Sniff Alberta

NEW Scent Dog Foundation Online Course Starts Aug. 1, 2018

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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 …

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Building the Brains of Scent Detection Puppies with Early Scent Introduction

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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 …

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NEW Engagement Games Classes

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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 = …

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Nosework Makes Us Smile – Join the Fun at our Calgary Classes

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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 …

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Only a few spots left! INTRODUCTION TO NOSEWORK class starts Wed. April 18 (Calgary)

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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 …

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How to Train Your Dog to Sit at Scent – Part 2 Scent Puppy Foundation

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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 …

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How to Train Your Dog to Sit At Scent – Part 1 “Up-Sit” for Scent Detection

3 Comments / Common Nosework Errors, Dog Training, FAQs, Nosework Articles, Nosework Videos, Tips for Successful Scent Work / By

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 …

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You’ll Fall Many Times, But Who’s Counting

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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 …

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Converging Odors and Single Odor Hides vs. Cocktail FAQ

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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 …

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How Many Indications or Searches Should We Do In Practice? FAQ

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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 …

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How Long Should Hides be Aged? – Scent Work Competition FAQ

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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 …

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Entering Your First Nosework Competition FAQ’s on UKC Nosework

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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 …

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Welcome to Hunter’s Heart Scent Detection Training

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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 …

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Zane, a nosework student, waits for his serch to begin

Upcoming Scent Dog Training with Hunter’s Heart

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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 – …

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Scent Dog Training Classes Start Wed.

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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 …

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How to Get Your Dog to Play Tug

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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 …

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Top Scent Dog Training Books and Websites 2017

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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 …

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Nosework Seminar this Sunday (Calgary)

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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 …

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Brittany Puppies Find the Milk | Hunter’s Heart BB x Boo litter Week 1

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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 …

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What Do Sperm and Puppies Have in Common?

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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 …

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How to Train a Freeze Indication Using Leash Pressure

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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 …

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Amp Up the Fun! Hunter’s Heart Fall Nosework Seminars

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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 …

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Odor Hygiene at Nosework Competitions

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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 …

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Fear, Fender Benders and Following Your Fearless Dog

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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 …

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Back to School Survey for Hunter’s Heart Nosework Classes (Starting Sept. 20, at Kayenna Kennels, Calgary)

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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 …

Back to School Survey for Hunter’s Heart Nosework Classes (Starting Sept. 20, at Kayenna Kennels, Calgary) Read More »

Join Us for Summer Nosework Fun Events, Calgary

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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 …

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Please vote for Nosework!

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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 …

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SDS Distance Game Demonstrations

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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 …

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Canada’s First Sniffing Dog Sports Nosework Competition, Oct. 7-8, Calgary

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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, …

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Back by Popular Demand: Nosework Crash Course Weekend, July 15/16, Hunter’s Heart (Calgary)

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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 …

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Top 5 Scent Work Tips on Training Your Down Indication

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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 …

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Delayed Rewards Are Missed Opportunities in Scent Dog Training

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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 …

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Patterning for Systematic Searches and Faster Times

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Do you have trouble remembering where your scent dog has searched and where he hasn’t? When you’re searching large areas for scent work, it’s a common problem. Novice dogs can demonstrate a lot of frenetic activity, often skipping thresholds, frequently skipping objects or hides. Patterning trains dogs to search systematically, from the start line and around …

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Calgary Nosework Classes – Video of Keata (Border Collie) Learning to Indicate Scent

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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 …

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Scent Maze Video: Can Your Dog Find His Way to Source?

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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! …

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Break Down Scent Work for Success from Day One

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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 …

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Work for the Whites of His Eyes

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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 …

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Scent Work – How to Train Distractions with Fun Nosework Games

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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 …

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Nosework Lesson #1 is Motivation! Register now for Feb. 22 Classes

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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 …

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Welcome to Calgary Scent Detection Classes at Kayenna Training Academy

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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 …

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How to have the most fun with your dog? Nosework/Scent Dog Training Compilation 2016

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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 …

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Photo of nosework lab. The arrow is pointing at a hide in a nosework box.

Nosework Training in the Lab

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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 …

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