Point Cook Dog Training & Day Care offers Nose Work® workshops that embrace the sniffing ability of your dog, run over a few weeks allowing you time to learn in classes and practise at home.
We run both Introduction to K9 Nose Work® and Introduction to K9 Odour, with two instructors on board so we can keep up with the demand.
Dogs naturally sniff out scent but with our busy lives, congested suburbs and time poor lifestyles, our dogs just don’t get the opportunity to use their natural tool, their nose!
There are no special training requirements necessary. Your dog will not be instructed to do anything other than its natural job and the handler is there to offer encouragement when needed and reinforcement when the scent has been found.
To start dogs off, we use their favourite food and place them in boxes so they catch on fast. We then start to hide the food inside boxes, strategically placing them to throw them off the scent, and we let their noses take over. After a few practice runs, the amount of food hidden is decreased and the level of difficulty increases and we eventually get down to a speck of food.
The dogs learn to follow their instincts as they search the floor and over time, we move from boxes to novel items and even to cars. We also raise the targets so they learn not everything is on floor level. This builds confidence and encourages an enormous amount of concentration and watching the dogs work is absolutely fascinating.
Despite being a rather passive exercise, involving only slow walking and sniffing, the concentration alone is very exhausting and handlers often comment that their dogs go straight to sleep as soon as they get in the car. Sniffing requires a lot of focus and energy therefore the dogs go home feeling very tired and very satisfied!
All dogs work as individuals with their handler so this is an ideal course for dogs that are not great around other dogs, are anxious dogs or have handlers that are not comfortable being around other dogs. At no point do the dogs ever see each other! So for stressed dogs, this is an ideal sport.
We have two courses on offer, Introduction to K9 Nose Work with both Angela Hervey Tennyson and Jay Hall.
For those wanting to then take it further, Angela, offers Introduction to Odour, and this course can lead you into the world of competition.
For more information on each course and instructor, please click on the courses below as each is slightly different in course length, lesson length and fee.
Please note you cannot book into K9 Odour unless you have completed the K9 Nose Work course.