Canine Scentwork Academy, Wythall (2026)

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Sniff It Out - Scent Mastery
https://www.scentworkacademy.co.uk/sniff-it-out-discover-scent-training-unlock-the-true-potential-of-your-dogs-nose/ As a proud dog mom to two furry canine companions, I'm passionate about harnessing the power of scentwork for all dogs. Reenie, my Flatcoated Retriever, is my scentwork superstar. Her incredible nose inspired me to delve into scentwork training and become an instructor, empowering countless dog owners to embark on this rewarding journey with their own canine companions. I firmly believe that scentwork offers numerous benefits for both dogs and their human partners. By tapping into a dog's natural instincts, scentwork provides mental and physical stimulation, strengthens the bond between dog and handler, and can even improve on overall behaviour. My other dog, Rusty, a Stabyhoun, will soon join Reenie on this exciting scent work adventure. I eagerly anticipate many years of nose-work fun ahead. Since 2017, Scent Work Academy has fostered a thriving community of dog owners dedicated to training their pets in scent detection. We utilize a variety of target odors, including clove, gun oil, truffle oil, and Kong rubber. I approach scentwork training with a rigorous and structured approach. I'm committed to ongoing professional development and oversee hundreds of search tasks annually, evaluating thousands of searches conducted by dogs. My goal is to empower both dogs and their handlers to excel in scentwork. I strive to create a positive and enjoyable learning experience for everyone involved, fostering a deep sense of accomplishment and satisfaction. I'm passionate about introducing this enriching activity to as many dog owners as possible. Scent Work Academy offers a friendly, non-judgmental environment where everyone can learn, grow, and bond with their dogs through the joy of scent detection. Whether you prefer in-person training or online learning, scentwork can be successfully practiced in your own home and surrounding areas. I invite you to explore the world of scentwork and discover how it can transform your relationship with your dog.

30/10/2026

🐾 SCENTWORK TRAINING - THE LOOK BACK OR THE WOODPECKER! 🐾

Does your dog find the target odour and immediately look back at you? Or perhaps they do a little ‘woodpecker’, moving their nose back and forth between the source and you?

It is something I see quite regularly in scentwork training, and there can be several reasons why it happens.

So, why might this be happening, and what can we do about it?

Here are my TOP SIX things to consider when troubleshooting this behaviour. 🔎🐕

1️⃣ IS YOUR DOG UNSURE THEY ARE CORRECT?

Sometimes that little look back is a dog seeking information or reassurance from their handler. They have encountered the target odour, but perhaps they are not entirely clear about what is expected of them or how to earn their reinforcement.

This is where I would revisit the foundations. Go back to some simple, familiar exercises and build more value for the target odour. Revisit your odour imprinting, strengthen the association between finding the odour and receiving reinforcement, and give your dog plenty of opportunities to be successful.

Don’t be afraid to go back to basics. Sometimes that’s exactly where the greatest progress is made.

2️⃣ ARE YOU MARKING THE LOOK BACK RATHER THAN THE NOSE AT SOURCE?

This is a really common one.
Your dog reaches the source, their nose is there for a split second, they turn towards you and then you say your marker word.

What have you actually marked?

Potentially, the look back rather than the behaviour you wanted.

If you know your dog has a tendency to glance back, anticipate it. On a known hide placement, be ready to mark the moment their nose reaches source, before they turn towards you.

Initially, don’t worry about building a lengthy duration on their nose holding (freeze). Capture that lovely moment of recognition and reinforce it. Duration can be developed later, once your dog has a clearer understanding of the behaviour.

This is also where working with an instructor can be so valuable. They may be able to advise when your dog is approaching source or even mark the behaviour for you, allowing you to observe pre signals and concentrate on delivering the reinforcement.

3️⃣ IS YOUR REWARD GIVING THE GAME AWAY?

