Back by Popular Demand! Motivating Indications Free Webinar | Does your sniffer dog know what to do after they locate scent? Are they focussed with rapt attention? Or are you anxious or frustrated about what might happen after the moment of truth, like digging, mouthing, barking, leaving or quitting altogether? Learn the secrets of motivating indications at our FREE webinar.
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 2020 6:00 PM MST Registration is now open at: https://scentdetection.huntersheart.com/pl/239367/ Here’s what we’ll cover at the webinar: What are indications? What sniffer dogs wish you knew about indications. What are the pros and cons of indications for canine scent detection? Exploring how to train indications to maximize motivation, precision, and reliability. To find …
Demystifying Indications Free Webinar on Sun. Nov. 15, 2020 | Hunter’s Heart Read More »
It’s your last chance to learn the basics of scent in our new Scent Detection – Imprinting Target Odor for Beginners online course. Class starts tomorrow (Jan. 6, 2020). Register at: https://www.cleanrun.com/category/learning_center/agility_instructors/carla_simon_online_classes/index. ******Thanks to everyone who shared on our web pages. The winners of the free scholarships are: Karen ibbitson and Christine Cowley. Congratulations! ***** …
Scent is a moving target, carried and distorted by the wind. As a handler, one of the most challenging parts of your job is figuring out how to help your sniffer dog get to where they need to be to find odor, rather than hindering them by blocking or pulling them away from scent. Therefore, …
Have a dog that loves to sniff or needs a job to do? Curious about how dogs can detect everything from bed bugs to cancer? Learn the basics of scent in our new Scent Detection – Imprinting Target Odor for Beginners online course, starting Jan. 6, 2020: https://www.cleanrun.com/category/learning_center/agility_instructors/carla_simon_online_classes/index. This course is provides a broad introduction …
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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 collars. I can’t imagine travelling without investing in some durable and entertaining chew toys. Don’t travel without them! Even better, bring …
Top Dog Toys of 2018 – Help Your Dog Relax, Chew and Be Quiet Read More »
One great way to build toy drive is chasing a ball on a rope. Softer toys with squeakers grab attention from most of our students. Even if they haven’t been interested in balls before, they can hardly wait for their turn. The rope makes it an interactive game, preventing running away, destroying or burying the …
Giant Rats are saving lives by sniffing out TNT in unexploded landmines as featured in National Geographic’s video of detector rats on the job in Cambodia(6). While people with metal detectors not only risk their lives in looking for unexploded landmines, we are slower than the rats. Rats can a 200 square meter area in …
Puppy owners deciding when to neuter may find it interesting to learn more about the long-term health effects. One study compared Golden and Labrador Retrievers with spay and neuter performed before 6 months up through 8 years(1). It compared joint disorders (including hip dysplasia) and cancers (including mammary cancer) in neutered vs intact dogs. In Goldens, neutering …
Early Neutering May Affect Cognitive Function, Cancers and Joint Disorders Read More »
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 has helped hundreds of teams to reach their potential, since 1999. Learn the secrets to motivate your dog to love searching for odor, whatever your dog’s age or level. We’ll show you how, from fun foundation games …
NEW Scent Dog Foundation Online Course Starts Aug. 1, 2018 Read More »
Our Brittany Jager has been selected by Canadian Border Services Agency for its narcotics and firearms detection training program. Hunters Heart Jager Cimex, our 9-month old Brittany Spaniel pup (from BB x Boo’s last litter), is now on his way to Montreal. CBSA assessed his skills off leash, outdoors, by hiding one ball in trees …
Jager Selected for CBSA Narcotics/Firearm Detection Training Read More »
Starting at 3 days of age, we introduce scents of our litters of puppies, and follow the Biosensor (Early Neurological Stimulation) program (1) daily and introduce a new scent daily. This early brain training accelerates development. It kickstarts the olfactory and neurological systems and may result in earlier proficiency and improved performance over what would …
Building the Brains of Scent Detection Puppies with Early Scent Introduction Read More »
What makes your scent dog happy? Is he more interested in checking out distractions than working with you? In our new ENGAGEMENT FOR DOGSPORTS classes, we use games to transform naughty dogs into nice partners for dogsports. Everyone says you should “be the cookie”. We’ll show you how. You’ll learn: How to Build Engagement = …
Ticks are one pest you and your dog can pickup during outdoor activities, which carries a risk of disease transmission. This fascinating macro video of ticks attaching to human skin and feeding on blood and demonstrates removal. Talk to your vet about the risk of ticks in the areas where you live and travel. (For …
How to Remove Ticks to Lessen Blood Meals with Associated Disease Transmission Read More »
