Nose Work at DuPage County Animal Care & Control

Life for some of the dogs living at the DuPage County Animal Care and Control just got a whole lot better due in part to their dedicated staff of volunteers who have been diligently attending the K9 Nose Work® Clinics facilitated by Roger Lautt, a Certified Nose Work Instructor!

Over the last several weeks Roger has been instructing these shelter volunteers how to use K9 Nose Work® to enrich the shelter dogs’ lives. This new “brain game” hones the problem solving skills of dogs and brings enrichment to the normally mundane routine as they await their forever homes. Through his experience and observations, Roger has found that shy dogs tend to come out of their shells, fearful dogs become more “confident” by building positive associations with novel things and older or regular adult dogs have a new outlet. All this adds up to dogs who may very well present a calmer demeanor to prospective adopters.

It seems that Nose Work can benifit and enrich the life of any dog. Roger plans to continue to seek out Shelters that would like to implement a Nose Work Program, he has seen the dogs change as a result of this game. For more information call or email for more information about Nose Work for Shelter Dogs.

If you would like to view some shelter dogs doing Nose Work watch the video. These dogs are doing Nose Work for the first time and some for second time.

http://youtu.be/M8Nlmw5drjA

They were brought into the room one at a time at the DuPage Convalescent Center. Frankie, Samantha, Beanie and Zoe; no they were not patients, but rather four of the many shelter dogs living at the DuPage Animal Care and Control facility who were selected to participate in a game called K9 Nose Work®, which was facilitated by Roger Lautt, CNWI, CPDT-KA. Thanks to the DuPage Convalescent Center for allocating the large conference room and thanks to the many volunteers from DuPage Animal Care and Control who came out on this beautiful fall day, many more shelter dogs will have their lives enriched.

Roger Lautt is one of only a handful of dog trainers in Illinois who has earned his credentials as a Certified Nose Work Instructor (CNWI). His training studio, Chicago Dog Nose, offers several weekly K9 Nose Work® classes and the results Roger has seen from working with all sorts of dogs and their owners compelled him to share his knowledge with shelters and their volunteers so that they can contribute toward their dogs’ enrichment and wellbeing.

K9 Nose Work is a relatively new dog sport that was developed by a few California dog trainers who had backgrounds in tracking, search/rescue work, explosive and narcotics detection. What is unique to K9 Nose Work® is that any dog can do it; the dog doesn’t need any prior training, and because it is done one dog at a time, even a “reactive” dog can participate! The game develops problem-solving skills and the dogs love being able to do what they were born to do: discriminate scents; as an added benefit it tires them after their mental workout!

Roger has seen shy dogs blossom, bored dogs enlivened with a task to perform, and dogs who would typically be distracted and agitated with other dogs nearby, are now focused and having fun.

The first dog that was brought into the room was Frankie, an adolescent Pit mix, who was very enthused with the new room, the new people, the boxes on the floor and well, let’s just say he was so happy to be out and about that in that he was not focused on the game. But thanks to the patience and perseverance, Frankie caught on and within a short time, he was enthusiastically seeking the hiding place of a tasty treat!

Next was Samantha, a beautiful 3 year old Boxer mix who had been living at the shelter for a while. This beautiful girl caught on pretty quickly and based on her girth size, it was apparent she had a good sense of where to look for the hidden cheese

Beanie was the young hound and the newest resident at the shelter, having been relinquished only a few days prior. And while one would expect that the hound would zero in on the hidden treat faster than most dogs, the interesting thing is that although most dogs, with their superior scenting capabilities, can find the hiddengoodies, each dog has its unique way of seeking, and some hounds and other canines will work the perimeter of a room before focusing on the hiding place. And that’s one of the many things that the human participants get to learn from the dogs. They learn how to observe them, how to know the dog’s “found signal” (when they’ve found the hide), and most of all they learn a new level of appreciation of who these amazing creatures are.

Zoe was the last of the bunch to participate. She was a 9 year old Dachshund that had been given up along with her mate and their puppy to the shelter. And this old gal was the most fun to watch as she worked the room, ‘snorting’ the entire time on her single mission to find the food. Someone asked what her “found signal” was and Roger said that you couldn’t have picked a better example of an “alert”, as Zoe just then stopped snorting. Apparently the silence was her “alert” !

After the session was finished, the dogs were loaded into the van to be transported back to the shelter. As I walked outdoors, I noticed something strange: the quiet coming from the van. These pups, having been adequately challenged, were content. It was also a big adoption day at DuPage Animal Care and Control, and if this helped just one of these amazing dogs find their forever home, then the clinic was a success!

If you’d like to learn more about K9 Nose Work® for your dog or if you’d like to bring this enriching game to your shelter contact Roger Lautt at 312-617-8000 or Roger@chicagodognose.com

To watch Frankie, Samantha, Beanie and Zoe in action, Click Here!