Advanced Nose Work
Class Hits the Road
 

PKC’s Advanced Nose Work Class hit the road to experience new venues of canine sniffing delights. To help challenge our nose work dogs, it was time to find new environments to test our skills. For our first visit, the New Community Shelter welcomed us. We did a demo for a very appreciative audience and got lots of practical experience with new air currents, new flooring, and new places to hide a tiny Q-tip head with the faint scent of birch. All our teams were absolutely stoked about the whole experience. We were all so proud of our dogs’ amazing noses in a dining room loaded with smells and a crowd watching them.

Our teams were Mary & Sonny; Sue & Skyy; Mary, Toby & Rudy; Jane and Moby; Sue & Paddy; Tom & Vinnie; and Brenda & Lexi.
We are also planning future trips to a bus garage, a nursing home, and an assisted living facility. If you have a possible facility that you’d be willing to share with us for an hour, we’d love it. It can be one room or more, a garage, a barn, a storage unit, or any other safe place for dogs. Our dogs are all kept on leash and are very well behaved. The more new environments they’re exposed to, the better our dogs will get. Please contact Mary Wallschlaeger, Sue Ruesch or any of the team members listed, if you wouldn’t mind a visit from this talented group.
 

All About NoseWork

K9 Nose Work is the sport created by K9 Nose Works and sanctioned by the National Association of Canine Scent Work (NACSW). This sport was inspired by detection style training for working K9s and has elements that are founded in that type of training and work. The terms nose work, fun nose work, scent work, and, search work are all commonly used references to describe any activity where the dog is using its nose to locate a target scent or odor. K9 Nose Work is the term that defines this detection-inspired sport that has evolved from the recreational pursuit by dogs and handlers.

The sport had its start on the west coast, and as its popularity increases, it is rapidly moving eastward across the United States. Although this is a competitive sport, many people participate solely for its ability to increase confidence in dogs and for the sheer enjoyment it brings to dog/handler teams. Dogs of any age may participate. Searches can be performed on or off leash. Competition has four components: box drill, interior room search, exterior search and vehicle search. Teams can compete at three levels with increasing difficulty at each level. Dogs are required to locate one, two or three different scents, depending on the level of competition, for each of the 4 components.
 

Classes at PKC

PKC is proud to offer K9 Nose Work courses approved by the National Association Canine Scent Work (NACSW™). Trainers Mary Wallschlaeger and Sue Ruesch have earned the title of ANWI (Associate Nose Work Instructor) through the NACSW™ Instructor Certification program.

Intro to Nose Work®  introduces the first of the four Nose Work elements: the box/container search. Food treats or a favorite toy are used to build your dog’s natural hunting instincts and drive. Searches may be conducted on or off leash, and dogs of any age are encouraged to participate. Beginning with a simple box search, dogs and handlers build confidence as they explore larger search areas, incorporate new containers and learn to solve more complex search problems.   The only equipment you require is high quality treats such as cheese, hot dogs or any other soft treat that carries a strong scent. If your dog is toy motivated, a favorite toy can be substituted for treats. For their safety and well-being, dogs are required to be crated between exercises in all classes. Nose Work is a great way to build a dog’s confidence, and they absolutely love it.

This level is new to our Nose Work class structure and incorporates some of the skills previously included in Advanced Nose Work. In Intro to Scent® many of the exercises are the same as Intro to Nose Work®, but now dogs learn to be rewarded when they find scent rather than treats. More complex searches require handlers to hone their observation skills to distinguish how dogs communicate when they are searching for scent, when they have found scent, when they are searching for the source of the scent, and when they finally find the scent source. We will also introduce basics of the three remaining elements, interior searches, vehicle searches and exterior searches.

Continuing Nose Work® builds on the skills introduced in Intro to Scent®. Search areas will be larger and more complex. Continuing Nose Work® will focus on advanced nose work skills such as multiple hides, working a vehicle pattern, and searching multiple vehicles, effective leash handling, working high hides and threshold work. Dog/handler teams will also be encouraged to experience new environments through off site visits.

Nosework Adventures