The rustle of the coat, the treat pouch being opened , the hand creeping towards the pocket or any tiny movement we don’t even realise we are making

Our dogs are incredibly observant, and they can become very good at recognising the little signals that tell them their reward is coming.

Sometimes the dog has not looked back because they are unsure about the odour at all. They have simply heard or seen something that predicts their reinforcement.

Watch yourself on video. Are you reaching towards your reward before you have marked? Are you preparing to deliver it as your dog approaches and lands at source? I have done this, we want to deliver efficiently, it’s so easy to be that split second too early.

Try keeping your hands still, when working off line, I try to pin mine behind my back out of mischief, reward out of sight and your body language neutral until you have marked the behaviour.

4️⃣ MARK FIRST, THEN MOVE TO REWARD

This follows from number three

We can inadvertently teach our dogs that our hand moving towards the treat pouch is the signal that their job is finished, rather than the marker word itself.

Your marker should identify the behaviour you want to reinforce. Once you have marked, then move to retrieve and deliver the reward.

Mark the behaviour first. Move second. Reward third.

It sounds simple, but those little fractions of a second can make a difference.

If you are working towards a longer nose hold duration at source, you need to be clear about exactly which moment you are marking. Be consistent with progression.

5️⃣ ARE YOU ALWAYS MOVING FORWARD TO REWARD AT SOURCE?

In the early stages of scentwork training, we often move towards our dog to deliver reinforcement directly at the source. This can be really useful to encourage the dog to remain close to source and for building value for the target odour.

However, over time, some dogs begin to anticipate our movement or become very aware of where we are in relation to the reward.

If appropriate for your dog’s stage of learning, try varying your reward delivery.

Mark the correct behaviour and then toss the food or toy close to the hide placement, rather than always stepping forward to deliver it directly.

This can help separate your movement from the behaviour you’re marking, whilst keeping reinforcement associated with the source area. If your dog is super sensitive to your movement, once again having another person deliver the reward after the marker can start to break the cycle

6️⃣Pairing

Some training methods pair the odour and food together from foundation and for quite some time in the dogs progression. The food is accessible for the dog. This is to build value for the target odour and motivation. Nothing wrong with this for those aspects above, but once the food is removed the dog immediately looks back as if to say ‘uh, where is it ?’ This is then marked as the dogs indication. Over time though they can look back for other reasons and the handler is then unsure, observation skills of pre signals have to be acute here.

Unless troubleshooting a lack of motivation, I would initially build value for the odour with more simple searches, quick firing the rewards down to the dog when they offer nose hold Indication, so quick the head stays down and doesn’t look back. Running alongside this indication duration training on one item. Taking your body cues out of it by sitting on the floor and building duration. Then add a choice of two items, gradually building up. Both of these methods will build value for the odour, dropping of the pairing in searches sooner.

⭐️Key Pointer Reward delivery and marker timing are two different things. It’s the marker that identifies the precise behaviour being reinforced. If you want to build duration at source, gradually develop that nose hold before marking, but cross that first hurdle of the ‘woodpecker’ behaviour first.

🐾 A FINAL THOUGHT…

These are just six of the things I would look at when troubleshooting a dog who regularly looks back or ‘woodpeckers’ between source and handler.

There can, of course be other reasons. Your dog may lack confidence in the environment, be uncertain about the task in front of them, or have developed a particular indication behaviour through their previous learning history.

If this is a problem for you consider what behaviour you are actually training, what your dog understands and what is happening in that particular moment.

Sometimes just a tiny adjustment in our marker timing, movement or reinforcement can make a significant difference.

And if you are unsure, video your searches. You may be surprised at what you discover when you watch them back.

❓Does your dog have a tendency to look back at you when they find source, or do a little woodpecker between you and the hide? Have you discovered what might be contributing to it?

