Rotts-n-Notts Nosework

23/08/2024

HUGE thanks to everyone who attended my AKC Container Element webinar last night! We had a wonderful time!!! Special thanks to Stacy Barnett and Scentsabilities Nosework Training for hosting !!! 😊
If you weren't able to attend live, you will have the recording to review at your leisure.
Please reach out to me if you have any questions !!! See you in the fall for my AKC Buried Element webinar !!!

23/08/2024

Huge thanks to Dude Nose Videos for capturing Team Vi at their best 💜…chomping and all! 😄🦈

22/08/2024

✅ WEBINAR REMINDER !!! ✅ 8/22 at 8:00 PM

Don't forget to sign up !! Even if you can't attend live, as long as you registered you will get the recorded presentation, including the Q & A, to review at your leisure !!!

Scentsabilities Nosework is hosting!! Get the Judge's Perspective on Preparing and Trialing in AKC Containers with Ana Cilursu

17/08/2024

It's unfortunate that we need policies and guidelines to ensure sportspersonship, courtesy and respect in our Nosework community.

The NACSW Education Division's Instructor Certification Program was developed to ensure a standard and quality of instruction that adhered to the founders’ original concepts of training that relied on dogs’ instinctual independent hunting and puzzle solving skills. Today there are instructors in...

17/08/2024

📌NACSW™ Rule Book - Version 12.3, August 15, 2024 is now available.
https://nacsw.net/sites/default/files/2024-08/NACSW%20Rule%20Book%2012.3%20August%2015%2C%202024.pdf

📋Summary of changes:
• Clarified unsportsmanlike conduct may result in disciplinary action as well as faults
• Clarified toy rewards must be hand-held and may not include items worn on the body or used in protection sports such as bite sleeves or suits
• Clarified NW2 Container search use and types of distractors
• Clarified ELT-P is eligible for Pronounced designation
• Updated ORT Test Specifications for January 1, 2025 with containers being a minimum of 3’ apart and the test time of 2:30.
• Minor phrasing and formatting improvements, updates, and clarifications

17/08/2024

👉🏻 WEBINAR ANNOUNCEMENT 👈🏻

Happy to announce my upcoming webinar, the third in The Judge's Eye series, next Thursday 8/22 at 8PM EDT - I will be talking about the AKC Container Element in detail !!!
Registration information is below - as long as you sign up in advance you will receive a recording of the presentation, including the Q & A. This presentation will not be available for purchase afterwards.
Join us for a fun evening demStacy Barnettse Scentsabilities Nosework Trainingarnett & Scentsabilities Nosework Training for hosting!!!
🐾📦💼🎒🧳👜👛👝

Scentsabilities Nosework is hosting!! Get the Judge's Perspective on Preparing and Trialing in AKC Containers with Ana Cilursu

15/08/2024

Yesterday we completed our first 8-week session of Nosework classes at the Staten Island Companion Dog Training Club. Such a privilege to coach all the amazing teams in every class!
Thank you to the Board of Directors for the opportunity to join the stellar list of your instructors, and a special heartfelt double thanks to Faith Beiser and Desma Dunne for all the hard work and support to get this party started!!!

Special HUGE congratulations to the Nosework Foundations class for the awesome start to their journeys !!!
Very proud of everyone !!! From left to right: Joy & Rex, Marie & Skor, Ryan & Chloe, Maryann & Lucy, Carmela & Annie and Marilyn & Buddy!
Super Sniffers in the making !! 👏🤩👏🎓👏🐾 Oh, the places you will go! 🥰

12/08/2024

Here's your chance to dig into Scent Theory and learn about the how's and why's of odor movement to maximize the potential of our hide placements!!!
Sign up today... or tomorrow... or the next day - but definitely sign up!!! ✅

WEBINAR THURSDAY!! Using Scent Theory to Your Advantage
Thursday August 15, 2024 @ 6 PM Pacific / 9 PM Eastern

Do you know why air moves and what may affect your hides? Do you know how to anticipate hide behavior based on weather, humidity, and more? Have you ever set a funky hide and you want to know WHY?

