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Anybody competing in Nosework?

16K views 132 replies 23 participants last post by  TaraM1285 
#1 ·
Would love to know more about the sport of nosework, itself. Anybody competing in it?
 
#2 ·
I'm not, but I'd also love to hear more about competing...

Frag and I have been training in nosework for the last month and a half under a trainer that competes, but unfortunately there are no competitions in our area to try out. We just signed up for advanced nosework classes today.
 
#3 ·
Not yet but I did go to a class about it. It was basically a one-time class, they did an overview of what it was and then we got to try some beginners stuff with our dogs. I think Bianca was a little confused because she was trained in tracking and it's quite a different thing.
 
#4 ·
Yes, my trainer told us tracking is a lot different. I'm not sure how tracking is trained at all, but I have heard that they are not allowed to take their noses off the ground? In nosework it is expected that they sniff throughout the air to find hides hidden higher up in rooms as well. Frag climbed a ladder a few weeks ago to find a scent.
 
#5 ·
I found out that we have somebody right here in Watertown, a retired Statetrooper that is doing behavioral work and nosework with dogs. We met up today and I am seriously considering it with Yukon. He's too young not to do anything at all and I'd love to do with the two girls too but I don't know if that actually interferes with the SAR work?

National Association of Canine Scent Work

They use Birch, Anise and Clove...
 
#6 ·
We've been in classes and practicing since last summer, and love, love, love it!! We have registered and will perform in our first ORT (Odor Recognition Test) next month. :D
 
#9 ·
I don't think it would mess with schutzhund tracking, personally.

I wouldn't do it with a SAR dog because you want to know what they are indicating. Although, I think live find vs nosework would be a lot easier to combine than cadaver/HRD search work--especially if you use a refind in the live find training. I think HRD + nosework would actually compromise your credibility as a trained and certifiable dog team, unfortunately. (Considering HRD dogs sometimes have to work in law enforcement cases or maybe testify in court.)
 
#10 ·
My instructor goes very slowly to ensure a great foundation and love of the search. We didn't start on odor until about four months. No obedience or commands were alowed, only positive reinforcement. It seemed kind of silly when we started, just searching for high value food in boxes, but he works amazingly now. One class series was called Ridiculous Boxes and the teacher did amazing mazes and access problems. My favorite class was when there were boxes hanging by string from the ceiling and they would twirl and swing as the dog was searching. :)

All I know is whenever Jake gets his harness on, he gets excited and I just come along for the fun!

I have no experience in Tracking, so I don't know how to compare the two. I'm sure it would help down the road...maybe not training the two at the same time...but, the dog gains confidence in his nose and I learn how to read my dog. :)

I'm sure you will have a blast! If you are the same as me, anything I do with my dog is fun and a great bonding experience.
 
#11 ·
I've seen the food approach today. It's very different from what I've seen with Cadaver dogs. Instead of food I learned to use the Scent Ball to imprint the dog with the scent. But the food approach is very interesting as well.

I checked our Area. There is one lady whose been at the workshops but isn't an instructor yet, any other instructor is as far as five to six hours... like I said before, I live in the middle of a frickin wasteland when it comes up to dog stuff.

IT'S FRUSTRATING!
 
#13 ·
I am far from experienced in the matter, just a student. My instructor says it is Classical Conditioning technique. Now he searches unpaired (the odor without food) but we reward at site when he alerts. The great thing is that in the beginning we would throw food into the boxes so they eventually learn to stick with the scent waiting for the reward which makes it easier to call an alert. Some other students use toys ie tugs, balls, as reinforcement.

I've never heard of a scent ball. I'm sure there are many techniques and processes. I find it all interesting.
 
#14 ·
The transition from food to odor was smoother than I expected. You start "pairing." The odor is in a tin with a bit of food under it. Every dog takes a different amount of getting it, but they start making the association that food/toy comes when they smell the odor and alert.

Did that answer your question? I am a little slow at responding.
 
#24 · (Edited)
Not necessarily. Our trainer does it differently, he trained military detection dogs at Lackland AFB before moving to the Bay Area. He uses the same 3 odors that the K9 Nosework people do, so his students can go on to compete in trials, but he'll train on other things too, whatever you want, really.

