So its been 5 "sessions" with our nonsense nosework ..episodes.
Today was our 5th. My girl now runs up to the correct container, then she chews bangs scratches and screams. I treat her over and over while she bangs at it. While i repeat "whatcha gut, wuss is it, whatcha go find?"

I noticed in the yard today shes finally started this thing, she stops her screaming and chewing, and looks up at me.
She did this 3 times. Each time i then rand over opened the container and threw jackpot of treats in there. Combined with the raw food filled kong already in there, she has a blast.

Am i doing this thing right?

I have concerns about how she finds her container.
She doesn't really sniff at all. I mean, she usually is running around PAST the container, THEN she stops on a dime, goes back and starts her chewing banging and screaming. Should i be concerned that she isn't really taking her time to sniff it out? Am i setting her up for failure?
My friend came over and said i should be using LESS room? Like, i am giving her too much freedom up front?
We use the entire backyard, so she usually runs around the entire thing. Is this wrong? My friend says she should have a leash on???

Also, how often should i do these sessions? Once to twice a week good? Or should i upgrade to 3 times?


Today she managed to cut her mouth while going at one of the containers. Looked like a lot of blood for the cut, freaked me out. This dog is going on 14, she still thinks she can fly onto things and not get hurt like when she was young. Scary. smiley for

Especially when training outside, the dog may go past the hide before it is in odor, then turn quickly, known as the change of behavior, and the locate the source.

It sounds like you are doing more advanced nosework with a beginner dog. I would recommend you get the Andrew ramsey DVDs. Most trainers imprint odor and shape final response before moving into area searches. They work in a small area to control the dog and environment. This is usually done on leash. If you have never seen it, I would definitely suggest getting the DVDs, as they will help you immensely.

I use the scent kit I got from LB and train in my living room. The dog learns to find it in my hand, on the floor, and then I move the magnetic tin to a book case that has a metal frame. I slowly move my chair further and further away lesson by lesson as the dog learns to go to the book case and find the scent. With River right now I'm at about 5 feet away. I start the lesson where I finished the last one, and then in the middle of the lesson I move about 6 inches. When the dog is learning to sniff from my hand or on the floor I don't say anything except YES! for the marker and reward. None of the dogs have started offering any kind of 'I've found it!' behavior aside from sniffing super hard and touching their nose to the tin.

Wait, i have no scent mixed in yet... just the kong toy with raw in it...
Shuld i be using the kong?

The raw is the scent, according to your dog. If you're not training for sport then you can use whatever you want. Food, essential oils, a hand towel that hasn't been washed after being used for a week. The kong smells like rubber, so that scent is mixed with the raw smell and your dog has two distinct odors to find. It'd be interesting to see if she'll find the rubber kong without the raw in it.

I don't want to derail .... just to point out that today's Newsletter is full of nose-work items. There's a nice little book there, too.

http://leerburg.com/leerburgweeklynews.htm

 Quote: Connie Sutherland

I don't want to derail .... just to point out that today's Newsletter is full of nose-work items. There's a nice little book there, too.

http://leerburg.com/leerburgweeklynews.htm

Thanks connie!! <3

hello all, new here. I'm interested in getting my dog into nosework but I'm wondering if it would be smarter to train him myself using Andrew Ramsey's videos or attend a local class?

I have trained dogs for cadaver, article search, etc and I still went to the class because it's a different method then I use.
It's a series of 6 wk classes and I've been to one so far. The second class was called off earlier this month because only two people signed up. We've had a LOUSY winter here. I'm not sure if you can enter a ORT (Odor Recognition Test) without the classes.
Even though I've trained dogs in numerous venues I'll still probably get the videos cause I have a large library of training books and DVDs simply because I collect dog "stuff" about training.
I still have my first dog training book from 1957.
Leerburg has a great collecting of training DVDs in addition to the Ramsey set.

 Quote: Bob Scott

I have trained dogs for cadaver, article search, etc and I still went to the class because it's a different method then I use.
It's a series of 6 wk classes and I've been to one so far. The second class was called off earlier this month because only two people signed up. We've had a LOUSY winter here. I'm not sure if you can enter a ORT (Odor Recognition Test) without the classes.
Even though I've trained dogs in numerous venues I'll still probably get the videos cause I have a large library of training books and DVDs simply because I collect dog "stuff" about training.
I still have my first dog training book from 1957.
Leerburg has a great collecting of training DVDs in addition to the Ramsey set.

Thanks Bob, I don't think I'm looking to do it for trails - just for fun around the house and to show off to people. I wish I could make him a working dog, either arson (I'm a firefighter) or something similar. I think I'll scoop up the On-Demand video and see how I like it and go from there.