What is K9 Nose Work?
K9 Nose Work is a new, exciting, detection-style sport that develops dogs’ natural scenting
abilities by using their curiosity, desire to hunt, and their love of toys, food and exercise. K9
Nose Work was developed in California by Amy Herot, Jill Marie O’Brien and Ron Gaunt. The
founders have experience in training detection dogs for narcotics and explosives. To find
more about K9 Nose Work visit www.k9nosework.com
Where can my dog learn and practice K9 Nose Work?
The sport of K9 Nose Work includes fun nose work classes that are taught all over the country.
Why get involved in K9 Nose Work and are there K9 Nose Work titles?
K9 Nose Work is a great sport for your dog because it requires no prior training or skills and
is relatively easy to teach your dog, only requires mild physical demands on you and your
dog, gives your dog tons of mental stimulation, is suitable for both confident and timid dogs
as well as high-energy and low-energy dogs and can be practiced at home and in urban
settings. Some get involved with K9 Nose Work just for the fun of it and others like the fun,
but also are interested in competition and earning titles.
If you are interested in finding out about the requirements for K9 Nose Work competitions
and titling visit the National Association of Canine Scent Work (NACSW) at www.nacsw.net.
The NACSW is the official sanctioning and organizing body for the sport of K9 Nose Work.
What type of dogs would like and/or benefit from K9 Nose Work?
K9 Nose Work is great for extremely high drive dogs as a way to use up some of their excess
energy. K9 Nose Work is also good for dogs that need some encouragement to investigate
using their noses; nose work classes can be a great confidence-builder for these dogs.
Because dogs get to work one at a time, dogs that are shy or fearful, unfocused or
unmotivated, or reactive with other dogs are able to participate.
Teaching nose work to dogs begins with a hide-n-seek game involving cardboard boxes and
treats. Both dogs and their owners love nose work because it allows a dog to use his or her
natural hunting instinct – it lets the dog be a dog and it lets the handler learn about scent
from the dog. Co-founder Ron Gaunt emphasizes, “We don’t teach the dogs anything about
nose work, we’re just the tour guides.”
As training for K9 Nose Work advances, dogs get to use their remarkable scenting abilities to
find the level 1 odor of birch, then the level 2 odor of anise, and finally the level 3 odor of
clove. First, the dogs learn to seek the scent in cardboard boxes and then they move on to
interior searches, exterior searches and vehicle searches. The scent-searching game also
involves it being hidden at various heights.
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