Northwest Noseworks

03/21/2025

Thoughtful Thursday: Being Present in the Moment

While working on obedience recently, Flash was showing some of her excitement for training by completing extra jumps and twirls during position changes. The amount of joy in the moment she exhibited was palatable. It made me smile and resulted in us having a wonderful and joyful training session where, by the end of it, we were both out of breath and smiling.

Okay, I was smiling and she was panting and fully engaged.

When the world intrudes and gets overwhelming, one of my favorite places to go is training. It allows me to be in that present moment with my dog. To experience the joy, and sometimes the frustration, of being present in a moment of joy.

We also underestimate the joy of play. I've found myself doing a lot of that lately. I tell myself that I will play with my dog, and if it leads to training, that is a bonus, if it doesn't, I'm okay. Most of the time we end up training an advanced behavior.

Dogs are some of the best teachers we have.
They teach us kindness, patience, and give us immediate feedback on what works and what doesn't.

They remind us to be present in the moment.
They remind us to find the joy in the moment.
They remind us to TRAIN in the present moment, with the end in mind.

If we are not with them in the moment in which we are training, not only do we lose our focus, but they lose the lesson we need them to learn. The present moment in which we are training is the field in which our final behaviors are cultivated and nurtured. That field is where those behaviors are tended, reinforced, refined and generalized. We must w**d it, water it, and expand the field.

Lack of training allows the field to go fallow, the w**ds of unwanted behavior grow. In fact, we also plant unwanted behaviors in our fields through lack of clarity, poor timing, and lumping behavior chains.

Go train.

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The K9Sensus Detection Dog Trainer Academy is now a year long academy for the same price. We are taking enrollments for the 2026 year. Please visit www.k9sensus.org/ddta for more information.

03/21/2025

Research Highlight!

The Impact of Training Method on Odor Learning and Generalization in Dogs (Canis lupus familiaris)
https://psycnet.apa.org/doiLanding?doi=10.1037%2Fcom0000390

As you read this study, you can get caught up in some of the terminology, so I made sure to highlight some of the definitions! As you know, I'm big on definitions. The things to note, they word 'intermixed' does not mean 'cocktail' as we commonly use it in trainer slang. In this instance it means they trained each odor individually concurrently instead of consecutively. Reading research papers can sometimes be overwhelming!

Here's one of the pieces that stood out for me!

"This study reveals that dogs trained using a concurrent training method (intermixed) performed significantly better on generalization tests than those trained using sequential or compound methods. This work therefore provides strong evidence that detection dogs should be trained using an intermixed method, as this provides a practical, robust, and cost-effective approach to increasing olfactory generalization, and therefore efficacy in detection dog training."

The way the study was designed allowed for specific comparison of the three different methods and then tested the dogs ability to generalize the odors.

If you want the full study, you can always request a copy from the researcher directly.

When we know better, we do better!

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03/21/2025

Northwest Noseworks folks, this post from Bill Gaskins is a gem!

Good situational awareness starts with our ability to Observe our surroundings.

From video/virtual walk throughs to physical walk through to Google Maps searches before you go, our observations are critical to search area success.

Regardless of the source of our observations, this information is evolving, inconsistent, uncertain, incomplete, and dependent on who is doing the observing.

Even if you have perfect information, it is of no value if it is not coupled with understanding its meaning. Judgment or recognition of patterns is key here. We judge the information based on our past experiences. Without judgment, data means nothing. Far too often, we see handlers given all the information they need to succeed, and they fail to use that information to their advantage.

Our initial observations are critical to choosing the right action script later. For example, familiar situations can be matched with typical actions later. When we approach the start line, we need to be ready to receive information. Handlers need to practice how to approach the start line and build a script of what to do.

Through training and exposure to looking at the whole search area, we stress inoculate teams. We want them to feel like they have seen this somewhere before. This elevates training scars later.

Again, to effectively observe you need to build good situational awareness and be ready to receive information.

06/27/2024

Thank you to Erica Boling.

05/13/2024

This informative webinar on scent is a great value and I recommend it to my Northwest Noseworks students and coaching clients.

S - Selected Odour M - Mortels and Mongrels E - Environmental Factors L - Landscape L - Lingering Odours

05/08/2024

Borrowed from Elaine Booker!

03/29/2024

Thank you Viet Nam veterans for your service.

03/05/2024

Coming when called is nothing short of THE life saving learned behavior for your dog.

Always, always make recall to you highly rewarding; not just with a toy or cookie, but add your delighted emotional response to your reward and watch your dog’s enthusiasm and speed coming to you soar.

ARE YOU WORTH COMING BACK TO?

I often cringe when I watch people trying to get their dogs to come back when they call.

They call and call and get increasingly angry and frustrated as their dog keeps ignoring them.

When their dog eventually does come back, or has been chased and "captured” by the now really angry person, they get screamed at, yanked about, smacked or punished in some way for taking so long and not listening.

Why on earth would a dog want to return to someone who does this to them!

Genetics may play a big part in this when an environment is far more stimulating and exciting.

Coming back to you is often the last thing a dog may want to do when genetic instinct is triggered.

An exciting scent or seeing something to chase can all override a response to recall.

Genetics aside, the most common reason that dogs don’t come back when called is because it’s not a positive experience.

Make coming back to you worth it by always making it a rewarding experience and keep practicing this throughout a dog’s life.

Have a little patience if it takes longer than you would like, let your dog finish what they’re doing before calling them, practice in different locations and environments and never reprimand or punish them for coming back.

There is never a guarantee of a perfect recall each and every time, but making it a rewarding experience will greatly improve the rate of success.