Ramsey Nosework

10/20/2023

My Nosework DVD’s are available in streaming format from Leerburg and are at a discounted rate right now.

This DVD covers a foundation for nosework with your dog taught by trainer Andrew Ramsey.

09/11/2023

07/14/2023

September 2nd & 3rd
November 18th & 19th

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfa4ApvFT8hoiQjJNR8_fgPbvqQfjjj-WYqR6TEMPjkHUVuqg/viewform

05/08/2023

Modo representing the Guardians of the Night 👊

05/03/2023

HANDLER’S SEMINAR THIS SATURDAY
email [email protected]

Do you miss hides at times despite your dog knowing odor well and having a clear response behavior?
This could be related to your handling…😳
This seminar will give valuable feedback to assist in making you and your dog a better TEAM in Scent Work 💪🏼

05/02/2023

BEGINNERS SCENT WORK SEMINARS

Napa, CA June 3-4
Portland, OR August 5-6

email or text for more info
[email protected]
707-656-3672

04/24/2023

In this video Andrew Ramsey explains using a clicker to both explain to your dog the precise location of odor source in scent work as well as using the click...

04/23/2023

When Grumble was tiny(ish)

December 2017.This is one of the later sessions teaching Grumblebum the Object Guard with food. All of the initial process was taught by having something he ...

04/21/2023

For the last 10 years when I talk to someone about scent work.

Them- I’m having my dog search boxes to build hunt.
Me- Hey me too! Except…
My F3 System does it in a way that teaches search pattern from the beginning, installs ritualistic search cues and is easier to track progression of increased duration of independent, uninterrupted searching!
Them- Wait, what?😳

Them- I’m using this special box or contraption to teach my dog that odor is what pays it or to teach them a TFR.
Me- Hey me too! Except…
My F3 System does it in a way that prioritizes searching behavior and where the dog must always discriminate prior to sourcing the odor box that visually looks similar to many other boxes to avoid confusion and practicality eliminate FR’s.
I also created a set-up that does not allow dogs to scratch the odor box because it is not placed on the ground where the dog can easily do so. My system allows the odor box to be placed sturdily in many different positions to adapt to reinforcing different TFR positions or accommodate dogs of a very wide variety of heights and sizes.
Them- Wait, what?😳

I was recently told I should tag a lot of other “cool” trainers to try to get people’s attention or maybe put on a lab coat and and speak more about studies. I’m not knocking those things in any way, but I’ve been doing my own mass scale study for the last 20 years on the learning process of dogs in initial detection that covers a huge variety of dog types, handler types and target odors. When people don’t see the easy to spot benefits like this that I have been doing for the last 10 years, I know they don’t see all the minor minutiae in all the aspects of the F3 System.

04/18/2023

This video from 12 years ago shows one of the first few scent work sessions with this dog. For the people I work with now or those that don’t know, this is how I was originally taught detection. When I started training recreational scent work with people and their pets it quickly became apparent to me that a verbal marker/clicker would be much more successfully utilized on a mass scale to mark the moment the dog sources odor or to pay it for the TFR. Plus with the switch to a marker people doing my system did not have to worry about hiding the FPDD or toy to be able to deliver it stealthily in the initial sessions anymore, especially from their armpit the way I do.

Gus Initial Detection Pay on Sniff

04/18/2023

Scent Work is so good for building dogs confidence!

Maybee was brought to the Ramsey Trainer’s Course and was a little unsure about people and things in the environment. See how the Ramsey System built her con...

04/17/2023

Demo for the SF SPCA Kid’s Summer Camp in 2011. This was back when nearly everyone said that you should not have a TFR with your scent work dog. I got Scrabble’s NW2 with him when he was 10 months old.