Nosework Makes Us Smile – Join the Fun at our Calgary Classes starting May 30 at Kayenna Kennels, Calgary. Level 1 – Motivate your dog to love searching for scent. No previous experience required. Level 2 – Show you where odor is, with an indication even my grandmother would recognize Level 3 – Trial preparation: Learn …
Nosework Makes Us Smile – Join the Fun at our Calgary Classes Read More »
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. Hopefully you took the sourcing tests and videoed yourself. In today’s blog, you’ll observe students working through sourcing exercises at class. RIZZI 0:2 The first …
Sourcing, Residual Odor and Preventing False Alerts FAQ – Part 2 Read More »
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 inexperience but now that the sport of nosework is getting so popular facilities have multiple people placing hides and I’d like some pearls of your wisdom/experience to help …
Sourcing, Residual Odor and Preventing False Alerts FAQ – Part 1 Read More »
Are you the time crunched owner of a dog with energy to burn? The flirt pole can harness a dog’s natural instinctive drive to chase prey. This fun, efficient, high intensity exercise makes the most of the time you spend exercising your dog. Even if you only have 10 minutes, it’s a tiring, power packed workout. …
Chasing the Flirt Pole and High Intensity Interval Training for Dogs Read More »
Thanks Calgary Disc Club for a fun nosework match this weekend! The updated Treasure Map is attached FYI. You’re welcome to sniff out the hidden jewels until May 6 when I collect them. Congratulations Calgary Disc Club for putting on such an amazing nosework event! Thank you for inviting me to judge, volunteering, participating and for some …
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 access to source? If she had asked her dog to check both sides of the vehicle, would he have sat and false alerted just …
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 amidst the grass in their yard to introduce puppies to finding food. Or fill a kiddie pool with safe balls or empty plastic bottles and …
Using the same techniques we use for bed bug and narcotics detection dogs, we’ll motivate your pet dog to love searching for target odor. This video features Jager, a 6-month old Brittany Spaniel, searching for bed bug scent. The start line has containers full of food and the boxes contain distractions. He alerts on the hot …
Only a few spots left! INTRODUCTION TO NOSEWORK class starts Wed. April 18 (Calgary) Read More »
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 detection candidate. I began by experimenting to find a comfortable height where he can sit with front paws on the ground and press his nose to source. I was happy …
How to Train Your Dog to Sit at Scent – Part 2 Scent Puppy Foundation Read More »
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 sitting with nose at source. I’ve never had anyone explain or teach me ways how you’d get a dog to stay focused and …
How to Train Your Dog to Sit At Scent – Part 1 “Up-Sit” for Scent Detection Read More »
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 lesson for dog handlers and trainers who require constant perfection and suffer as a result. Kaetlyn Osmond took a fall for all to see, and then inspired. She fractured her …
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 need to energize, motivate or reward your dog. How to Teach Your Dog to Play Catch In this video, I play catch with Jager …
Playing Catch to Become the Cookie – How to Be More Rewarding Read More »
In the race to save Syria’s archaeological treasures, researchers at the Penn Vet Working Dog Center (PVWDC) are looking into the efficacy of detection dogs trained to find smuggled ancient pottery. This video features a candidate named Moxie, demonstrating a change of behavior on the target odor of pottery, during imprinting using a daisy wheel1. At PVWDC, …
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 training using a cocktail of Birch + Anise + Clove + Wintergreen cocktail.) Answer: Cocktail allows us to train several odors at the same time so we rarely …
Converging Odors and Single Odor Hides vs. Cocktail FAQ Read More »
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 up and sometimes do just a big reward for find it with food or toy then release and not wait for down? She’s not the type of …
How Many Indications or Searches Should We Do In Practice? FAQ Read More »
Do you ever wish you had a machine to tell you what scents your dog false alerted on? It would be nice to get a definitive answer, especially when you don’t understand what happened after a seemingly easy search went haywire. While expensive, technology exists that can analyze the molecular composition of scents, and has been …
What Should You Do About False Alerts? Mass Spectometry Would Help Read More »
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 breathing . While sourcing, sniffing speeds up, sounds different and you may see the flews (upper lips) moving in and out as shown in the …
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 from odor, to teach them to ignore a bowl of food by default. It’s a stress-free complement to training sniffer dogs to pass by distractions, go to …
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 placing a hide (containing target odor) and the dog’s search. I’ve seen from 5 minutes up to hours of aging tested in …
