Nosework Training

This is probably the oddest assortment of things I’ve bought! I’m finally getting around to starting buried with Remy. I checked 3 stores and this was the only tea strainer I could find… 😂 The 4 pack of containers were at Costco for $10, which seemed like a good deal compared to some stores. I need to go back and grab a second set.IMG_5192.webp
Fenzi recommends teaching buried in 5 steps so we’ll be doing that to make sure his foundations are good. Today we did steps 1 & 2 with 2 searches for each step. He did great!

“Instead of just TRYING Buried, there is a better way to train it. This approach was originally pioneered by Holly Bushard. This is not necessarily the full process but a few of the steps that can help your dog to learn this element.”

My attempt are recapping the steps lol:
Step 1: No sand, keep the cold boxes empty and only put the tin, tea strainer, etc in the hot box.

Step 2: Add cardboard scraps into the cold boxes, keep the hot box empty besides for the odor (and its container).

Step 3: Add cardboard scraps into the hot box and on top of the tin.

Step 4: Remove cardboard scraps. Add a little bit of sand into all containers. Set the tea strainer on top (not buried yet).

Step 5: Start to bury the tea strainer little bits at a time until fully buried.

Since we now have dog events planned every weekend of October, I decided to only do one day of the scent work trial. He’ll be able to do each element twice. I think he’s doing pretty good with interior and exterior, so our focus will now be containers and buried. (Of course still training for the other elements too.) I can’t remember if I already mentioned this, but I’ve also done some training sessions where someone else sets the hides and I call “alert” like I would in trial. We’re doing pretty good with that too, but I did call a false alert once.
 
You've got a good plan going and it seems to be working well! I never did steps for buried, but it may be a good idea for the long run. It's great that you post and we can see different ideas and ways to do things. Glad you're practicing with an assistant too. Helps you & Remy both, as trial date gets closer, especially if you video "known hides" and "blind hides"to compare. Not so much to post here, but so you can observe how you might act different when you know where the hide is. I was helping my dog way more than I thought when I knew where they were, so it made me very conscious of not doing those things when training!
 
I never did steps for buried, but it may be a good idea for the long run.
I was originally just going to jump into it, but when I went back to see if the class mentioned anything about buried I read that and figured it couldn’t hurt to try.
It's great that you post and we can see different ideas and ways to do things.
It’s nice to hear about different methods, for all aspects of training really. Every dog (and handler) is different so I always like to know about different things to try incase one doesn’t seem to work as well for us.
Helps you & Remy both, as trial date gets closer, especially if you video "known hides" and "blind hides"to compare.
I need to start doing this! I haven’t recorded any of the sessions we did with a helper yet.
 
I was originally just going to jump into it,
Yeah, I just made the sand and water hides & Asha found them, so I never went back. Since then I've learned that building foundations and introducing things in baby steps can solidify learning. I skipped so many steps in so many things because I didn't have instructors!
It’s nice to hear about different methods, for all aspects of training really. Every dog (and handler) is different so I always like to know about different things to try incase one doesn’t seem to work as well for us.
Exactly! I like to share what works for me, even though I know it's not the right way for every dog. I've signed up for several different online trainers and they all have taught me things I would have never thought of myself. The IGP obedience was great, but too much wasn't crossing over to AKC obedience so now I've got an online teacher for that and I love her methods because they FIT my obnoxious dog!

Keep up the super work - you've got such a great dog who seems to love doing all the things!
 
Of course the tea strainer is bee themed LOL. There are a bunch on Amazon if anything happens to that one. Btw, make sure to mark your hot box (I do underneath so I can't visually see when I do blind hides). The sand in that box will forever be contaminated with odor. Do NOT spill it or use it as a cold box.

Interesting way of teaching buried! I just put it on top of the sand and slowly buried it over time.

Keep having fun with your dog!! I just started Stavros and I'm learning he's actually not as dumb as he makes you out to believe :rofl:
 
He just wants a job to do so he has bragging rights!
He had a job and showed he wasn't mentally ready for it so here we are 😂

I seriously don't know how you can train all those dogs + train whole litters of babies - it's amazing!
I've learned that a little goes A LONG way! 15 min a day with each one is really all they need. Juggling it with life is the tricky part! Or when we have to leave home to do training and trialing, that's when time gets sucked away with all the driving and waiting.
 
Juggling it with life is the tricky part!
I agree with the 15 minutes of training! I just can't imagine sharing Asha with another dog all day, it's weird I know. I guess I'm a one-dog person, like an only child can't imagine what it would have been like to have a sibling!
 
I seriously don't know how you can train all those dogs + train whole litters of babies - it's amazing!
Agreed, you do an awesome job @Rits!

I sometimes have trouble balancing all of the different things to train and I only have one dog lol. Part of my problem is when I start something new I get really into training that, then push the other thing(s) aside. I couldn’t tell you the last time I trained with the intent of it being “for” rally. We do a little obedience every night with his dinner though, so I guess that kind of counts 😂.
 
Agreed, you do an awesome job @Rits!

