Mustard & Pepper Summer 2024

Eligibility There are four main scentwork titling organizations in the U.S.: AKC, UKC, NACSW and USCSS. Officially, the age requirements for AKC Scent work are: Your dog must be six months of age or older and must have an AKC number. For UKC Nose work: To be eligible to compete in licensed nose work classes dogs must be at least six months of age and permanently registered with UKC. If you are already registered with AKC, it’s pretty simple to complete the Single Registration with a copy of your dog’s registration certificate. UKC states that “deaf dogs, blind dogs, and dogs that have lost use of or are missing all or part of one or more limbs may participate in Nosework trials” [6]. AKC also says that “dog with physical challenges”, deaf and blind dogs are allowed to enter [7]. USCSS states blind, deaf, dogs with amputations or who use ambulatory carts; or reactive dogs [wearing a red bandanna] are eligible to participate. [9] NACSW is similar to USCSS in their position. [8] Nuances and Our Learning Experiences With a younger dog, I might be inclined to start with UKC. The search areas are smaller and “created search zones” by adding objects to the area. AKC is more oriented towards “naturally existing environments”. Since the AKC environment may be relatively unchanged, except for adding odor, some of the AKC environments can be complex [especially interiors] and others quite sparse [as I found with exterior searches]. Not to say that always is the case, but it’s good rules of thumb. I have seen several AKC searches resemble UKC searches. That first scent work trial in August of 2023 – which for us was AKC – was a learning experience, even though we had done Rally trials in a ring before. But we improved each day and by Sunday we earned three Qs out of a possible four. Loki figured out that his favorite element was buried, as he received the most Qs on that one! He also has Qs in AKC Advanced buried, even though he has not other AKC Advanced element Qs. But each dog is different. I took a lot of notes after each day, if not each trial, especially noting any comments that the judges provided. As for Loki, I think the additional age – he was almost three when we started – and Obedience /Rally training helped with his focus and maturity. Scent work can be exciting at first. They find

that single hide and get rewarded with a treat. Yes, you CAN reward in the ring. And, with the exception of UKC, you can reward at the odor source. Just be careful not to leave any crumbs behind! But that is key: Keep it fun! Make them feel like they hit the jackpot! Every dog is different, so don’t be afraid to enter a trial. I am one of those that learn best by doing! Many in scent work do. And finding a blind hide [set by someone else besides the handler] builds confidence for both you and the dog. The judges many times gave me pointers after a trail or a run. Especially at novice level. They love seeing the dogs succeed. Please note: You don’t have to wait until you finish the overall Novice title before training for multiple hides. As you advance to higher levels, multiple hides and multiple odors come into play. Finally, all these trials are timed. You will have between two to four minutes for most trials. You will know that ahead of time and be reminded before you actually run. A Dog’s Amazing Nose As soon as Loki could detect odor and target it, we started training with bullets that had birch, anise and clove all on one Q-Tip inside the vessel. A dog’s nose works differently than ours. We walk into a house and smell a lasagna cooking. A dog walks in and smells beef, onion, garlic, basil, oregano, tomato, mozzarella, ricotta, all individually ! All separated out! So, training with three odors combined and then asking them to find one odor by itself is child’s play for them. Once they know how to find odor, which one they search for does not seem to matter. Your Found It! But that gets us to the key part of scent work – how do you know your dog found what you asked them to find. It’s all in the “indicator”! This is where a trainer can be quite useful for some teams. We are still cleaning up Loki’s indicator as he progresses into advanced level searches. We are using a “nose hold” or a “nose point”. Some people use a sit or a down or a freeze. The main thing is to develop something consistent so that you know when your dog is “in odor”. When you do find a hide, you call “alert”. A judge can then ask you where it is; if it looks like a “vague” call from the dog’s perspective. If you call “alert”, you need to know within about an 8-10” [20-25 cm] area where the

Mustard & Pepper

26

Summer 2024