Scent Detection Blog

Many clients have asked about which dog training vest I wear. In this post I’ll share my favorite products for carrying food rewards and supplies like gloves for outdoor dog training sessions in all types of extreme weather.

Please keep in mind that I train every day, outdoors from -55°C to +34 °C (that's -67°F to 93°F) , with many dogs. If you don’t train a lot, you can probably just put the food or toy rewards into the pocket of your clothes. But the more supplies you bring to outdoor training, the more challenging it is to find each item when you need it ASAP. For example, if one dog has allergies, and you need to keep their rewards separate from the others, then having more than one pocket is helpful. If you’re dropping items or losing them, then a training vest can help to organize your rewards and gear.  

Here are my 6 favorite options for carrying rewards and training supplies. (These are not affiliate links so I don't earn any money for my recommendations):

1. My favorite dog...

Did you know you can save more time by training canine scent detection using cocktail?

A “hide” is the package of target odor inside a ventilated container that is hidden in the search are for the dog to find e.g. a cotton swab inside a metal tin. Learn how to make single odor hides with proper odor hygiene at: https://scentdetection.huntersheart.com/sales-page-8c41e69a-499c-455b-8451-b9b5bccbdbc3. 

A “cocktailed” hide contains multiple odors. At my classes, I routinely use a cocktail of all 6 target odors required for CKC Scent Detection Competition: Birch + Anise + Clove + Wintergreen + Pine + Cypress. The video shows exactly how to make hides with a cocktail of all 6 CKC scents. 

Of course, you can make a cocktail of whatever target odors you want your green dog to learn. For example, illegal narcotics on the street are rarely 100% pure, so training on a mixture by using cocktail more closely resembles real life deployments. Similarly, bed bug hides may contain live bugs, pheromo...