In this spotlight episode, we have the distinct privilege to speak to Kayla Dever and Samantha Winslow of Every Dog Nosework about how they plunged into helping build the Nose Work community in their area. This includes developing their training skills, competition accolades, hosting trials, workshops, seminars and more. An amazing example of doers who are giving back to the sniffing community and sharing their love for all things Nose Work with many dog and handler teams. Speaker: Dianna L. Santos Kayla Dever Samantha Winslow ----more---- TRANSCRIPT Read the full transcript here. Scent Work U ..read more

It is interesting how when it comes to Scent Work, everything is seemingly viewed through the lens of the dog's ability to hunt and source their hides. If something doesn't go well, that means we must do more searches, right? In this episode, we discuss how there are so many skills a dog, handler and team need to be successful in Scent Work, many of which have absolutely nothing to do with hunting or odor! Thus, there are times drilling more searches may be the last thing we want to do. Speaker: Dianna L. Santos There were several resources mentioned in this podcast episode, be certain to chec ..read more

In this Spotlight Series episode, we have the distinct privilege of speaking with Lori Timberlake of Do Over Dog Training regarding her amazing Foster Dog Sniffer School program. This is an incredible program designed to help shelter and foster dogs within Lori's community by providing them an opportunity to enjoy all the benefits Nose Work has to offer. Lori recently offered a webinar where she went into more detail about how this type of program works, Nose Work: Perfect Activity for Dogs in Rescue Webinar. If you are an instructor looking to offer a similar program for your community, sched ..read more

The choices we make regarding our reactive, sensitive and aggressive dogs is an important conversation to have. It is paramount that safety be a significant factor. This is especially true when we are considering whether to trial with our dog or not. We delve into this important topic in this podcast episode. If your dog is struggling with behavioral issues, please seek out professional, reputable help. This professional should be experienced in working with behavioral cases. Ideally, this professional will come and meet with you for an in-person initial consultation, to get a full grasp of wh ..read more

When it comes to training or trialing in Scent Work, we oftentimes have a running dialogue in our mind that may be less than accurate. Some common examples include: "My dog is distracted!" "My dog lies!" "My dog is so lazy!" "My leash handling is awful!" "I cannot read my dog!" "My memory is terrible, I cannot remember where we have been or what hides I have called!" These declarative statements become a self-fulfilling prophecy of sorts, but they are oftentimes missing the mark or are simply not true. By coloring and skewing our perspective, we prevent ourselves from identifying the real caus ..read more

Competing in Scent Work involves receiving qualifying or non-qualifying scores, earning titles or even placements...but what does all of this really mean?! Does every Q earned mean our training is utterly perfect, unicorns and rainbows, whereas every NQ should be met with blowing up our training and starting over from scratch? If we do not earn a placement at a trial, do we have a ton of work ahead of us whereas earning a placement means all is well? If we do earn a title, does that mean that our dogs, ourselves as handlers and our team as a whole have all the requisite skills needed for this ..read more

We are living through an exciting time where there is a plethora of learning opportunities within the Scent Work training community! This includes access to countless experienced instructors and trainers who offer unique viewpoints and training approaches, creative training exercises and much more. The way we take in and utilize all this information matters. In this episode, we discuss the importance of being a critical consumer, asking questions, being mindful, looking for what will be helpful for us, our dog and our team as well as identifying what may not be so helpful or what we may simply ..read more

As we play Scent Work, we work to develop skills for the dog, handler and team in our classes and training sessions. Especially for teams who are interested in competing, testing those skills with blind hides, time limits and other potential stressors is key. Traditionally, mock trials and Sniff N' Gos were the type of events that met this need. However, we can all agree the more creative the event, the more likely we are to participate! In this episode, we speak with Lori Timberlake of Do Over Dog Training about the types of creative events she has offered for her clients and the many be ..read more

One of the many wonderful aspects of Scent Work is how it is a benefical activity for so many categories of dogs, including reactive dogs. In this episode, we have the privilege to speak with Christina Young of Positive Dog, a certified dog behavior consultant with IAABC and PPG, about playing the Scent Work game with reactive dogs. Learn more about Christina: Positive Dog Website Leash Reactivity: Make Walks Fun Again Webinar Primary, Paired and Odor Hides: Choosing the Hide for the Training Challenge Webinar offered through Scent Work University REACTIVE DOG RESOURCES THROUGH SCENT WORK UNIV ..read more

Whether it be due to old age, injuries, illness or simply not wanting to play the game anymore, we may find ourselves faced with the prospect of retiring our dogs from Nose Work. In this episode, we speak with Lori Timberlake of Do Over Dog Training about her personal journey with her senior girl Daisy who, while still full of spice and vinegar, made it clear she much preferred romps in the woods over playing Nose Work.  We are so incredibly thankful to Lori for sharing her story, the emotions she has gone through, the options she weighed and more. Doing so may help others who are in a si ..read more