6 month old Scrabble doing Nose Work at the San Francisco SPCA.www.ramseynosework.com

04/16/2023

MORE TRAINING TIME DOES NOT ALWAYS EQUAL BETTER COMPREHENSION
Which scent work/detection system looks the most similar to the finished objectives right from the beginning? Which prioritizes independent uninterrupted searching of the environment from the beginning (not just a few items that stick out visually) Which clearly defines source location from the beginning? Which utilizes odor compartments that do not allow dogs to rehearse undesirable behaviors at odor source? (❌Scratching Pays! ❌) Which utilizes methods to ensure that the dog does not perform the TFR where it should not in the initial phase of learning? Which explains scent work/detection in a way in a “Training Lab” where the dog’s clear comprehension allows it to generalize the activity to all search areas? Which is mindful of strategic handling tactics from the beginning?
For over 10 years my system(no, not what is in the dvds from 12 years ago) has explained criteria in a more clear manner than any other as well as has been thought out in a way that minimizes errors in the dogs learning by guiding them to the correct actions and behaviors with that help being faded appropriately.
THE DOGS ARE CAPABLE OF SO MUCH MORE. It is possible to put so much more thought into how to explain this activity to the dog without the dog misunderstanding our criteria.
For over 8 years I have stated that around 1 in 10 dogs I work over:
2 days
4 sessions
roughly 30-40 minutes
understand ritualistic pre-search cues, a start line, to search independently, has odor recognition and will search around a room IN PATTERN, encounter target odor alone, understand they are to go to its source location and when they get there they know to perform their TFR (freeze) until they hear the marker and they know that when they hear the marker I will bring them their reward.
Over 80% of dogs I work in my system will do all of the above in those same few sessions EXCEPT the TFR is still being explained.
And to the people that for almost a decade have said I am rushing the training process, no, I am clearly explaining this activity to the dog in a way that they grasp easily.
MORE TRAINING TIME DOES NOT ALWAYS EQUAL BETTER COMPREHENSION

This video showcases the training progression of Stryder over a 5 day period.He was used a practice dog for students of the RAMSEY NOSEWORK Train the Trainer...

04/10/2023

Second session with almost 4 month old German Shepherd searching for target odor and training the final response.

I have been playing with filming from different locations in the room and this one had to be cropped a bit too much off the top and bottom 👎🏼

In these short clips we show some of the searches conducted in the Ramsey Training Lab during the second session with an almost 4 month old German Shepherd. ...

04/04/2023

Leash handling and pattern will GREATLY effect the success of the search team.

I talk a lot about the ideal length of leash for particular dog and handler teams. To me the ideal leash does not get in the way, can be switched back and forth from left to right hand easily when needed, can go behind your back easily when needed, does not drag on the ground and provides adequate grip if you need to gently clamp to use as a brake to slow and guide the dog to your next targeted productive area.
YOU DON’T NEED A DEATH CLINCH ON THE LEASH, it’s only there to provide subtle steering when needed and you can steer much more effectively if the leash is attached to the d-ring on a comfortable flat collar. (I still tell students to use a harness on the dog as a cue to work even though I do not have one on him here)

Fusel is like 13 here. He was the first detection dog I ever trained, before I was a contractor for the military, before I got involved in training recreational scent work or taught the Trainer’s Course.
The leash I threw on him that day is a tad longer than I prefer. I ran him on the hides I put out for students that day and I ran him in a somewhat loose pattern. He was a great dog! 😊

Fusel will be 14 next month.He still loves to work :)You can see the difference in his focused response compared to my method now.

03/31/2023

Napa, CA Scent Work Handling Clinic
May 6, 2023
Registration form below ⬇️

03/27/2023

First Scent Work session for almost 4 month old German Shepherd!

✅ Building Hunt Drive
✅ Imprinting Odor
✅ Teaching Final Response Indication

03/24/2023

You have much more control and can better guide and direct your dog if your leash is attached to a comfortable flat collar than you do if your leash is attached to a harness.
As people progress in scent work they often realize the value of a methodical search pattern and start to realize the necessity of making presentations to productive areas in addition to the subtleties of leash handling.
I start all dogs in scent work on a comfortable harness that allows them to pull comfortably in the beginning when I am doing restrained enticement to ensure duration of searching behavior in the “Training Lab”.
As soon as the dog is excited about the activity of searching, (usually after a few sessions) start-line enticement decreases and I switch the leash to a comfortable flat collar. This allows for more precision in both guiding the dog through the search area and creating the “freeze” response behavior.
I still always put the same harness on to cue the dog that it is doing the activity of scent work though.

03/23/2023

Last batch of kits to go out for a while.