There is a new rapidly growing sport called K9 Nose Work®. This 6-week class will follow the guidelines and suggestions of NASCSW. The objective is to introduce dogs and their owners to this new fun sport knows as K9 Nose Work®. The focus on all of our Nose Work classes will be for the dog and owner/handler to have fun. Intro, as well as the following classes, are well suited for all dogs with the exception of human aggressive dogs. The sport will strengthen the bond between dog and owner and build the dog’s confidence, especially the fearful dogs. This class teaches the foundation skills necessary to progress with this sport, for mere enjoyment or for competition. Intro to Nose Work will enable your dog to discover and enhance his/her natural hunt drive while having fun.
Prerequisite is Level 1 or instructor approval. This class builds on the foundation skills learned in Level 1 and focuses on skill building. We facilitate the building of the dog’s intensity for the hunting game; eventually they will hunt for a particular odor. This class will use treats or toys depending on the dog. Over the course of these classes we will gradually increase the difficulty and challenge while making sure the dog is successful. By the end of this class we will progress to some blind hides, some elevated hides and some out of the box.
This is a continuation and requires successful completion of Level 1 and Level 2 of the Intro series. We will review container searches, continue interior searches and introduce vehicle searches and exterior outside searches. All four of these elements (1: Container, 2: Interior, 3: Exterior & 4: Vehicles) are part of every level of K9NW competition. This and any of the classes may be repeated as many times as the owner wants.
This class introduces the odors selected for use in K9 Nose Work. We return to the basics of the search games starting with box work and a pairing of the odor with a treat or a toy. This class will only introduce the Birch Odor in the first series. The difficulty will continue to increase at whatever rate is appropriate for the dog. Because dogs are worked individually we can customize as needed. The focus will be on obedience to odor, as training gets more advanced the owner will not be able to help the dog as only the dog will be able to find the hide. The skills required will include a keen ability to read the dog. The dog will learn to obey his/her nose; the owner gives no obedience commands, except a request to start.
This class is limited to people that have completed the Intro to Odor class. May also include students that have taken the Intro more than once and are already on more than one odor. The second odor, Anise and the third odor, Clove are introduced independently. Part of the focus will be on fine-tuning the handler’s techniques. There will be a refinement and increased difficulty in searching all four elements, Container, Interior, Exterior and Vehicle. This class is typically repeated two, three or more times until the dogs have learned all three odors and the students are familiar with all of the trial elements.
Prerequisite is students have passed an ORT (Odor Recognition Test) on all three odors, exceptions with instructor approval. The focus will be on handler skills, techniques and continued difficulty of the hides. The search area will become larger and with more distractions. The hides will become higher, more difficult, blind and timed. This level of training will typically conduct field trips to foster and develop sufficient skills by adding environmental changes. No limit to the number of times this class can be repeated. There will be a refinement of a final response and preparation to get ready for actual trials.