I sometimes have trouble balancing all of the different things to train and I only have one dog lol. Part of my problem is when I start something new I get really into training that, then push the other thing(s) aside. I couldn’t tell you the last time I trained with the intent of it being “for” rally. We do a little obedience every night with his dinner though, so I guess that kind of counts 😂.
That's how I was with Ripley haha! I think changing things up keeps the dog interested. There's no rush, go to the beat of your own drum and have fun!
 
I sometimes have trouble balancing all of the different things to train and I only have one dog lol. Part of my problem is when I start something new I get really into training that, then push the other thing(s) aside.
That's me! Especially the first couple of years! I'm pretty settled into just nose work and Obedience, but I'm so glad I spent a good amount of time working on IGP and RH - priceless learning at that club! So, no regrets, just finally settling into a couple of venues. Thing about AKC obedience is every step up is a whole new venue of exercises! so...
I think changing things up keeps the dog interested.
^^^^ for my dog this is everything. ^^^^
 
The scent work trial is in 2 weeks! I was originally waitlisted for trial 1 but within 24 hours they emailed me to let me know we were already off the wait list!

Tonight we did our first training session in a public place. I had someone set the hides for me. I’m hoping to do this twice a week until the trial (mix of indoor & outdoor searches.) I wanted to do this sooner but I just get busy with other things and next thing you know so much time has passed…

Right before we left the house there was a rabbit running around which made him a little crazy. 😅 Lowe’s is only 2 miles away and I think he was still slightly worked up when we got there, so you can see he’s a little distracted in the first clip. The search was about 25 seconds though which isn’t bad considering that and that it was his first one in a new area.

In the second clip you can hear my mom (the helper) say “he’s there” a split second before I said “alert.” I didn’t notice this until I watched the video and when I told her she said she was just excited. 😂 The third clip was started late. He was basically just walking along the right side and put his paws up on the boxes. After he did it again I joked someone else was practicing there because I told her no higher than waist level. It’s interesting to watch back after now knowing where the hide was. I suppose the odor was pooling up through the holes of the shelf.

Could I have called “alert” a little sooner? Probably. My fear is going to the trial and calling it too soon, so I wait and see if he moves away, if he doesn’t then I call it.

 
What a good boy and good job on letting him work before calling it! Really let him get in there and let his nose get on source. Better to wait than to be too early and he's not on source. You guys will do fine!
 
Very nice job and you'll do great!

I have to give Lowe's a big kudos too since they are so great about letting everyone train there. I always make it a point to buy something when I bring a dog there, even if it's not something I need right that minute.
 
Yesterday I got an email with the running order for the trial. It’s going to be a long day! Hopefully it wasn’t a mistake to enter 2 trials in 1 day for his first time lol. He’s the last dog to go each round Novice A (155). IMG_6332.webpIMG_6333.webpI don’t think I have any videos practicing for buried, but he’s doing really well with that! Last time I had the tea strainer about 2 inches deep, so I’ll continue to put it further buried until it’s to 4 inches. He doesn’t attempt to paw smash or anything with the buried containers. Yesterday was the first time in a few weeks doing containers. He found them all quickly with no false alerting. He does knock into the boxes a bit, but not to a destructive point so it should be okay. It’s still something we’re working on. Last time we trained with them I started with the boxes up on chairs then moved them to the ground. Instead of pawing at the box he now sticks his nose into it lol. Yesterday it got stuck and he flung it up and over his head 😂.

I’m assuming everything but interior with be outdoors at this trial. It’s held at the same location as the UDC show and I don’t think there is really enough space to have multiple elements in there, so I’m making sure to practice containers and buried outside as well!
 
Can't wait to hear how you guys do!! You will have loads of fun!!! Great idea to practice containers outside too. At my last trial our buried was outside.
 
We did another container search tonight! 2 known hides and 3 hidden by helpers. This was the first time we’ve practice with unknown hides. He did find them all but he was pretty distracted. There was something getting his attention off to the right during the start of each run. No clue what it was, I don’t see any dogs or people around. At one point I heard a kid yell but he was already distracted in prior runs without that so 🤷🏼‍♀️. Then we got a little audience and he wanted to go say hello before starting to search. He did get to work after each distraction though, so I guess that’s a good thing lol.

The first and final run were the known hides. I cropped the beginning a little because he was just standing for a few seconds looking at whatever caught his attention… I noticed while watching the video that he gets less “messy” with the boxes as time goes on.

 
Great practice with audience and distractions! If my dog gets distracted during a search I simply repeat her search command to remind her of the task at hand.

My second trial ever was similar to your schedule and it went just fine but it was well organized. Are you crating out of the car or inside? If the weather allows I always prefer the car, even though it can get hectic knowing when your run is coming up. But Asha rests much better, the car is her second home and if I have a choice (hot weather is the deal breaker) I'd choose the car.

You'll do great, remember to have fun with it all :thumbsup:
 
Are you crating out of the car or inside? If the weather allows I always prefer the car, even though it can get hectic knowing when your run is coming up.
There is no indoor crating so we’ll be staying in the car. I probably would have done that even if you could crate inside though. It’s 9 days away so who knows if it will stay the same, but as of now the high for the day of the trial is 72 (only 50 in the am) and partly cloudy. I’m thinking we should be okay with the windows cracked and a fan blowing into his crate. We’ll see.
You'll do great, remember to have fun with it all :thumbsup:
Thank you! I’m super excited to go!
 

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