Remy, who spent a year living in a crate, was rescued by Famous Fido, and now spends his days challenging his large brain in the Fido Enrichment Program of which K9 Nose Work®  is one of his many activities. This part Shepherd, part Malanois and a bit of Heinz 57 Variety has excelled at this popular scent-game and even when faced with the distractions of barking dogs and his “arch enemy”, the bicycle, he comes back to focus on the task at hand.

This amazing dog has overcome the hardship of neglect, boredom and abuse, and for the right person, this boy with his active mind, will make an excellent companion.

Watch and listen as Roger Lautt, Certified Nose Work Instructor, narrates this short clip of Remy the worker-bee in action!
 
Watch the video of Remy in action:

Nose Work with Remy (1:30)

Dumped on the streets after going blind, this senior dog is one of the many taken in by Famous Fido Rescue and Adoption Alliance who is being enriched by the “hunting game” known as K9 Nose Work®. And while it seems rather elementary, it’s very important that the dog gets engaged by succeeding; after all who among us would continue to play any game that we couldn’t win?

Watching Sweetie, as she is called, reminded me of seeing the Helen Keller movie where in the beginning we see an unruly and unfocused blind girl find purpose when she connects to the new language of braille. Sweetie too has been an unfocused, scared girl who hasn’t connected to much. But today she was focused on finding some treats in a box, and then another and slowly being challenged to search outside her little area using her very powerful sense of smell to locate another hiding place for treats.

This little dog who has become defensive and anxious around other dogs for fear of being attacked, did not lift her noise out of the box when other dogs were walking by the scent area and for the first time since she arrived at the rescue, I noticed a dog who looked like a young puppy discovering a new toy. Life just got a lot sweeter for Sweetie!

There are many dogs and many stories that you can read about at www.famousfidorescue.com

K9 Nose Work® provided by volunteer, Roger Lautt, Certified Nose Work Instructor and Certified Professional Dog Trainer of Chicago Dog Nose www.chicagodognose.com

Rescue-dog training provided by volunteer, Fran Berry, Certified Professional Dog Trainer of Gofidogoodfido www.gofidogoodfido.com

Big D as he is called, was dumped off at Animal Care and Control by his previous owner and while we do not know any other history, our first observations of this big boy was that he was timid and a bit fearful when we walked him around the parking lot of the Famous Fido Rescue facility, in preparation for his introduction to K9 Nose Work®. It was no surprise then, that Big D’s first reaction to the boxes on the ground was to approach timidly. Roger’s expertise as a Certified Nose Work Instructor was the key in gradually exposing Big D to the boxes while allowing him to get comfortable. Before the session was over, Big D had caught on to the game and was approaching the boxes like a pro!

By the second session, Big D was an enthused participant, as evidenced by this beginning footage, and as you will notice this dog is totally focused on the task. Even with the occasional distraction noises from neighboring dogs and people, this boy was too engaged to bother with things in his environment that just one day prior, he was showing fearful behavior toward. This is just another example of how t K9 Nose Work® enriches the lives of shelter-dogs!

Watch the video of Big D having fun:

Nose Work with Big D (4:34)

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

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!

© Fran Berry, CPDT-KA, 2011

This sport has been promoted by K9 Nose Work  via NACSW (National Association of Canine Scent Work) For a more complete history of the sport and the founding of NACSW go to http://www.nacsw.net and get the complete story.  I was introduced to the sport by a story in the magazine BARK, summer 2010 issue http://nacsw.net/images/Bark60_Nosework.pdf

On July 29, 2011,  I had the pleasure of spending a day in a seminar led by one of the founders, Jill-Marie O’Brien and Kelly Dunbar, both certified K9 Nose Work instructors.

We spent the day working with Shelter Dogs, all of whom were new to Nose Work.  With just a few short sessions these dogs were very focused, motivated and most important happily hunting for some treats.   What a pleasure to watch a dog experience this sport.  It has become my primary focus in working with dogs.  How great it would be to see the Shelters adopt a K9 Nose Work program.

If you know of any shelters that may want to start some K9NoseWork classes or for more information email roger@ChicagoDogNose.com

For a schedule of upcoming Nose Work classes go to http://www.ChicagoDogNose.com