Nosework Classes At DePaw Dog Sports - Taught by Kathryn Butts
Canine Nose Work: What is it?
The sport of Canine Nose Work provides an opportunity for dogs & handlers to test their teamwork and civilian scent detection skills. One dog and one handler form a team. The dog must search for a hidden target odor and indicate to the handler when the odor has been found. Each search is a blind hide and must be completed within a specified amount of time. During competition, the team is evaluated on their ability to search for, locate and respond to the hidden target odor(s). As a dog progresses through the various levels of competition the size of the search area will increase, the number of hidden odors increases and the number of distractions also increases.
There are multiple organizations that sanction competition tests (AKC, UKC & NACSW are the three largest venues), but all basically have the same four competition search elements:
There are multiple organizations that sanction competition tests (AKC, UKC & NACSW are the three largest venues), but all basically have the same four competition search elements:
- Container – a line of identical boxes (from 10 – 24), test can be inside or outside
- Interior – a specified interior area (from 100 sq ft - 1,200 sq ft)
- Exterior - a specified outdoor area (from 100 sq ft - 2,000 sq ft)
- Vehicle – utilizes 3 – 7 vehicles
- Buried - tubs of water or sand (from 6-16) cover the target odor
- Handler Discrimination - dogs search for their owners' scent in containers, interior or exterior searches
Some of the many benefits of Canine Nose Work are:
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Essential Oils used as target odor for Canine Nose Work
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