I would love to hear your experiences, comment below. 👇

Mandy Rigby
Instructor and Founder
Canine Scentwork Academy
& Nose First Dog Training Club

** This group is focused on Pet Dog Scent Work, Hobbyists and Sporting ***

29/10/2026

Down load your free playbook of scent work games to do at home with your dog ❤️🐕‍🦺. Ignite their super sniffer nose today https://scentworkacademy.co.uk/boredom-busting-games-form/

27/10/2026

So many amazing noses! 🐶🐾🐕‍🦺🐕

Here at Canine Scentwork Academy our mission is to raise awareness of scentwork for companion pet dogs, helping more owners discover their dogs’ incredible capabilities and the joy of searching together.

Everyone helping on our stand discovered scentwork through Canine Scentwork Academy. Once a year, they volunteer their time to share that passion with other dog owners. That makes this team rather special. ❤️

Edition Dog Live, with its focus on dogs’ health and wellbeing, gives us a wonderful platform to spread that message. Thank you EDL 🙏

More noses working. More owners discovering. More connections growing. 🐾.

27/10/2026

🐾🐕‍🦺 CAN YOU ANTICIPATE WHAT YOUR DOG IS GOING TO DO? 🐾

How well do you know your dog’s searching habits? Can you anticipate what they might do next, before they have even done it?

One of the biggest advantages we have as handlers is the opportunity to learn from what our dogs have shown us time and time again. Their little habits, their preferred search patterns, the areas they naturally investigate and, perhaps more importantly, those areas they have a tendency to overlook.

Observation is one thing, but using those observations to anticipate and prepare is where we can make a real difference to our training and handling.

Think about your own dog. Are they inclined to miss corners? Do they rush past thresholds, overlook inlets or unders, or perhaps struggle to investigate elevated areas? Maybe they have a tendency to follow the perimeter of a search area and miss opportunities within it.

These are all little pieces of information that we can use to become more thoughtful handlers.

Let’s take corners as an example. If you have noticed that your dog regularly misses corners, rather than waiting for it to happen again and then trying to correct it, why not address it in your training.

Set up some carefully planned searches that encourage your dog to investigate corners. Give them opportunities to find target odour there, reward generously and build a positive reinforcement history for searching those areas. Repeat the learning in different settings, with different corner configurations, so your dog begins to recognise that these areas are worth investigating.

We are not simply teaching our dogs where to find odour. We are developing their search behaviours and helping them become more thorough, independent problem-solvers.

Now, here’s where thinking ahead comes into play.

When you move on to a blind search, where you don’t know the location of the hide, you already have valuable information about your dog’s searching tendencies. You know that corners have sometimes been overlooked in the past.

So, as you approach an area with corners, you can casually anticipate that this might happen again.

But here’s the important distinction. Anticipate, don’t assume!

Your dog may investigate the corner beautifully without any input from you. Fantastic! Give them the opportunity to do so.

However, if you have already considered your positioning and the direction of travel, you are in a much better place to support them should they need it.

Rather than finding yourself dashing after your dog, suddenly realising an area has been missed, or having to stop and retask them back into a corner, you can be ready in advance. A small adjustment in your own movement, position or search route may be all that’s needed to naturally guide your dog towards an area they might otherwise have overlooked.

And sometimes you won’t need to do anything at all.

That’s the beauty of anticipation. You are prepared to help, but you are not automatically interfering.

Of course, we must be careful not to let our expectations influence what our dog is telling us. A dog moving past a corner does not necessarily mean they have missed something. Odour may be drawing them elsewhere, and we must respect their ability to work the information available to them.

This is particularly important in blind searches. We don’t know where the target odour is, so our job is not to decide where our dog should find it. It’s to support good search coverage whilst allowing them the freedom to investigate and make decisions.

The same principle applies to so many other aspects of scentwork. Thresholds, elevated hides, inlets, unders, changes in surfaces and those little areas that our individual dogs may have a history of overlooking or avoiding

Train for success first, then use your knowledge of your dog to anticipate where support might be needed.

It’s about developing your own awareness, thinking ahead and being in the right place at the right time, should your dog need a little help.

