Anybody competing in Nosework?

[jocoyn]

True - with the refind but the dog ONLY gets the reward when the handler and the dog and the subject are together...That was what I was trying to say. They don't get paid until you get to the location.

[ladylaw203]

Originally Posted by jocoyn

More like trudge through the sucking mud and briars to get to source - not at all graceful --- when I changed to that approach though committment to source improved considerably.

LOLOLOL I know about sucking mud yes, it does. And the other cool part is with a dog totally motivated by his reward,in the real world the handler will not be able to inadvertently pull the dog away from source because the dog is NOT NOT going to leave until that reward is received.

[ladylaw203]

Originally Posted by jocoyn

True - with the refind but the dog ONLY gets the reward when the handler and the dog and the subject are together...That was what I was trying to say. They don't get paid until you get to the location.

Yep. And Mrs K. the majority of folks do not necessarily do a refind. Look at FEMA standards . Many of us do not

[Mrs.K]

Originally Posted by jocoyn

True - with the refind but the dog ONLY gets the reward when the handler and the dog and the subject are together...That was what I was trying to say. They don't get paid until you get to the location.

TRUE!!! Yes, very true. That's how they start pendeling between the subject and the handler.


@Renee, yes, that is true too. In NY you have to be a fireman or police officer to do FEMA... though.

[I_LOVE_MY_MIKKO]

Just signed up for a 6-week Intro to Nosework class! I guess the odors won't be introduced until the next level class though.

[ladylaw203]

great!! keep us posted how you like it

[Cschmidt88]

A friend recently introduced me to it, we'll be meeting next week to go over progress and fix any mishaps. Right now we're just at strengthening the association with the scent rather than the object.
Actually recently made a video, the program made some of the clips overlap so some of them searching was cut out. Nothing serious though. Darn I hate that program! lol

Beginning Scent Work - YouTube

Beginning Scent Work - YouTube

So far it's been a lot of fun.

[lrandf]

We just got back from our first nose work NW1 trial. Unfortunately Nova didn't pass this time but he got 3 out of 4 elements. We went over the 3 minutes time limit on his interior search. It was completely my fault, I was too heavy handed with him and didn't let him work. Actually we didn't search the area where the odor was because I was leading him rather than him leading me. On the positive note, Nova did a wonderful job this past weekend and placed 3rd on vehicle search out of 48 dogs and got himself a really nice ribbon! I was so proud of him. We are hoping that they'll have more trials on the east coast so we can try again soon.

One of the most important things I learned from this trial is to trust your dog or his nose and believe in him. Don't be too heavy handed with the leash or follow too closely. Let him do the work and don't try to be a dictator.

[TechieDog]

Originally Posted by lrandf

We just got back from our first nose work NW1 trial. Unfortunately Nova didn't pass this time but he got 3 out of 4 elements. We went over the 3 minutes time limit on his interior search. It was completely my fault, I was too heavy handed with him and didn't let him work. Actually we didn't search the area where the odor was because I was leading him rather than him leading me. On the positive note, Nova did a wonderful job this past weekend and placed 3rd on vehicle search out of 48 dogs and got himself a really nice ribbon! I was so proud of him. We are hoping that they'll have more trials on the east coast so we can try again soon.

One of the most important things I learned from this trial is to trust your dog or his nose and believe in him. Don't be too heavy handed with the leash or follow too closely. Let him do the work and don't try to be a dictator.

3rd in the vehicle search is very impressive! Congrats.

[katdog5911]

Well it's been a year since Stella tried a nose work class, and we are back at it. She is onto odor only after about 4 classes, and has done a car search, and a shed search. She seems to really enjoy it and is getting faster and faster.

My problem is how to determine an alert from her. The instructor doesn't want us to train one right away. She wants us to observe our dog and see what the dog does naturally as an alert. Stella seems to just stop sniffing after she finds the hide. I would like to teach her an alert of some sort. Any suggestions?

This is really a great sport for Stella as she has reactivity issues and here we can just have fun without being on red alert all the time!