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!