He uses the same methods that he used to train military working dogs, but has adapted them for pet dogs who may not have the same level of drive. He starts out pairing the reward and the scent right from the very beginning. He first determines what the dog is most willing to work for, either food or a toy. If it's a toy, he'll put an identical one in the drawer with the odor and hide another one under his arm to reward with, if it's food, he'll put some treats in a separate bowl in the reward, and we use these food tubes as the reward: Kyjen Dog Games Treat Training Tube Fetch & Training Device Dog Toy (Large)

You can get something similar at hardware stores, they're made for storing nuts and bolts and stuff:



Once the dog is consistently alerting to the odor paired with the food or toy, the food or toy in the drawer is phased out, and they are searching on the scent alone. Andrew is in the process of making a series of training DVDs with Leerburg - my dogs were videoed a couple of weeks ago, and are supposed to appear in the first one: Leerburg | Nosework

Here's Andrew working with a couple of dogs - Ruxpin was only 5 month old in this video, with less than 10 training sessions:

 
#16 ·
You can reward with food or toy in the beginning or once you start pairing.

We have a two piece tin that our trainer uses, which is also magnetic for car hides. It has two round tins on a metal base, that unscrew in half. Food goes in one (or part of a tennis ball w/scent) and scent in the other. They find the scent/food but don't get that food anymore, they get rewarded at the site with food or a toy. I mix up using a ball and food with Frag.
 
#17 ·
I think some trainers train that way, but mine just has us stick with the same type of reward. Some students had their dogs search for the toys at the beginning because they weren't food driven, and the others that were food driven always reward with food. When we moved to odor, if they were using the toy, they would only put a small piece of the toy with the odor. When they alerted they would reward with a short play session. With the food driven dog we just reward with food, and would throw/place food in the box and at the tin so the dog would keep his eye on the odor instead of us as the source. Thus, the odor is the generator of the reward, not the handler.

This sport is great for reactive dogs since each dog works alone - in training sessions and at the trials.
 
#19 ·
Someone in our class has the two tins that you speak of. My instructor was just talking about it, but not all instructors have the same opinion: if the food or toy is concealed and not accessible to the dog it may create a problem. She said it is important that they can self reward at the site - via a small morsel of food until you can get there to "secretly" deliver more (not sure how it works with a toy). If they can't self reward at the site, unless you are super quick, they may look to you for the reward instead of sticking to the odor.
 
#21 ·
You start out with imprinting the dog. You play with the scentball and play fetch. After that you hide the ball and the dog searches for it. Then you take the ball away and hide the scent and reward with another ball directly at the source. There are various shaping devices that can be used as well. However, that is the short version. :)
 
#23 ·
Love, love, love nosework! We have been doing it for about a year now. Nova passed his ORT - Birch last December and we are going for our NW1 in June. The sport is getting popular so hopefully they'll offer more classes and trials later.
 
#25 ·
He uses the same methods that he used to train military working dogs, but has adapted them for pet dogs who may not have the same level of drive. He starts out pairing the reward and the scent right from the very beginning. He first determines what the dog is most willing to work for, either food or a toy. If it's a toy, he'll put an identical one in the drawer with the odor and hide another one under his arm to reward with, if it's food, he'll put some treats in a separate bowl in the reward, and we use these food tubes as the reward
so the imprinting is done right from the beginning like with the Cadaver dogs. I much rather use a toy because I'd feel much more confident building it up on a toy.
 
#26 ·
I love to hear of different techniques. Thanks for sharing the video and I hope you post a clip of your dog's debut, if you can.

As in any subject or activity that I begin, it seems as though the more I learn the more I realize how much I don't know. :p That is why I always stress that I'm just a student and far from knowing all of the ins and outs. I benefit so much from forums like this.

Jake was asked to be a demo dog for a pet expo this coming Saturday to draw more attention to the sport. I'm excited, but he has never performed in front of a large crowd so I hope he can keep his usual level of focus. ummm...and I can too. :laugh:
 
#27 ·
I've done a short notice demo for SAR even though I never performed with my dog in front of such a large crowd. Trust your dog. You'll probably be more nervous than the dog. Just trust your dog. If you guys weren't good you hadn't been asked to perform a demonstration.

:)
 
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