Avoiding the Clever Hans Phenomenon in Scent Detection
Clever Hans was a horse who became famous for answering math questions by counting with his hoof (1). For example, when asked what’s the square root of nine, he tapped [...]
Tips for Successful Scent Work
Top Dog Toys of 2018 – Help Your Dog Relax, Chew and Be Quiet
We recently packed up 7 dogs for a 4000 km road trip, and brought and 7 StarMark Everlasting Fun Balls to help the dogs relax. All of the balls made it home, unlike several [...]
Heat and Sniffer Dog Acclimatization
We’re in the golden period of imprinting scent with our 9 week old litter of puppies. Unfortunately, today Alberta is experiencing record-breaking temperatures (1), [...]
NEW Scent Dog Foundation Online Course Starts Aug. 1, 2018
NEW Scent Dog Foundation Course – Class begins Aug. 1, 2018. From bed bugs to birds, from narcotics to nosework, Hunter’s Heart motivational scent training [...]
Sourcing, Residual Odor and Preventing False Alerts FAQ – Part 2
In Part 1, I explained why your dog should be working to source in every search i.e. getting his nose as close as physically possible to the highest concentration of odor. [...]
Sourcing, Residual Odor and Preventing False Alerts FAQ – Part 1
Question: Carla, can you suggest training exercises to help work through dogs (false) alerting on trace or residual odour? I assume that for the most part it’s team [...]
Blocking and Advanced Proofing with Barriers
A student recently described how her dog found most of the hides in SDDA Excellent competition, but had a fringe alert. Did she call alert too soon or block her dog’s [...]
Scent Detection Training Devices and DIY Setups
Stuck in a rut with your scent detection training? Hiding Food Many trainers hide food inside Kongs and stuffable food balls, in snuffle mats (like a deep shaggy rug), and [...]
How to Train Your Dog to Sit at Scent – Part 2 Scent Puppy Foundation
This video captures Jager’s first session training a sit indication for high hides at a hot indication box. Jager’s 6-month-old Brittany Spaniel and bed bug [...]
How to Train Your Dog to Sit At Scent – Part 1 “Up-Sit” for Scent Detection
Question: My dog’s indication on hides over 3 feet is good, but not as intense as his indication on low hides. He finds them easily, but he sits looking at me instead of [...]
You’ll Fall Many Times, But Who’s Counting
Even Olympic medallists eventually take a fall. Some are more catastrophic than others, but how they recover from failure helps determine future results. There’s a [...]
Playing Catch to Become the Cookie – How to Be More Rewarding
Sometimes it’s harder to be more interesting than the dirt, with its tantalizing tapestry of scents. Playing catch is one type of food play that can come in handy when you [...]
Converging Odors and Single Odor Hides vs. Cocktail FAQ
Lori’s question: Is there ever an advantage to using single odor hides? For example, one hide is wintergreen, another hide is birch with anise, etc.. (We started [...]
Donkey Problem Solving: Are You Limiting What Your Detection Dog Can Do?
In many cases, humans underestimate animals’ capabilities to solve problems. I knew a dog who could open a crate door on the right side, and on the left side, on cue. [...]
How Many Indications or Searches Should We Do In Practice? FAQ
W’s question: I’ve been focusing a lot on indication lately and noticed she’s getting lackluster and starting to wander off. At this stage is it ok to mix it [...]
Listen Up! When Your Dog Stops Sniffing
Did you notice that many scent detection dogs stop breathing when they reach source? One of the best ways to read your sniffer dog is by listening to changes in his [...]
Table Distraction Game for Sniffer Dogs
Reliable scent dogs must ignore food, toy, and environmental distractions to find target odor. This video shows the Table Distraction Game we play with our scent dogs away [...]
How Long Should Hides be Aged? – Scent Work Competition FAQ
Pat’s question: How long do you age a hide prior to the start of a nosework trial? Is it the same for all the elements? Answer: Aging is the amount of time between [...]
Entering Your First Nosework Competition FAQ’s on UKC Nosework
It’s an exciting time when you enter your first nosework competition. Having said that, you probably feel uncertain about what to expect. Below are FAQ’s for [...]
Positive is Not Permissive – When to Say No
While pondering what to write about for American Brittany Magazine this month, inspiration struck! Several times. In fact, imprinting scent with three 12-week-old pups [...]
How to Get Your Dog to Play Tug
With just a few tweaks, you can dramatically improve your dog’s play drive. You may even be surprised to convert a reluctant chow hound to an avid tugger. Read on to learn [...]
How to Train a Freeze Indication Using Leash Pressure
Many people ask how we train a freeze indication with focused attention. Once a dog is confidently and proficiently finding source, we use gentle leash pressure to teach the [...]
Odor Hygiene at Nosework Competitions
Odor hygiene refers to properly handling target odor, so you know with certainty where odor is located, and where it is not located. Good odor hygiene enables more teams to [...]
Fear, Fender Benders and Following Your Fearless Dog
My Brittany Spaniel, Boo, and I spent our summer competing in nosework on a cross country road trip: from Calgary to California, Seattle to Wisconsin. The experience was [...]
SDS Judge’s Summary by Level | Sniffing Dog Sports Nosework
Brain overload? Sometimes keeping track of multiple hides is enough to keep your brain busy. Print this summary of SDS rules and you’ll be sure to set up practice [...]
SDS Distance Game Demonstrations
Can your scent dog search independently at a distance? Watch demonstrations with coaching as our students test their skills with the fun SDS Distance Handling Game Version 1, [...]
Back by Popular Demand: Nosework Crash Course Weekend, July 15/16, Hunter’s Heart (Calgary)
Take your nosework to the next level Juno’s video demonstrates strong commitment to odor in scent work. Sometimes blind searches are confusing for the handler. Juno [...]
Top 5 Scent Work Tips on Training Your Down Indication
Here’s our Top 5 Tips on proofing your down indication for K9 Nosework. Tip #1) Always mark or reward finding source. Then you can give extra rewards for the down [...]
