QY10
Well-Known Member
Angus and I have started a nose work class. We're about 4 weeks in so far. He's such a rockstar at it. Small brag is that he seems to be ahead of his class. He seems to just get it. It is really nice because there is only one dog in the area at a time, so there's never any worries about the dogs meeting and a potential fight happening.
The first few weeks we started with pairing a primary reward and target odour (winter green oil). The box with the odour in it also contained his treats in it. With 5-6 boxes lined up, only 1 has the target odour and treats. Angus has been able to search each box until he gets to the right one, which is great! Sometimes as we exit the area, he checks each box a second time, which is pretty cute.
We have also played games where the boxes are stacked up on top of each other, or piled onto each other into what looks like a cardboard mountain. The dog has to sift through the boxes and identify which box contains the odour. Again, Angus has no problems with getting to the correct box.
This Tuesday, we stopped pairing. So, only the target odour was in the box and the dogs got treats once they found the odour and kept their head inside the box. We also worked on putting the boxes at different heights. So there would be a bunch of boxes on the floor and the box with the target odour was up on a chair. Angus successfully searched each box and had no issues with the height. It was kind of funny because the instructor was in the process of stating that the height difference can be confusing for dogs at first as they are not used to having to search that high up. As she was saying that, Angus figured out where the odour was and put his head into the box. The instructor says, "...Or make a liar out of me!"
I am very proud of my boy. <33333
The first few weeks we started with pairing a primary reward and target odour (winter green oil). The box with the odour in it also contained his treats in it. With 5-6 boxes lined up, only 1 has the target odour and treats. Angus has been able to search each box until he gets to the right one, which is great! Sometimes as we exit the area, he checks each box a second time, which is pretty cute.
We have also played games where the boxes are stacked up on top of each other, or piled onto each other into what looks like a cardboard mountain. The dog has to sift through the boxes and identify which box contains the odour. Again, Angus has no problems with getting to the correct box.
This Tuesday, we stopped pairing. So, only the target odour was in the box and the dogs got treats once they found the odour and kept their head inside the box. We also worked on putting the boxes at different heights. So there would be a bunch of boxes on the floor and the box with the target odour was up on a chair. Angus successfully searched each box and had no issues with the height. It was kind of funny because the instructor was in the process of stating that the height difference can be confusing for dogs at first as they are not used to having to search that high up. As she was saying that, Angus figured out where the odour was and put his head into the box. The instructor says, "...Or make a liar out of me!"
I am very proud of my boy. <33333