When Royal first arrived to us, I tried doing a little bit of nose work with him in our home. However, he was pretty anxious at that time and doing things independently in the house was more than he could handle. Royal has become more comfortable in our house and the anti-anxiety medication has started to kick in. This has allowed Royal to think more clearly so, we started with some basic box games. Royal was quickly getting the "game" and so I spoke to Erica Wells who teaches through Dogs Day Out about Royal and we decided to have him try out a nose work class.
Catty, Dlight and I have been doing nose work classes with Erica for almost a year and Erica is a wonderful instructor. She tailors each "run" to the dog which is extremely thoughtful! She always strives for the dog to succeed and I can't say enough good things about Erica.
Oh and one more thing - Erica and Dog Days Out are big supporters of rescue/foster dogs! Since Royal and Torii are foster dogs our classes were discounted and that's pretty great.
Erica and I spoke about Royal and his indoor "noise sensitivity" and with both of us knowing about Royal we had a game plan. When Royal was working in class - the humans were to be instructed not to talk. Erica and I planned to pay close attention to Royal - ready to end the "game" if this proved to be too much for Royal.
So off we went to class! Instructions were given to the other members of the class about Royal, I then placed a belly band on him and we gave it a go.
We started with a bigger box with no flaps and while Royal was nervous he did great.
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| Royal self rewarding. Self rewarding is just that. The food is in the box and when he goes over to it he rewards himself. No pressure and no direction from the human. |
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| We did a couple of runs and with each turn you could see and hear Royal using his nose to search. He was pretty pleased with what he found! |
And a video of Royal working. As you can hear the room is quiet and while Royal is nervous he works to locate the box with the food. Royal is nervous, you can see that in his body however he did well and this was a good experience for Royal. Make sure to stay tuned to see how he does during week two of class!
Many thanks to Erica and the class for setting Royal up for success!
Here's a great article on nose work:
The below are sections that I've pulled from the above article. I've pulled these specifically because I feel they speak to why nose work is such a powerful game for a dog.
Do give your dog the power to choose - Many dogs have little opportunity to make independent decisions in the presence of a human in their daily lives. Typically, they are told when they eat, when they pee, when they should sit, lay down, be quiet, stay off the couch, and when they should keep walking instead of stopping to sniff the roses (or the poo... which - if you believe Outkast - is what roses really smell like). Because dogs are dogs, they adapt pretty well to being told when, where, how, and what to do. In many dog activities and sports, the human knows what the goal looks like (running an agility course correctly, performing obedience commands properly, etc.), but in nose work the goal (the target odor source) is hidden from the human and nothing can be done to find it on your own - you are at the mercy of your dog. If you have a plan to direct or control your dog, it may not go very well. Your dog will probably be more than happy to comply with you in your human-driven search, but success will be elusive or fleeting.
Allowing your dog to be independent and make choices is key to success in nose work. When your dog hunts on his terms, driven by his own desire, and working independently of you, this is a scenario you can feel confident about, and a path to long-term success.
From day one of your dog's introduction to nose work, your goal should be to step back and watch. Let him make choices, let him discover things on his own, and watch him begin to confidently desire the hunt.
Do keep it simple and take it slow - One of the many great features of starting a dog on primary reward is that it eliminates the need for expert timing, and it promotes independence right away, and it is pretty difficult to screw things up. Still, you want to keep it simple and take it slow. Dogs don't need to search a warehouse or a football field, they don't need to scale office furniture or climb ladders to find their food reward. They do need puzzles and challenges, but not what we would consider visually challenging, what they would consider an olfactory challenge or a challenge to their ability to focus. In many cases, just a small change in environment creates the challenge the dog needs.
So yes, Nose Work is a sport and there's lots to do within the sport of Nose Work. However, none of that is a requirement to participate in Nose Work. For many dogs (my personal dogs included) it's the foundation of Nose Work that is so important. The foundations of giving your dog choice, moving at their pace, rewarding positive choices & building confidence while working. The foundations of Nose Work enhance a lot of the work I do with my personal dogs & foster dogs which is why I'm such and fan of Nose Work. A dog can be fearful, reactive, have sensitivities and that's perfectly fine to bring to Nose Work. A dog can be young or old and that too makes no difference (as you will soon see via Torii).
If you are interested in learning more about Nose Work and seeing how you can do it in your home here are some links:
And of course if you want to try out a nose work class contact Erica through Dogs Day Out!
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