Anybody competing in Nosework?

[Mrs.K]

Originally Posted by CynRes

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.

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.

[CynRes]

I have to go now, but I hope you keep me posted on your experiences

[lrandf]

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.

[Cassidy's Mom]

Originally Posted by Mrs.K

So technically, you can use food in the beginning, once you've got the foundation you transition to the odor, go away from the food and reward with the toy, once the dog is actually searching for the odor instead of the food.

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:

Ruxpin-Scent Detection Demo SFSPCA Summer Camp - YouTube

Ruxpin-Scent Detection Demo SFSPCA Summer Camp - YouTube

[Mrs.K]

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.

[CynRes]

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. 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.

[Mrs.K]

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.

[CynRes]

Thanks

btw, I read your other thread about your Frag. You have so much to be proud of!! Congrats!

[Mrs.K]

Originally Posted by CynRes

Thanks

btw, I read your other thread about your Frag. You have so much to be proud of!! Congrats!

Huh? Frag is DJEtzels Dog.

Mine are Indra, Nala and Yukon.

[CynRes]

Oops! I'm getting too tired. Sorry!!! I have no idea how I got so mixed up. I'd better head off..