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...

Toy play helps to engage and motivate dogs, and if your puppy is chewing, providing appropriate toys help prevent chomping people's hands. One of the most common errors is playing "keep away", where the handler tries to grab the toy (or the dog's collar) and the dog runs away. This can quickly become a happy game for the dog, but it's certainly inconvenient for the handler.

Keep away frequently happens because the handler focused on taking the toy away from the dog. Some of the best retrievers don't want to give up the toy. From the dog's point of view, playing with the toy is rewarding, and when you take it away it's punishment. So how do you get the toy back? 

The video above demonstrates a better strategy: toy switching, which makes tug a more interactive, cooperative game you enjoy together. It's not just about the toy, it's about playing an exciting game with you. When you focus on having fun, instead of taking the dog's reward away, it's a win-win situation.  

STEPS FOR TOY SW...

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...

Every canine scent detection class I teach begins with a taste test of the available food rewards, because building drive depends on making it rewarding for each individual dog. When you offer a dog 2 - 3 high value food rewards, and let the dog select the one they prefer, they will be more highly motivated to succeed.

I learned scent detection from a military detection dog trainer, who demonstrated that most dogs enjoy Rollover or rotisserie chicken from the local grocery store. But while these foods appeal to dogs, they usually fall into pieces that make a distracting mess on the floor. The best training rewards should have it all:

• Smelly and tasty
• Noncrumbling – dry, tidy and easily portable
• Available in small pieces – you want the dog to gobble a piece quickly and get back to work, so you can practice the most repetitions in the time available
• Healthy – quality and nutrition with no surprises, and the fewer additives the better
• Cost effective, and
• Easy to make with minimal
...

Watch the video to see what Domino has to say about our scent detection training. 

Register for our new 7-Day Scent Challenge to learn how to introduce your dog to a new scent in just 7 days, like we did with Domino. Choose your favorite scent e.g. a glove for handler discrimination. The protocol applies the same techniques we use to train professional detection dogs. The secret is it has to be fun.

We're so sure you'll have fun, it's guaranteed. Try the course and if you don't have fun, you have 7 days to request a refund. The 50% OFF STAY AT HOME SALE ends at midnight, April 19, 2020!

SIGN UP at: https://scentdetection.huntersheart.com/7day_scent_challenge_preview?cid=260c78d2-5337-43b6-abc2-28279fdf13c0

Stuck at home in social isolation and looking for something to do? Don't get stuck in a rut. Here's some fun ideas for how to set up for training scent detection at home. 

Hiding Food

Many trainers hide food inside Kongs and stuffable food balls, in snuffle mats (like a deep shaggy rug), and amidst the grass in their yard to introduce puppies to finding food. Or fill a kiddie pool with safe balls or empty plastic bottles and hide the food at the bottom. Beyond that, there are innumerable opportunities to explore in the diverse world of scent detection. Newbies looking to learn how to use a scent detection kit for practicing at home can learn more at: Scent Detection Kit Instructions and Supplies for Nosework. Whatever your discipline, read on for some fresh ideas.

Use What You Have

Use what you have around you. Much to our delight, one of our students brought a small wine rack to class, replaced all the wine with a hide, and we simply rotated the rack to move the hide to new config...

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Looking for older blog posts? Check out our wordpress blog at https://nosework.huntersheart.com/blog/

We've been sniffing since 1999, and aim to update our protocols, courses and articles, as knowledge about canine olfaction continues to grow.

Sometimes it's a struggle to adapt and keep pace. Thank you for your patience. When I graduated from the University of Toronto in 1995, I was working on a mainframe, and carrying floppy discs. I remember reading (paper) books to learn about the developing world wide web.  Online searches were long, tedious, hard work with frequently disappointing results. The scanned photo in this post is from my (paper) scrapbook from when we had only 1 dog, and 5 ferrets, each with their own lessons to teach. We've come a long way since then. 

Throughout all, my canine partners have kept life real. No matter what I'm working on, they never lose their zest for a new ...