In this class, we will hone your dog’s hunting skills, using food as the primary target odor, and your ability to help your dog search and recognize your dog’s change of behavior when he “gets into odor.”  You will learn to search all elements – containers, interiors, exteriors, and vehicles. Puppies must be > 4 months old and fully vaccinated to enroll.

THIS COURSE IS REQUIRED FOR ALL MORE ADVANCED COURSES.

Continue to expand the talents of your dog’s nose, further hone his hunting abilities, and sharpen your handling skills.  We will introduce and work with target essential oil odors: initially birch, then anise, clove, and cypress.  We will also start working in new environments and introduce blind hides to test the handler’s knowledge and ability to read their dog. This course is the next step after Nosework 1 and is also an ideal refresher for dogs who have been away from the sport for a while and need a refresher class or for older dogs.

Now that your dog knows how to find the target odor, we will gradually begin to wean him off of self-rewarding food treats and begin to work with odor alone with the love of the hunt and rewards from the handler. 

We will work to establish an “Alert!” behavior for the dog to communicate to the handler when he has found the source of the target odor.  Hides will become more complex, driven by changes in the dog’s environment. 

Preparation for the Odor Recognition test will be covered.

This class is for dogs who have been introduced to all 4 odors and are searching all 4 elements: interior, exteriors, containers including buried and water hides, and vehicles.  

It is an on-going class in which we’ll focus on a variety of different skill sets: better communication with your dog, working thresholds, high hides, search grids, approach to corners, sticking on odor, distractors, and others – a big challenge for dog and handler!

Handler discrimination and trial preparation will be covered.