This webinar will explain in easy to understand terms how air moves and how it affects your hide's availability. We will have lots of video examples ranging from basic to very advanced. Also, if something DOES go wrong with your hide, do you know how to fix it? And finally, we will explore how to use this information to ultimately be more successful when we trial.

Hosted by Fenzi Dog Sports Academy
Register at: https://www.fenzidogsportsacademy.com/self-study/webinars

09/08/2024

🐾We still have openings for our Odor Recognition Test being held at UpFront Dog Center in Allentown NJ on Sunday Sept 8 !!
Sign up and get ready for the fall NACSW trials !

🐾Already have your ORT? FEO spots will be made available the week before the trial - let us know if you're interested!
It's a great way to get some real time experience searching containers in a novel environment!

🐾 Don't need an ORT? We can always use volunteers - without them trials don't happen! Reach out if you're available to help! No experience required - we provide on-the-job training! 👍

Dude Nose Videos will be there providing video services! Those videos are great memories and learning tools! 📹

ORT Premium and registration link are here:

Up Front Dog Center - Allentown NJ

06/08/2024

What a weekend working with fantastic teams from Novice to Master levels at the Scent Work seminar sponsored by Del-Otse-Nango Kennel Club and graciously hosted by Char & Bill Carentz.🤩
It was such a pleasure to spend the weekend in such beautiful surroundings with incredible people, laughing together and cheering each other on! Very grateful to all! Can't wait for the next one! 🥰

We worked on building skills and polishing up Foundations. We played games strengthening markers, reinforcements, handling, sourcing and transitions. We searched for hides high and low, including the inaccessible and close proximity ones.
Our amazing auditors were fully engaged and asked incredible questions. All the dogs and handlers were superstars!!! ⭐️⭐️

Enjoy the pictures that captured so many fun moments!
Thank you to Kelly and Denise for videotaping the teams as they worked. A great memory by which to remember the day and use as a learning tool!
Here are some incredible searching and sourcing moments working that ground hide!!!
https://youtu.be/rLRkiWhiqZk

05/08/2024

You can fix this - the tools and guidance in this method will help you develop a focused response and eliminating box smashing !!! This works!!!

Smashing or biting boxes? Fix that BIG problem and avoid costly faults. This is a HOW TO webinar to build a reliable nose freeze alert

03/08/2024

Excited to be back in the beautiful Catskills for a 2-day Scent Work seminar hosted by Del-Otse-Nango Kennel Club!!!
Looking forward to working with awesome teams !!

02/08/2024

The Power of the Single Hide.
Inspired by a thermal exercise from Stacy Barnett's recent Air Flow class, I set this hide deep in the shade and let it age for over two hours.
There was intermittent sun in the yard and on the deck, and winds averaging 9 mph with gusts of up to 20 mph.
Goals:
✅ observe odor driven behavior
✅ handle off leash at a reasonable distance without influencing my dog's search behavior
✅ interpret odor movement
✅ support my dog once areas have been cleared

How many changes of behavior do you see?
What conclusions can you draw from the way Vi searches ?

Setting single hides are extremely educational for both dog and handler. All the behaviors you see here are from that one hide.
Enjoy !!!

01/08/2024

Very excited for my upcoming 2-day Scent Work Seminar this weekend with Del-Otse-Nango Kennel Club in the beautiful Catskills !!!
There is a working spot available for Sunday's Excellent/Master/Detective/NW3 & Elite teams: Progressive skill building: inaccessible hides, close proximity hides, convergence, transitionsand the power of reinforcement !
See flyer for details ! Hope to see you there!

