All About Scent Work Podcast

There are many moving pieces when it comes to the activity of Scent Work. A common misconception is that Scent Work is easy: train dog to find thing, hide thing in area, dog finds thing, give dog cookie. Yet, to accomplish even this watered down version of Scent Work requires concentrated work and focus. Otherwise our searches will be messy, lackluster and ineffective. In this episode, we discuss...

You're tackling a search with your dog. They have found a few hides and there are one or more hides left. Suddenly, they stop and look back at you. They are not near anything, they are not alerting...no, they are asking a dreaded question! Now what?! Is this the end of the world? What does mean?! What do you do?! In this episode, we discuss the meaning behind our dog's asking questions in Scent Wo...

It is far too easy to develop blind spots when training or trialing with our dogs, working with clients, designing searches as a trial official, finding or running trials as a host or evaluating rules or regulations as a competition organization staff member. Our perspective may be rather limited, causing us to not see the fullest and most accurate picture possible. This skewed perspective may the...

Instructors are tasked to share their knowledge and expertise with their human clients in such a way that the client can then internalize, understand and interpret that information for their dog. This is no easy task! However, it becomes close to impossible if the way this information is packaged causes the client to not want to receive it.  In this episode, we discuss the art of giving and receiv...

It is all too common to find ourselves making statements such as, "At this stage, I should do THIS" or "After this STEP, I follow this STEP and then that STEP." What's the issue you may ask? Well, this line of thinking is rather concrete. Individual needs of the dog, handler or team, unique factors for that given search, environment or training session or trialing search are not taken into account...

In this spotlight episode, we have the distinct privilege to speak to Kayla Dever and Samantha Winslow of Every Dog Nosework about how they plunged into helping build the Nose Work community in their area. This includes developing their training skills, competition accolades, hosting trials, workshops, seminars and more. An amazing example of doers who are giving back to the sniffing community and...

It is interesting how when it comes to Scent Work, everything is seemingly viewed through the lens of the dog's ability to hunt and source their hides. If something doesn't go well, that means we must do more searches, right? In this episode, we discuss how there are so many skills a dog, handler and team need to be successful in Scent Work, many of which have absolutely nothing to do with hunting...

In this Spotlight Series episode, we have the distinct privilege of speaking with Lori Timberlake of Do Over Dog Training regarding her amazing Foster Dog Sniffer School program . This is an incredible program designed to help shelter and foster dogs within Lori's community by providing them an opportunity to enjoy all the benefits Nose Work has to offer. Lori recently offered a webinar where she...

The choices we make regarding our reactive, sensitive and aggressive dogs is an important conversation to have. It is paramount that safety be a significant factor. This is especially true when we are considering whether to trial with our dog or not. We delve into this important topic in this podcast episode. If your dog is struggling with behavioral issues, please seek out professional, reputable...

When it comes to training or trialing in Scent Work, we oftentimes have a running dialogue in our mind that may be less than accurate. Some common examples include: "My dog is distracted!" "My dog lies!" "My dog is so lazy!" "My leash handling is awful!" "I cannot read my dog!" "My memory is terrible, I cannot remember where we have been or what hides I have called!" These declarative statements b...

Competing in Scent Work involves receiving qualifying or non-qualifying scores, earning titles or even placements...but what does all of this really mean?! Does every Q earned mean our training is utterly perfect, unicorns and rainbows, whereas every NQ should be met with blowing up our training and starting over from scratch? If we do not earn a placement at a trial, do we have a ton of work ahea...

We are living through an exciting time where there is a plethora of learning opportunities within the Scent Work training community! This includes access to countless experienced instructors and trainers who offer unique viewpoints and training approaches, creative training exercises and much more. The way we take in and utilize all this information matters. In this episode, we discuss the importa...

As we play Scent Work, we work to develop skills for the dog, handler and team in our classes and training sessions. Especially for teams who are interested in competing, testing those skills with blind hides, time limits and other potential stressors is key. Traditionally, mock trials and Sniff N' Gos were the type of events that met this need. However, we can all agree the more creative the even...

