[alaskayorkie]

Originally Posted by Jenna AK

I just had to pop in and say, what a handsome little guy Eddie is! That picture is just beautiful! I wish Jenna would hold still for a nice snap like that!
In passing the ORT, is Eddie training to become a service dog? Like the kinds who can sniff out cancer cells and the like? I often wonder just what a Yorkie's capabilities would be in this field. So far, all I can train Jenna to do is dig at my arm or chest if she sees me topple over. lol....

Nope, Nose Work is all for fun. Dogs learn to identify 3 specific odors, and they have a BLAST doing it. It's the exact same training that they use on police dogs, but instead of searching for drugs or bombs they search for a Q-tip with an essential oil odor on it. All dogs are 100 percent successful at it.

The idea is that it gives the dogs a job to do that they enjoy doing, and it's great brain work. Aggressive dogs, nervous dogs, injured dogs, shy dogs, etc., all benefit because it's something they're good at and love doing.

For the human half of the team, they make it fun by offering competitions to see which dog can find the odor fastest when hidden everywhere from a room to a car to outside.