K9 Nose Fun

31/05/2026

Intro course near Ballarat. Contact Dog Chewition

Introduction to K9 Nose Work ® commencing soon.
A fun inclusive sport for dogs and handlers, building dogs confidence and focus. It’s a fun safe way to offer mental and physical activity.
Classes are conducted by a CNWI (Certified Nose Work Instructor).
Commencing Sunday 14 June, continuing Sunday 5 July and concluding Sunday 12 July.
These will be morning classes.
Ballarat area.
Get in touch to find out more or book your spot!

28/05/2026

Aww, how cute are Winnie and Gemma, enjoying their post-sniff snooze ❤️💤
Their human said "Thanks for making this available Angela, it has been a godsend for both my girls - Gemma just lights up as soon as the harness goes on and you can see how much Winnie enjoys it. And she LOVES to learn anything new and 'work'."

25/05/2026

Another road trip yesterday, but this time only 10 mins from home 😀 Lucky me!
Thanks so much to Kelly and the Moorabbin ODC for inviting me to judge at their well organised trial in Oakleigh South. Thanks to all the volunteers for doing such a great job ⭐️👏
I judged Master Exterior:
2 hides - birch in the rear garden, and clove on the nearby low wall, which, when combined with the bench distractor, gave the dogs a triangle of various odours.
3 distractors - chicken feathers under a stand in the corner of the verandah; a beautiful bovine mimic; and a piece of a chocolate wheaten biscuit on the bench seat near the garden hide.
Time given was 4.30 mins. Fastest time was just over 3 mins.
Sadly, only 6/39 passes, with many dogs finding one or both hides, but then calling alert on a distractor 😔
Re the distractors:
the cow did disturb a handful of dogs, but all were able to work on, even if they had to occasionally send the cow a dirty look. No false alerts on this, thank goodness, although at least one handler made her dog thoroughly search the cow. I placed the wall hide nearby with the idea of drawing dogs away from the cow, which seemed to work for most;
the feathers on the verandah caught many teams out and was more 'interesting' than the biscuit hide on the bench. I placed these on the verandah to draw the dogs away from the start line so they would not be tempted to jump off the deck too soon;
the biscuit did trip a few teams up, but not as many as the feathers.
Now to catch up on work!

21/05/2026

CHECK YOUR SPAM!!
If you are on either the "Interested in K9 Nose Work® course" or the "Interested in Introduction to ODOUR course" mailing lists, emails went out earlier today with details about upcoming courses.
PLEASE DOUBLE CHECK YOUR SPAM/JUNK FOLDERS before contacting me.
Contact me via PM or email if you'd like to be added to either of the mailing lists or for more information

16/05/2026

Novice Interior at Hastings today.
What a pleasure to judge Nov Int at the Hastings Club. Thanks to the club and the many helpers who contributed to a slickly run trial. Great work, everyone ❤️
Thanks and congratulations to the teams who attended. You all did such a great job 🥇👏
The search consisted of:
1 hide, 2 mins, on or off lead, hide no higher than 60 cm, no intentional distractors.
31/41 passes =76%. Fastest time was 0.11.13 sec, with most search times coming in below 60 sec.

13/05/2026

Another course coming up in Diggers Rest. Contact Fun for Dogs Australia

🔆 Just for a change, our next Intro to K9 Nose Work course will run on Saturdays, commencing May 30.

Please Note: This Course will run for the usual 5 weeks, but due to prior commitments, will not be consecutive weeks. See below for class dates.

👇Course Details

Intro to K9 Nose Work
> Commences: Saturday May 30
> Runs for: 5 weeks
May 30
June 6, 20
July 4, 11
> Class Time: 10.30am - 12.15pm
> Location: Kepala Canine Country Club, Diggers Rest
> Investment: $200 per dog

Classes fill quickly - enrol now!

🐾 0447 286 639
🐾 [email protected]

13/05/2026

Bendigo Road Trip Run Down
It was great to get away for another weekend of judging. This time, a SW trial in Newbridge. Advantage, I caught up with family nearby.
Thanks to the Bendigo Obedience Dog Club, especially Nicole, Denise and all the many wonderful helpers.
Advanced Vehicles was run on the Saturday - 2 Vehicles, 2 hides, 1 intentional distractor, 3 mins. Fastest time was 0.49.25 sec. 26/50 passes. The day was quite windy. Mostly sunny and warm out of the wind.
If I remember correctly, the odours were cypress on the sedan, and clove on the trailer. I am fairly sure that the trailer hide was found more often than the sedan hide.
Sunday Excellent Exterior - 4 mins, 3 hides, 2 intentional distractors.
Clove on the pole in the corner facing the start line. This hide was potentially inaccessible, depending on the dog. A few dogs ran straight to the pole from the start line. Others worked it after working the converging hides.
Birch in the ground inside the temporary fencing stand, was the most found hide. This hide was set up to converge with the cypress hide on the end of the table, which worked well. It was fascinating to watch the dogs working these two hides, and watch them sort the odours out as they worked on being able to pinpoint each. Only 5 passes out of around 35 dogs, but lots of lovely work in between.
Some regional photos to tempt you for next time.

12/05/2026

Intro to Odour course coming up, Diggers Rest way. Contact Fun for Dogs Australia for more information

12/05/2026

Another Intro course in Thomastown ❤️ Contact Dog Solutions for info and to book

Just when we thought it couldn't get even more fun with our next Introduction to Nose Work course at 12pm on Sunday currently full, Ashanee has created a new Introduction to Nose Work course starting this Sunday (17th of May) at 2:30pm in Thomastown! We've got 2 places remaining in the course as of this post.

Nose Work is open to all dogs of all ages (social, reactive, under or over-confident, class clowns, local rock stars), and is all about sniffing, searching and scent detection, providing fun enrichment and mental stimulation, and a sniffing good time.

Bookings essential!
https://www.dogsolutions.com.au/services/onlinebookings/
or call 0414415728 during office hours for more information.

08/05/2026

Out of office notice.
Another road trip - judging in Newbridge (near Bendigo). Back on Monday