How Long Should Hides be Aged? – Scent Work Competition FAQ Read More »
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 entering your first UKC nosework competition. For the full tutorial on How to Enter Your First UKC Nosework Trial visit https://nosework.huntersheart.com/2017/03/01/how-to-enter-sniff-albertas-ukc-nosework-trial-june-2017/. Scent theory applies to most searches, but every …
Entering Your First Nosework Competition FAQ’s on UKC Nosework Read More »
Welcome students! We’re looking forward to meeting you and your scent dog. We’ve inspired hundreds of students internationally, including dogs of all ages, breeds and sizes. Whether your target odor is bedbugs, narcotics, or nosework scents, we’ll help you to succeed with our proven protocols. Lessons are packed with hands-on practical experience so your dog can …
Welcome to Hunter’s Heart Scent Detection Training Read More »
Classes at Kayenna Kennels, Calgary Learn nosework at Kayenna Kennels (near Southland and Macleod, Calgary) with a 6-week class. Level 1 – We’ve inspired hundreds of students internationally and can help motivate your dog to find target scent. No previous experience required. Puppies are welcome after their second set of vaccinations.Learn more: https://youtu.be/wC9MRR7ui70 Level 2 – …
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 inspires me daily. Sometimes they make me proud. Sometimes they make me laugh. And sometimes I think how positive is not permissive. When it’s important, I admit I tell my dogs …
While it’s cold outside, come join us for some fun nosework! Classes start this Wednesday evening Dec. 13, 2017. at Kayenna Kennels (near Southland and Macleod, Calgary). Wednesday Evening Classes Level 1 – We’ve inspired hundreds of students internationally and can help motivate your dog to find target scent. No previous experience required. Learn about how …
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 energize your tugging and see if it’s a motivator for your dog. Why Tug? You don’t need to tug to train …
Shopping for the holiday season? You can never have too many scent dog training books, right? Here’s a list of our favorite canine books and websites you might enjoy: Nosework & Scent Discrimination Scent and The Scenting Dog, William G. Syrotuck is a broad introduction to how scent travels in the air. It explores the …
We have some openings for our nosework seminar this Sunday. If it’s challenging for you to attend weekly classes, this is a great opportunity to try nosework, or work on some of your skills. Dates: Oct 28, Nov 4, Nov 25, 2017 Novice/Beginner 8 – 11 am Advanced/Excellent 12 – 4 pm – work on …
This Brittany puppy uses scent to find his dam’s milk at 1 week of age. At birth, healthy puppies are blind and cannot hear, for at least 10 days. A dam simply cannot make every puppy in her litter suckle at her nipples every few hours. In order to survive, each puppy must rely heavily …
Brittany Puppies Find the Milk | Hunter’s Heart BB x Boo litter Week 1 Read More »
They both rely on scent to navigate through their environment. Sperm use chemotaxis to navigate to eggs, and newborn puppies use olfaction to navigate to the milk in their dam’s nipples, from the day their born. For animals like fish, that reproduce outside of their bodies, it’s obviously crucial to reproductive success for sperm to …
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 freeze with forward focus. When you pull back, the dog learns to firm up and freeze like a statue to stay at source. This is the …
How to Train a Freeze Indication Using Leash Pressure Read More »
Interested in trying nosework? Join us for the most fun you’ve ever had with your dog. We’ll motivate your dog to love searching for odor at our hugely popular half day introduction to Scent Work. Learn how we’ve trained dogs of all ages, sizes, temperaments and abilities to become reliable scent dogs. No experience required. If your …
Amp Up the Fun! Hunter’s Heart Fall Nosework Seminars Read More »
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 succeed. It’s a really important component of holding successful scent detection trials, where every participant has a role to play. This post will outline some …
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 thrilling sometimes, and punctuated with scary moments. We tested our limits, and I learned to approach uncertainty more like my fearless dog. For those of you who …
Fear, Fender Benders and Following Your Fearless Dog Read More »
Nosework classes resume this week and we’re going to have some fun motivating your dog to search for odor! If you’re registered, please complete this survey in advance, to get the most out of your experience: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/8WMBQW7. It may take up to 10 minutes to complete. We’ll use your responses to customise the searches for your unique dog. Even …
Hi everyone, I hope you’re staying cool, and you can join us for some summer nosework events. NOSEWORK DROP-IN NIGHTS AT KAYENNA KENNELS, CALGARY Test your skills in fun, informal nosework matches, following loose Sniffing Dog Sports (SDS) rules for containers, area searches and games (except your dog does not to be registered in any …