Two days of Scentwork for all levels: Day 1: Novice & Advanced/NW1-NW2: Basics of Handling, The Power of Reinforcement, Changes of Behavior & Transitions Between Hides Day 2: Excellent, Master & Detective/NW3 & Elite: Inaccessible Hides, Close Proximity Hides,

27/07/2024

Looking forward to a great weekend judging at the AKC Scent Work trial hosted by the Dacli - Dog Agility Club of Long Island !!!
Beautiful drive along the Ocean Causeway and lovely weather !! 😎🌞🌊
Axel is here to schmooze and check the hides!!! 🩵

23/07/2024

Such a great day at Bayshore Companion Dog Club yesterday at our Back to Basics workshop! We had a lot of fun, and saw amazing teams in action!
Thank you to all the working teams and auditors for the great searches, great questions and a lot of cheering and clapping !!!

22/07/2024

The perfect class to make the most of your training space and time!!!
Sign up today!!!

NEW class for this term!!

Too hot to go train? Or maybe you are just short on time? This class is about leveraging YOUR HOME to train your nosework dog. We will spend six weeks working on pieces of the puzzle that will support your overall training goals by building mechanics and skills in a way that will make you a stronger team. If you already train a lot at home, this course will give you ideas to make your sessions more creative and exciting.

We will cover CRITICAL mechanical skills that will tighten up your handling. This six weeks is NOT just about your dog! We will get your markers and communication on point and will help you to be more aware of your handling and inadvertant body pressure. We will help you to establish habits that will carry over into larger spaces.

Your home also brings so many unique options that you may not have explored! Hot spots and cool spots can help your dog learn to work more complicated air flow. Of course if your home is anything like mine, you also have plenty of tight spaces to work and areas for inaccessible hides.

Then of course we will work key hide placement setups with whole house searches and if you have access, combining indoor and outdoor spaces or incorporating non living spaces like garages and basements.

Of course we will also cover building close proximity skills and threshold hide placements using my methods for sensitization to those specific hide placements as well a working container distractions.

This class pulls together everything you can do at home into one class!

Registration Opens: July 22 @ 3 PM ET
Class Starts: August 1

More information at to register: https://www.fenzidogsportsacademy.com/index.php/courses/43298

22/07/2024

Now is the perfect time to start that Nosework training!!!
Register today!

18/07/2024

Such a privilege to spend the day with amazing teams and auditors at the Container Workshop hosted by Staten Island Companion Dog Training Club this past weekend!! 😊
We worked on Foundations: arousal, handling, changes of behavior.
We used distractions to enhance search focus.
We solved problems and built skills.
We laughed, and cheered and enjoyed a great lunch thanks to the club's wonderful hospitality!!!
Thank you for another incredible day !!! 🤩

16/07/2024

Thank you to Dude Nose Videos for capturing all the angles on our Vehicle search at the recent NW3 !!! Very proud of Team Vi here! 💜

15/07/2024

RNN super sniffer students Melody and Peter from Staten Island Companion Dog Training Club rocked the Long Island Golden Retriever Scent Work trial last weekend!
⭐️Peter finished his Excellent Interior title and qualified in 4 Advanced Container titles, bringing him to 9 legs towards that Elite title!
⭐️Melody completed her Novice Exterior Elite and Novice Buried Elite titles, and added legs in Containers and Interiors to her pursuit of those Elite titles as well, with lots of placements!
Well done, Marianne !!! 👏👏👏

08/07/2024

RNN super sniffer students from the Staten Island Companion Dog Training Club rocked the NACSW trial this weekend in Mt Laurel NJ ! 🤩
SO proud to coach these amazing teams! 👏👏👏

07/07/2024

NACSW Odor Recognition Test: Sunday, September 8 at Up Front Dog Center in Allentown NJ !!!
Registration opens Monday July 8 !!!! FEO entries will be allowed to register after September 1st if there are still slots available! Great way to prepare for trial or add to your training experience in a new place!!
Hope to see you there!
Download premium & registration form here:

Up Front Dog Center - Allentown NJ

01/07/2024

Upcoming Event!!!Taking the Mystery out of the Box: A Container Workshop.
Sunday July 14 hosted by Staten Island Companion Dog Training Club
Auditing spots are still available ! Come learn with us in a relaxed atmosphere, watch great teams in action and make new friends!!

