Intro to Novice SW

Welcome to Introduction to Novice Scent Work!

Pre-req; None. Be ready to learn and have some fun!

Scent Work is a great team sport that puts your dog's nose to the test. “Fascinating fact: Dogs have a sense of smell that’s between 10,000 and 100,000 times more acute than ours! The sport of Scent Work celebrates the joy of sniffing, and asks a dog to sniff to their heart’s content, turning your dog’s favorite activity into a rewarding game. It is a terrific sport for all kinds of dogs and is a wonderful way to build confidence in a shy dog (AKC).” The game is fun and can be fast. This class is geared towards AKC, but is applicable to NACSW. Our focus will be on the Novice odor of Birch in all 4 elements in AKC: container, buried, interior, exterior searches. We will introduced the advance odor of Anise later in class. Scent Work consists of several odor (Birch, Anise, Clove, Cypress) levels before reaching the Detective Level!

We will learn a bit on conditioning, choosing a marker word, how to get some duration at the hide. Also, some cues from your dog that they have odor. We will cover basic handling of equipment and odor. We will discuss whats next and venues. Your dog must be crated in between their searches, it gives them time to decompress and each dog its chance to work without worry about other dogs.

What to bring:
* Hungry dog
* Treats/Tug toy (soft small, avoid crunchy treats, hot dogs!)
* Flat collar and/or harness
* 6’ leash
* Crate. Your dog really will learn better and so will you if they can have a few moments to decompress.
* Class fee is $80. And runs 5 weeks. If you are not a KCA member, it is $20. For membership good to Dec 2026.
https://form.jotform.com/250026182457049

This is a series of 5 classes, if you are in CLASS 1 your spot is saved for all the following classes. There are no drop-ins, as I say that, there are always those who have taken classes and have good handling skills that might be able to drop in, message me.

Please no young children/toddlers/infants/extra dogs

Absolutely no dog to dog contact.

One handler/One dog Teams. If you are going to enter 2 dogs let’s talk about it before and how we can help manage 2 dogs with 1 handler, it can be done it is just more work on the human part.

***** If parking in the driveway please keep gate clear. If you need a cart to move crates I have one****

**** Please do not let your dog urinate on ANYTHING man made****

Potty your dog across the street before coming over.

Message me for any questions.

Resources for odor:
https://www.akc.org/sports/akc-scent-work/
https://www.jjdog.com/nosework-kit-essential-oils-scent-kit/
https://k9nwsource.com/complete-training-kits/
https://leerburg.com/1406.htm