I often think that some of the most effective handling is almost invisible. No rushing, no sudden changes of direction, no unnecessary verbal instructions. Just a handler who is quietly observing, thinking ahead and allowing the dog to work.

The more we understand our dogs’ individual searching behaviours, the better equipped we become to support them without taking over.

And as those skills develop, we may find that the areas we once needed to anticipate become areas our dogs investigate independently. That’s progress worth celebrating!

🐾 Does your dog have a particular searching habit or an area they regularly overlook?

I would love to hear what you have discovered about your dog’s searching style

Mandy Rigby
Instructor and Founder
Canine Scentwork Academy
& Nose First Dog Training Club

27/10/2026

🐾 MAKE A PLAN 🐾
One thing I have learnt over the years is that having a specific plan when training your dog can make such a difference to your progress.

Over the past months, I have undertaken quite a bit of training with Rusty, working alongside several different trainers. Every experience has brought something valuable to our journey. Fresh eyes, different perspectives, observations and those little nuggets of advice are invaluable

Of course, each trainer may notice something different. What they observe is a snapshot of our teamwork on that particular day, in that environment, with whatever challenges are presented at the.

When I get home, I make a point of writing down the main observations and suggestions, the things I feel we could benefit from doing some more work on ourselves.

At the moment, I have a list of around five or six different aspects of our training that I would like to concentrate . But here’s the important bit, I don’t try to tackle them all at once.

I choose one aspect and set one goal and make a plan to work towards it.

I will create several opportunities to practise that particular skill, observing, adjusting and strengthening our understanding together. Having that one goal also helps me recognise when we are making progress, rather than simply going through the motions of training.

Only when I feel we have made some meaningful progress will I move on to another item on my list. And no doubt, at some point, I will revisit the earlier ones again. Undoubtedly additional advice will find its way to the list I am sure, but that’s the joy of training, learning is rarely linear, for either the dog or the handler.

Having a plan does not mean rushing to tick everything off a list. It means giving yourself and your dog the time and opportunities to concentrate on something, to understand it, develop it and build upon it.

If we change several things together, it becomes much harder to identify what has actually helped our dog learn.

You don’t need to work on everything in every training session. And you certainly don’t need to fix everything at once. Sometimes doing less, but with greater purpose, can achieve so much more.

🐾 If you could choose just one goal to work towards in your scentwork training right now, what would it be?

I would love to hear what’s on your training list, comment below

Mandy Rigby
Canine Scentwork Academy
& Nose First Dog Training Club
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26/10/2026

Yesterday I had the pleasure of being a guest instructor for Emma Owen at Beancroft Scentwork, delivering Buried Hides Part Two. What a great day of scentwork, with a brilliant standard of dogs and handling🐾

We began by building clarity through odour recognition testing, progressing to working around distraction odours and then taking those skills into exterior searches. A role-play murder mystery brought everything together, combining skills from Parts One and Two with a little detective work! 🔎

These teams were ready for the additional challenges, and watching the dogs work through them was fascinating. Longer searches gave us the opportunity to observe those wonderful changes in behaviour: switching from air scenting to ground scenting and back again, twists, turns, head flicks, speeding up and slowing down. Gradually narrowing their search area until they finally honed in on the source.

The strong winds added another dimension, carrying odour well beyond the hide locations. The dogs investigated fence posts and tree trunks along the way, giving us plenty to observe and discuss about the scent picture they were working through in the cold, damp conditions.

Days like this remind me how much we can learn when we take the time to watch. Those small changes in behaviour tell us so much. ❤️

Thank you, Emma, for inviting me, and well done to everyone who took part. A brilliant standard of teamwork and a pleasure to be with lovely people and their sniffer dogs 🐕‍🦺❤️🐾

Address

Wythall
B47

Telephone

+447745419030

Website

https://www.scentworkacademy.co.uk/, https://www.youtube.com/@scentworkacademy, https://www.skool.com/nose-first-dog-tra

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