“Why does my dog always walk right on the fence line or the hedges on walks or pull to get there?”
A question that is often asked when working on loose lead walking 😊
When scent moves, it behaves like a bit of smoke or mist, moving with the breeze or air currents. When it meets a fence line, hedge, or verge, it tends to get “caught” because these barriers disrupt the air flow.
The scent get snagged on leaves, grass, or the fence itself, making it hang around longer and spread more slowly.
Your dogs get a stronger, more concentrated whiff of the scent as they follow along the line. It’s nature’s way of setting up a track that’s easier for them to follow!
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Is Scentwork Time-Consuming?
Honestly, not at all!
Like many people, especially on the run up to Christmas, time can be particularly stretched - which might feel like a barrier to you having a go with your dog.
Scentwork can easily be integrated into your daily routine. You can start with just a few minutes a day and gradually increase the time as your dog gets more skilled and enjoys it even more.
Training sessions can be as short as 2-3 minutes—what us dog trainers like to call "kettle sessions." While you’re waiting for your kettle to boil to make your cup of tea/coffee you can get a training session in 🙂 Just a few minutes of focused training can really engage your dog and provide great mental exercise.
As your dog becomes more accomplished at their new skills, you might find they would enjoy longer sessions. Even then, keeping it to 15-30 minutes a few times a week can work wonders, depending on your schedule.
The good news is you don’t have to do it every day!
Even a few sessions each week can significantly improve your dog’s behaviour choices.
Once you and your dog find your rhythm, it’s really quite easy to fit scentwork into your day!
This session with Blaze was in between my admin work and took us less than 5 minutes to do, he then went off for a nap while I continued my work 🥰🐾
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When Scentwork comes to the rescue! 🥳
Surely I am not the only one this has happened to…
You might remember last year I lost my keys in a huge field, it took me an hour and a half to eventually track them down. 🙈
Eddie, who is my go-to Scentwork Pup was tasked to find them BUT at the time he had never been trained to find my Scent which would have helped him locate my keys.
After that day, I decided to up our training to include my Scent for those just in case scenarios that might happen in the future.
This was him in just his second session! 🥰🐾
Now, he can find my keys pretty much anywhere, which is quite the skill for him to learn given I’m quite the expert at losing them! 🤣
Once you, and your dog understand the basic foundations of Scentwork we can help you to translate it into real life scenarios.
If you would like to learn how to teach your dog to search for specific scents or items and you are brand new to Scentwork.
Send me a message to find out more about my new Nosework Novice Sessions.
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Woody
Today we did some train the trainer 😍
Tara asked for some help and guidance with teaching Scentwork to her dogs 😊
It’s lovely to work together like this to progress both our skills; me as the teacher and in this case Tara as the learner.
Both her dogs have chosen their favourite type of searching 😊
Callie loves the passive searching. She is becoming a real superstar at pipe searches 🤩 and her searching skills are getting much stronger too!
Woody loves Active searching! He found the passive searching more challenging as this requires a lot of stillness, something he is not a fan of! 🤣
Here he is doing his favourite thing out in their garden for the first time! 😍
Can you see when he picks up the scent??
The beautiful ‘knock’ as we call it when he gets a really strong sniff of the scent and then off he trots to find the scented ‘squirrel’
Clever lad! 😍🐾
This week was week 4 of our scentwork class 😊
Our beginners are now starting to search for Kong in different object or places. This week we concentrated on pipe searches, working on setting the dogs up to be ready to search, being slower and more methodical in their searching and handling skills and strengthening their indication criteria. 😍🐾
Meanwhile our Intermediates worked on searching bigger areas and older aged scent while refining our handling skills 😊
We had my van searched for Kong, the area outside the hall searched for a scentwork “squirrel” that had been left out for a while. Both really successful searches with great handling skills. 👏👏
Our next set of classes start on Monday 21st October! Feel free to message the page or email [email protected] for more info or to book your spot. 😊
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Scentwork week 3 - someone loves the catnip squirrel 🤣
I do love it when I receive videos of practice at home 😍
This is Dougal who I have introduced to you all before. He has been doing scentwork with me for a good while now amd he absolutely loves it!
This video shows him looking for his 3rd piece of Kong in these bricks, you might notice him stop briefly twice before he indictates on that 3rd piece, that's because there is residue scent from the previous 2 pieces he found that have been removed!
His guardian does a wonderful job of just waiting for him to move on; no words, no rushing in to help him. 👏
Allowing Dougal to work it out for himself is so good for Dougal's problem solving skills and confidence ☺️
Dougal is noise sensitive, he had a session with me last week and as we were working on the wall search a dog barked outside and a child screamed outside, Dougal stopped searching and spun round towards the sound, pricked up his ears and then almost immediately without any involvement from his guardian or me stopped in his tracks, turned round and went back to searching!! 🥳
He was confident enough to acknowledge those noises, not react and go back to what he loves to do!
Super job Dougal! 😍🐾
I have just ONE opportunity left for you to try out Scentwork with my Summer Offer so if you're thinking about it, pop me a message to arrange a chat and we can talk about how scentwork can help your dog.
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A short insight into today’s Scentwork session with the boys 💙🐾
Lots of fun, lots of learning and if you look carefully can you spot what Eddie finds at the end?
