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The Nose Knows
Ta Da! Introducing Nose Work (aka Scent Work), a sport that English
Setters naturally excel at and enjoy.
Nose Work is a fairly new (about ten years old) sport that takes advantage
of a power that dogs naturally possess, finding things using their keen
sense of smell and desire to hunt. Nothing smells better than a Nose Work
dog, and English Setters are particularly good at it.
In a beginning Nose Work class, dogs find bits of food that are hidden in
open containers such as cardboard boxes. Nose Work class is described as
an “obedience-free” zone where dogs work in an enclosed, secure area
without the presence of other dogs and do not have to sit or heel or do
any of those human-defined behaviors, only exercise their innate talents.
As the class progresses, the types of “hides” with food gradually become
more complex but only as the dog can easily handle the new challenges.
This sport is intended to be pure fun for the dog.
During training, the owner learns to read the dog’s body language and know
when he’s hot on the trail of a scent or just gathering information.
Because of this need to observe closely, the sport develops a strong
partnership between you and your Setter. It is as appropriate for puppies
as for advanced obedience dogs and for all types of dogs in between. It is
a great confidence builder as the dog learns he is the team leader, the
one possessing all the skills, and the human is lost without him.
After the dog is proficient at finding food hides, he may graduate to
target odors – birch, clove, and anise – with one drop placed on a Q tip
and hidden for the dog to find in closed containers both indoors and
outdoors. Once proficient on odors and after passing an Odor Recognition
Test (ORT), the dog and handler can choose to enter Nose Work Trials and
earn titles (NW1, NW2, and NW3). But, you can go on forever just setting
hides for fun in various new situations if that’s your choice.
My girl Eliza absolutely loves her Nose Work class and drags me into the
building whenever we go to class. Our practice sessions with hides around
the house and yard and about the town are fun for her too. The sport is
highly portable. In fact, it’s important for you go to many different
places to practice. We take her nose with us wherever we go, and the sport
requires very little equipment, just various types of containers and food,
or later on, a nose work odor kit. Once you leave the safe, secure area,
practice sessions are conducted on leash or long line.
If you wish to look into competition and titles, you can check the web
site of the National Association of Canine Scent Work (NACSW),
http://iframe.nacsw.net/, the group that sets the standards governing the
sport of canine nose work and, at present, the only official sanctioning
and organizing body for canine nose work titles and ORTs. This sport was
inspired by the training methodology of detection canines and borrows
elements of that training for recreation.
Some may find that their dog is so good at Nose Work and they as a team
enjoy it so much that they would like to go on to other activities that
center on a dog’s ability to scent, such as Search And Rescue, picking up
bird scent when hunting, and working scent articles in utility class in
obedience. Alas, you may find you have to keep food put away in your house
to prevent your Setter from exercising his scent work skills on your
kitchen counter. When it comes to using his nose, there is probably no
limit to what your Setter can do.