting Dad to Jillie, Harper, Molly, Cooper, Eddie (RIP), Lucy (RIP), Rusty (RIP) and Jack (RIP). Check us out on YouTube |
Welcome Guest! | |
03-15-2010, 07:32 AM | #2 |
♥ Maximo and Teddy Donating Member Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Northern Virginia
Posts: 25,041
| This sounds like a sport tailor-made for my boys! No obedience? Right up our alley. Teeheeheee. Seriously, Maximo and Teddy have advanced noses -- that is one of the common traits that their breeder and I noted. I might look into this. Thank you for sharing! |
03-15-2010, 10:53 AM | #3 |
Action Jackson ♥ Donating Member Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Maryland
Posts: 17,814
| Wow! Sounds really fun. I looked at the schedule and didn't see any classes/workshops/trials in or around Maryland but I'll keep an eye out.
__________________ ~ Brit & Lights! Camera! Jackson! CGC ETD TKP ~ Follow Jackson on Instagram: https://instagram.com/jacksontheterrier |
03-15-2010, 11:26 AM | #4 |
Donating YT 2000 Club Member Join Date: May 2008 Location: Los Angeles, California, USA
Posts: 12,693
| That sounds like fun. I bet I can get a few old shoe boxes and have a "mini-training" at home. By the way, LOVE your new avatar!
__________________ Littlest JakJak We miss you Kaji |
03-15-2010, 11:33 AM | #5 | |
Banning Thread Dictator Donating Member | Quote:
They said it really helps to have two people working with the dogs. One person handles and one person hides the treat in the box. The fun part for them is you have to be creative to keep the dog from knowing where it is. So they'd do almost like a shell game with the boxes, mixing them up. Then they'd pretend to put a treat in the wrong box to get the dog back on track. When the dogs got better at it, they'd stack the boxes or tip them upside-down to make the dogs work a little harder. I'm going to the advanced class today to see how they get them from looking for treats to looking for scents.
__________________ Mike ~ Doting Dad to Jillie, Harper, Molly, Cooper, Eddie (RIP), Lucy (RIP), Rusty (RIP) and Jack (RIP). Check us out on YouTube | |
03-15-2010, 12:09 PM | #6 |
Banning Thread Dictator Donating Member | Oh, since some of you might try it, a couple other things I thought about. * Make sure the dog's been outside to pee before the lesson begins. * The only time you want the leash going tight is when the dog tries to investigate something other than the boxes. Just stand your ground. * Don't correct anything, even, for example, if the dog were to try to pee on a box (which shouldn't be an issue if they've been out!). You want the dog to think they're in charge of the hunt. * After the successful find, don't pull the dog away from the box. Take the box away from the dog. Or bring the box with you if you're alone. * Never do it with multiple dogs at the same time. Crate one while you're working with another.
__________________ Mike ~ Doting Dad to Jillie, Harper, Molly, Cooper, Eddie (RIP), Lucy (RIP), Rusty (RIP) and Jack (RIP). Check us out on YouTube |
03-21-2010, 06:44 AM | #7 |
Donating YT 500 Club Member Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Satellite Beach, FL
Posts: 838
| Mike, Thanks for the great info. "The best part about it is dogs don't have to have ANY obedience skills to participate." That's right up our alley with my pups, even the old man Zipp (aka Spike) may have fun with this. He will do just about anything for a treat or his breakfasts and dinners. It will help me to get rid of some of the K/D kibble.
__________________ Zack, Zeke, Zoey, Zipp RIP 6/28/12 |
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