Not only is Scentwork an accessible activity to do with your dog it can also end up being a really useful activity, if like me you lose your keys more often than you care to admit! 🙈
Like many people you might be curious about Scentwork, but unsure if it’s for you. So I thought I would share a few facts to help you decide if it’s time to give it a go for yourself. ☺️
Who can get involved?
Everyone!
Scentwork is an accessible activity anyone of any age and ability can do with their dog, and can be adapted to all learners who would like to have a go.
Not only is it accessible for people, any dog of any age or breed can get involved [not just your wizzy spaniels like I have here]
What are the benefits of participating in Scentwork?
Honestly, too many to count!
Scentwork is fast becoming a leading activity for pet dog owners who are looking to give their dogs an outlet for their brain, especially helpful during heatwaves, or when exercise needs to be limited due to its low impact requirements for either dog or handler!
Dog’s who participate in Scentwork become calmer, build new skills and confidence, as well as develop an even deeper level of communication with their handler.
Interested in learning more?
Send me a message or email me on [email protected] and keep a close eye on the page for more ways you can get involved this summer ☀️ 🐕
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Today I had a 1-2-1 scentwork session with Ryker and Suzy ☺️
We have been working together for a while now, Ryker absolutely loves his scentwork!
He was so good today that I felt we had to show off his skills!
The first part of the video is him finding a new scent of Gun oil that we have just introduced, he searches and indicates the 3 items beautifully and so calmly. ☺️
The 2nd is of him doing his Active search finding a scented toy and return it to Suzy.
The amazing thing about the 2nd part was that there were also 2 unscented toys out as well as the scented one and if you look really really carefully you'll see he picks up and unscented one but decides to drop that and pick up the scented one instead! 🥳🥳 I had placed all the toys very close to one another to see how if he would work out which was the right one, he showed us that he knows exactly what he's doing! 🐕
The last pic is him at the end of the session; exhausted 🥰
When I started working with Ryker and Suzy he was struggling with any kind of calm and could be quite reactive even their garden.
Where are we working.....in his garden! 🥳
I am so proud of Ryker and Suzy.
They have worked to build their relationship and bond and now work so well as a team.
Ryker now a much calmer dog and Suzy knows how to work with him to get the best out of him. 🥰
Superb work guys! ❤️🐾
Today we had a new novel experience to cope with and I have to say Blaze did amazingly well and Eddie, well, he just stayed asleep next to me ☺️
Clever boys! 🐾💙
Consistency in training really does pay off ☺️
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Sometimes we have to go back to move forward ☺️🐕
This is something I said today to myself and a client and I thought it might be a good thing to explain why ☺️
There are a plethora of reasons; here are some of the key ones......
🐾 Reinforcement of Learning - Dogs, like humans, need repetition to solidify their understanding of cues. Regularly practicing previously learned behaviours helps move these skills from short-term to long-term memory.
🐾 Focus & Engagement - working on those foundation behaviours that your dog knows well gives you the opportunity to reinforce focus on you and engagement with you.
🐾 Identifying a gap - Sometimes, dogs may not fully grasp a cue or behaviour for all sorts of reasons, usually it us as handlers that have missed an improtant step. Going back allows us to spot these weak points, ensuring a better understanding on both us and the dogs part.
🐾 Building a Strong Foundation - More complex behaviours are often built on simpler ones. Ensuring foundational cues are rock-solid will help enormously for more those complex behaviours to be successful.
🐾 Reducing Anxiety - Struggling with new tasks can sometimes lead to frustration or anxiety in dogs. Returning to familiar tasks provides a sense of security and reduces stress, making them more receptive to learning.
🐾 Generalisation - Dogs may learn a cue in a specific context (like “sit” in the living room) but struggle to perform it in a new setting (like a busy park). Proofing involves practicing cues in various environments and situations, building up distractions slowly.
🐾 Relationship - Consistent training sessions strengthen the bond between your dog and you! This relationship building is really important to have that communication and trust, both of which are key to successful training.
I often find myself going back to basics with my boys; we all need to refresh our memories on things and build that confidence back up at times.
This is
Meet Isla ☺️
Isla's guardians thought they would like to give her the opportunity to try scentwork, they first popped along to our free workshop a few weeks ago to have a go.
Isla found the environment of the workshop really tricky and she couldn't really concentrate on the activities, so her lovely guardians spoke to me afterwards and we discussed my 1-2-1 options.
Our first 1-2-1 was last week ☺️ When I arrived Isla was worried by my presence, she curled up on the sofa next to her human and stayed there.
With lots of time taken to gain her confidence, she came off the sofa and had a go at some coin indication.......
What a start she is! 🌟🌟
This is her towards the end of our first session starting an indication like a pro!
In all my 1-2-1 sessions, I prioritise making your dog feel happy and comfortable before proceeding with any training.
This is really important as it helps build trust and ensures your dog is relaxed and ready to learn.
Establishing these positive foundations may take the majority of a session or even multiple sessions.
Your dog is unique, and their comfort and happiness are paramount, so I will take as much time as necessary to achieve this. By focusing on your dog's well-being first, we set the stage for more effective and enjoyable training in the future.
If you would like to know more then why not pop me a message to the page or email [email protected] and we can arrange a chat.
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