Hello all. Not sure if this is the right area but it could be considered "chat" so will give it a go I have been reading about nose work and looking for "games" to be playing with Brody. We have a course organised when he is 5-6 months with our Breeder on "retrieving" over a weekend with her and Brody uncle/aunties. She is really into Mantrailing and next time we see her will ask her about it. However, question is, what time can i start Nosework with Brody? For those that have done this, what would you recommend? Obviously we are in the full throws of basic training, and house training, and my girlfriend feels it might be too much for him and said we should wait. I see it as a game for us both to start and learn but also agree with the training 2-3 times a day on the Basics, it could be too much, and should i be adding nose work to it? Interested in your thoughts! Thanks as always for the replies.
It may be a little more basic than you have in mind, but we started playing the "Find It" game from a very early age, with food, to encourage interaction out on walkies. It's so simple and easy I wouldn't worry about it being too much. Just toss a little food onto the ground, make it easy to start with so he can see it fall but then as he gets good at it, make it harder. Throw a treat over the back of your shoulder when he's not looking then ask him to find it. I add on "all gone!" and "there's more! find it" to keep the game fair It's a great game to play around the house too. I put her into a Stay and go hide some tasty treats around the house for her to find (a great reward for a good Stay too!) This has a really cool side effect too. The food to find is never going to be far from my general location, so it even works like a mini-recall. If she's in the distance and I shout "gemma find it!" she will charge back to my vicinity knowing that's a good starting point for her "hunt". But like I say, very basic. There is a good book Talking Dogs: Scentwork: The Manual by Pam Mackinnon full of more advanced ideas. She's as ex police dog trainer and uses her experience to explain how to use nosework for lots of fun scent based games. Unfortunately that just got added to our never ending list of things to get round to spending more time on
I like it John. Your basic ideas i had never really considered and really simple Actually came across Pam and her site you are referring to while looking for "scent work" or "nose work" to see if any good UK sites on it. Looks good. Was looking at the Fenzi academy online courses as well. Yeah i never really thought about the basic side of it, and i think as you describe it it encourages and reinforces other commands. I think if you start out with the basics, maybe this leads to the more advanced stuff.... i guess its all about time! Just looking for some ideas for games we can play with him that will keep him occupied and get that mind of his thinking!
I play the same game as John and have done since Harley was 5 months old. As she is 21 months now, I hide treats under toys, in toys, wrapped in blankets, under yoghurt pots etc. makes it really interesting as it takes her time to work out how to get to the treat
Thanks Naya and also will i think start with the "throwing treats", and also the "cup game" where he sees where the food i, and then eliminate the "visual cue".
I'm sure Brody will really enjoy "find it" games, first for little treats, then also for his toys or ball. At first keep it really simple, but as you go on you can make it more complex. It's really helpful to be able to play games like this, for times you and he are housebound, or on dark winter evenings when he is bored...
Maisie is doing an introduction nose work course right now and she LOVES IT. It is definitely a mentally stimulating activity, but our trainer said that really, a 2 minute session maybe 3 times a week in between the lessons is sufficient.. more than that is overkill. Maisie is 7 1/2 months right now and we started about 3 weeks ago. She really, really enjoys it though. When we get to the training place, it takes ages to get into the hall because she is pulling towards it really happily… she knows it is a place where sh does things and gets treats, which is basically her ideal thing to do! What we are doing right now is mostly building value for a specific odour, and asking her to choose it over treats or an empty box.
Just one thing to add - when playing food Find It outdoors, try and do it in a clean clear area. Otherwise you might get the same nasty surprise I got, when Gemma once "found" some fox-poop to tuck into, she must have thought that was her prize Before finding the treat! Not what I had in mind at all!!!
Hey Maisie. When you say session is that you getting her to find something or practising the lesson you have done? Do you do a lesson once a week and then several sessions? Yeah i think i have decided to wait a wee bit before doing a course and will do the find it games first on top of his basic training. There are ones in August and he will be 6 months old. John. Good to know! Would be a nice prize