One of the many wonderful aspects of Scent Work is how it is a benefical activity for so many categories of dogs, including reactive dogs. In this episode, we have the privilege to speak with Christina Young of Positive Dog , a certified dog behavior consultant with IAABC and PPG, about playing the Scent Work game with reactive dogs. Learn more about Christina: Positive Dog Website Leash Reactivit...

Whether it be due to old age, injuries, illness or simply not wanting to play the game anymore, we may find ourselves faced with the prospect of retiring our dogs from Nose Work. In this episode, we speak with Lori Timberlake of Do Over Dog Training about her personal journey with her senior girl Daisy who, while still full of spice and vinegar, made it clear she much preferred romps in the woods...

We are all incredibly busy, fluttering around doing a million things at once. How often have you found yourself trying to squeeze in a Scent Work training session? "I've got a few minutes...let's do a quick search!" In this episode, Dianna explains how one such "I can do this quick!" training session went completely off the rails, how breathing and staying mindful would have been a far better solu...

Regardless of why we are playing Scent Work or what our goals are, we should take time to better understand odor, odor theory and hide placement. In this episode, we discuss the benefits of better understanding these concepts and how doing so can ensure our dogs to have more successful repetitions in their Scent Work training sessions. Looking to learn more about odor theory and hide placement? Ch...

Dealing with absolutes is riddled with issues. Yet it is far too common for statements containing "always" and "never" to be thrown around when discussing Scent Work. Black and white type thinking can be problematic to stay the very least. In this episode, we delve into the importance of embracing the grey to take into account all the variables including the dog, handler, team, search area, enviro...

Handlers should absolutely advocate for their dogs. They know their dogs best and will be the ones who will decide the short-term and long-term goals for themselves, their dog and their team as a unit. Handlers working with an instructor should view this professional as an integral part of the team. These professionals can ensure all these goals are met, avoid common pitfalls or course correct if...

As we are training and trialing in Scent Work, we will start accumulating successes. However, we should evaluate these successes objectively and honestly, otherwise we can start experiencing some issues. In this episode, we discuss why this type of honest assessment is crucially important to ensure the future progression of ourselves and our dogs as we continue to play the sniffing game. Speaker:...

Being a Scent Work instructor is an honor and a privilege. You devote countless hours learning and honing your craft, perfecting it with your own dogs and then transferring that knowledge to your clients. Those clients then go on to play the wonderful sniffing game, having successes and a blast doing so. However, to be an effective teacher requires one also be a student, someone open to learning n...

When it comes to Scent Work, we work to to ensure our dog has solid odor recognition, that they find their hides valuable and are able to competently solve odor puzzles and source their hides both efficiently and effectively. However, to truly be successful, our dogs must also master a myriad of other skills which have nothing at all to do with searching. In this episode, we delve into this topic,...

In this episode, we discuss Cyber Scent Work and some of the changes, updates and new offerings including the launch of the Cyber Sniffing Games Program, the revamped Traditional Cyber Scent Work Program as well as introducing in-person assessments with the new Evaluator Program. YAY! To learn more, be certain to check out: Cyber Scent Work website Cyber Sniffing Games Program Traditional Cyber Sc...

For our 100th episode, we have the distinct privilege of speaking with the Co-Founders of NACSW , Amy Herot and Jill Marie O'Brien about all things odor, K9 Nose Work, training, trialing and more. ----more---- Speakers: Dianna L. Santos Amy Herot Jill Marie O'Brien Scent Work University  is an online dog training platform focused on all things Scent Work. Our  online courses ,  seminars ,  webinar...

Are you going a million miles a minute when it comes to Scent Work? Doing all the training, learning, trialing possible, essentially all the things all the time? Or, do you feel as though MUST do all the things all the time to be a "good" Scent Work handler, instructor, trainer or trial official? In this episode, we discuss the potential issues of doing too much for too long, lacking balance in yo...