Understanding the K9 Nose Work® Approach

K9 Nose Work® is all about the dogs and all about celebrating their amazing abilities.
As a Certified Nose Work Instructor, I have seen first hand how the K9 Nose Work® philosophy embraces the journey and enjoyment of learning with your dog.
Dogs perform best and are the most joyful when we allow them to learn on their terms. They are happiest using their natural abilities, especially their amazing olfactory sense.
K9 Nose Work® helps deepen the human-canine bond through a deeper understanding of canine communication. This is accomplished by carefully observing dogs as they independently seek odor sources in their environment.
With the K9 Nose Work® training methodology, every dog is celebrated for the unique individual they are and allowed to be their true selves.
K9 Nose Work® Training Methodology
Any dog can learn K9 Nose Work®. The training methodology is designed to help pet dogs tap into their hunting instinct, learn independent problem-solving skills, and to build broad and solid foundational scent detection skills that will enable them to successfully face new and greater challenges in K9 Nose Work®.
All K9 Nose Work® dogs begin the game by searching for their favorite food or toy. They search in an obedience-free zone, without handler interruption or unintended correction. When dogs find the hidden toy or food reward, they play with it or eat it, self-rewarding and reinforcing their successful searching behavior. Many K9 Nose Work® dogs will learn the activity searching for their food or toy reward for 3 months to a year. This time period before introducing a target odor allows for dogs to build their desire to hunt, stamina for searching, and skills for searching in many environments without the risk of failure, distraction or disinterest in the search. It also gives the handler time to learn how to observe the dog and to learn handling skills. In K9 Nose Work®, pet dogs are learning a task that is typically assigned to world-class, specifically bred high-drive working dogs, so it’s important to move the training at a pace that will bring the best performance out of the dog.
Throughout a dog & handler team’s training in K9 Nose Work®, the emphasis will always be on creating learning experiences for the dog and supporting his independent problem solving, not commanding him to perform a series of tasks in a predetermined manner. K9 Nose Work® is all about the dogs and all about celebrating their amazing abilities.