Join us for a day of Container fun ! We will address handling and distraction work, and tackle the most common challenges in this element: missed hides, false alerts and box antics!!! Auditing spots are still available!! It’s a great way to learn and make new friends!

25/06/2024

Regardless of the circumstances that contribute to lines during staging, always advocate for your dog above all else.

I posted a version of this elsewhere and it disappeared. SO many requests to repost it! So here goes... with some additional thought!

There is a phenomenon that is seen often in some Scent Work competitions that perplexes me... long lines to go search! Sometimes competitors are asked to do this and sometimes they seem to just do it of their own accord even when officials and volunteers tell them not to. I think the worry is about missing a turn because the run order has been tossed.... or maybe it's the call of the majority.... lining up just because others do! And if you are a new team, how are you to know that it's something you should or should not do?

I am here to ask you WHY ARE YOU LINING UP?

Ok... maybe that isn't fair... what if you don't have an answer? What I CAN tell you is that the longer you stand in line, the less optimal your dog's arousal is... and the less optimal their arousal, the worse their focus. The worse their focus, the poorer your performance will be. If you have an excitable dog, your dog may be a frenetic mess (I can guarantee you will be too, especially if you have a barker!). If you have a more typical dog, your dog will likely be flat... and you will be cueing "Find it. Find it. Where is it. Show me." and you will end up steering your dog around the search area. Either way, both of you are having WAY less fun than if you didn't put him in that long line to begin with. No matter what your dog is like, I can pretty much guarantee that if you DID NOT get in that long line, your search would have gone better.

Waiting IS a part of this sport. When the search areas are far away, you might need a couple of "Staging Areas" where you wait until you move to the next spot a little closer. From experience, the more you have of those, the harder it is... but SOME Staging is critical for the flow of a trial.... and in some trials, you MIGHT need to have a couple of dogs ready to go especially if the search times are short. As a competitor, you MUST have a plan for managing your dog at these moments. Teach them how to wait properly and have a plan for how to engage your dog prior to taking them to the start line. Be a student of FOCUS and ENGAGEMENT. Keep in mind, the longer the wait, the harder it is on your dog.

Otherwise, especially if you have a choice, DON'T GET IN A LONG LINE..... and if it was me and I was told that I didn't have a choice? Well... I probably wouldn't enter with that club again. There are only so many weekends... (but don't get me started on frequent trialing... that is ANOTHER subject!!)

However... and I need to say this... IF you are told that you don't have a choice and that you must line up in very long lines, remember to be a good competitor and show good sportsmanship. Don't take it out on the volunteer, your other competitors, or worse... your dog.

This also has NOTHING to do with dog aggression or reactivity... this is about performance.... it's about having a dog primed for the best search that they can do. It's about having FUN and showing off all that great training that you did before mailing in your entry.

Breathe. Smile. And try to avoid those long lines!

Photo of one of my dogs right before going into a search....

22/06/2024

Too hot to search outside? 🥵 Then search inside!!! 😀
You can do one or two rooms for the more novice dogs, or your whole house for the more advanced! Start at one end and set a hide (or two) at the other end. You can introduce unproductive space this way and then celebrate when your dog sources the hide!
You can close doors to some rooms or start in the middle of your house with a hide on each end!

Want to make it more fun? Set weird hides....use your imagination! Want to add to the challenge? Set a fan in one of your rooms, or set a hide in your basement, and let it age for a while. Then let your dog clear the upstairs before heading down to the basement.

Here is Axel doing a weird hide search....
Have fun and stay cool! 😎

21/06/2024

Great to be teaching weekly nosework classes at Staten Island Companion Dog Training Club! We started yesterday with five awesome classes - all the teams did so well!! Lots of fun and great sniffing!! 🐾👏🏻

15/06/2024

It’s a beautiful day for a Scent Work workshop! Thanks to Mid-Atlantic Basenji Club for inviting me and House Bairon for hosting!
🐾😎