I made this you tube video for some one who wanted to know how to start off on scent discrimination Class A.

I thought I will share it here.

Sadha - scent 101


Plus here is a cute video of bommi having a tantrum because I had not taken her in the car with me . for those who are bored with sadha's video

Bommi - tantrum

Haha, Bommi's tantrum.

Good work on the videos.

I always watch your videos .. and learn something.

Yes, dogs do indeed have emotions and loving you is very evident by your dogs reaction to your homecoming.

Very good!

I was a little taken aback for a second by no gloves when using your own scent, but I was certainly wrong! That presented no problem at all for Sadha!

Also, THANK YOU for posting training clips. Always very welcome!!

EXCELLENT DEMONSTRATION!
I will also add that with the original scented container the dog marked it then has HIS scent on it for further finds in that session. In the beginning this can be a great help. Just remember that in competition it won't have his scent on it. Only yours.
When you feel the dog is ready then have someone else handle the containers NOT scented or you can handle them with some sort of tongs so you don't add any more of your scent.
Again, excellent job!

Hi Bob, I start with this and progress to class B and Class C . Class B is my scent in a line up of stranger's scent and Class C , Stranger's scent match to sample.

The box idea is to make it clear to the dog that this exercise is all about the smell and nothing else. You can see that I do not click when sadha is on the right box but is trying to mouth it.

Once the indication portion is done, I will link the retrieve to it and then chain the whole thing together.

Sadha has a very strong retrieve, so I went with this box plan to take his mouth out of the smell game and force him to use just his nose to get clicked.


Connie>> I have realized that no matter how much I try I always touch some bit of the cloth that I am not supposed to touch or I place it on the floor where I have walked etc etc. I used to be Obsessive about the smell cross contamination thing. But I realized that the dog's noses are capable of understanding those small scents in the presence of strong (intentionally) scented objects.

Ofcourse as I move towards the finished behaviours , my tongs and gloves will come out. This is just the Kindergarten of scent work.

I've seen the same "obsessive" behavior in AKC people when it comes to the scent discrimination exercise. In a three day weekend trial I've seen people boil their articles, wash them in soap and water, even have different articles for each day.
All I ever did was to hang them outdoors in a onion sack (very open weave) and my dogs never had a problem. They are very much aware of even a short time something has aged.
My older GSD, even as a puppy would naturally pick out the stick I threw in a brush pile of similar sticks.
It may take him some time to find it with all the other sticks around but he always came back with the one I threw.
We have to give them more credit for their nose.

 Quote: Bob Scott

EXCELLENT DEMONSTRATION!
I will also add that with the original scented container the dog marked it then has HIS scent on it for further finds in that session. In the beginning this can be a great help. Just remember that in competition it won't have his scent on it. Only yours.
When you feel the dog is ready then have someone else handle the containers NOT scented or you can handle them with some sort of tongs so you don't add any more of your scent.
Again, excellent job!

This is a very good thread!