Your support counts! Please take 30 seconds to answer the Canadian Kennel Club’s 1 question nosework poll at http://www.ckc.ca/en. Virtually every dog can enjoy scent work, and we’d like scent work grow in Canada. Now that the American Kennel Club has introduced nosework, we hope the CKC will soon follow suit, including rescue dogs alongside …
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, the game we’re playing at Sniff Alberta’s SDS (Sniffing Dog Sports) nosework competition on Oct 7-8, 2017 (Calgary): https://youtu.be/oc6mg59V1Wc We begin with a blind search at the Excellent …
Join Sniff Alberta for Canada’s first Sniffing Dog Sports Nosework Competition, Calgary, Oct. 7&8, 2017 You’ll love SDS: Save $. Only 1 pass required to title at a level. Try Before You Buy, or register with SDS now. FUN distance game #1, area search and containers (it’s easier than you think). Les stress. No pre-trial, …
Canada’s First Sniffing Dog Sports Nosework Competition, Oct. 7-8, Calgary Read More »
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 returns to show the location of target odor repeatedly, making it very obvious where target odor is located, until the rewards appear at source. Even newbies in the audience can …
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 indication. Watch what happens at 0:18 seconds in the video if you don’t reward the dog for finding source. He offers undesirable behaviors, including looking …
Top 5 Scent Work Tips on Training Your Down Indication Read More »
From the dog’s point of view, rewards are the most important component of dog training. Sadly, many handlers are lousy rewarders and dogs are left confused and rewardless. Is your dog in this miserable majority? Has he ever shut down, or had trouble understanding a seemingly easy behavior? Has he ever found source and left …
Delayed Rewards Are Missed Opportunities in Scent Dog Training Read More »
Only 6 days left! Register now for Nosework classes starting April 5, Calgary Info: https://www.kayennakennels.ca/nosework-classes This video features Keata at our Level 2 (Show Me) Nosework class. Keata (a Border Collie) still indicated the location of scent when we moved containers to a distracting new location. She ignored unplanned distractions when we introduced vehicles and …
Calgary Nosework Classes – Video of Keata (Border Collie) Learning to Indicate Scent Read More »
This fun scent maze challenged our advanced nosework students to navigate around gates impeding access to the box containing odor to get to source. Teams were allowed perform this blind search off leash at a distance, and ignored pork distractions near the camera. Thanks Carma, Joe, Pat, Katherine, Mike, May and Theresa for being good sports! …
Scent Maze Video: Can Your Dog Find His Way to Source? Read More »
Hunter’s Heart trains nosework by breaking it down into small achievable steps, setting teams up for success from day 1. Rewarding is crucial to motivating the dog to search for scent and having fun. We begin with a reward that the dog loves. Nosework training teaches the dog to search for the target odors, while …
Scent work is a game, and some rewards are better than others. You know you’re on the right track when your dog is so excited you can see the whites of his eyes. What did it look like when you saw your dog that excited? Was he chasing a bird? Or would he rather chase …
Scent work is a game, with its roots in hunting and finding prey. In nosework, dogs must learn to ignore distractions to search and find the target odor. We use games to train scent work, and harness the dog’s natural drives. To train a rock-solid detection dog, introduce easy distractions and gradually work up to …
Scent Work – How to Train Distractions with Fun Nosework Games Read More »
Watch our students enjoying their motivational introduction to scent at their first nosework class. Our approach is to make target odor so rewarding it would be crazy to leave. Dogs understand the nonverbal language and cues we use, such as having them watch while we hide a bowl filled with high value food rewards. Our …
Nosework Lesson #1 is Motivation! Register now for Feb. 22 Classes Read More »
Welcome students! Hunter’s Heart is excited to offer Calgary scent detection classes, seminars and events at Kayenna Training Academy. Register at: https://www.kayenna.ca/scent-detection. We also offer an online scent detection course for training sniffer dogs. We’ve been sniffing since 1999. From bed bugs to birds, nosework to narcotics, we’ve helped hundreds of students internationally, including dogs …
Welcome to Calgary Scent Detection Classes at Kayenna Training Academy Read More »
Nosework can be the most fun you ever had with your dog! We’ve received many requests to help nosework students explain why they love nosework to people who don’t even know the dogsport exists. A picture’s worth a thousand words, so we hope you enjoy this video compilation. Nosework is an exciting new dogsport. We …
How to have the most fun with your dog? Nosework/Scent Dog Training Compilation 2016 Read More »
Hunter’s Heart scent detection training is inspired by Andrew Ramsey (renowned law enforcement canine detection trainer, who helped advise the United Kennel Club while creating its nosework program). We use the nosework lab to quickly and clearly teach the dog how to search systematically, and motivate the dog to love to find the target odor. The rewards …
