Bumps in the Road

By Dianna L. Santos

When training and trialing in Scent Work, we are bound to experience bumps along our journey. In other words, issues will arise that we must address. However, how we go about doing so can make all the difference.

For many of us, when we encounter an issue, suddenly our world revolves around said issue and ways to fix it.

Why is this a problem?

It is far too easy to lose sight of the larger picture at play.

Take dog odor for instance. A definite bugaboo for many teams, the common response is to go headlong into offering a ton of proofing exercises.

“There shall be dog odor in ALL of our searches and you, dog, will ignore that and find your hide instead!”

This seems like a perfectly reasonable approach. However, in attempting to address the dog’s perceived obsession with dog odor, we inadvertently made Scent Work all about dog odor. The hide is practically an afterthought.

Leaping immediately to action skips a crucial step in the process: asking WHY the dog was invested in dog odor to begin with?

What should we do then?

By taking a giant step backwards, we can pause and consider all “the musts” that are associated with Scent Work. Meaning, what must go well for the dog to successfully complete a search:

• The dog must confidently enter and work the space.
• The dog must recognize the target odor.
• The dog must have value in the target odor.
• The dog must effectively use the target odor information.
• The dog must solve the odor puzzle.
• The dog must source the hide.
• The dog must communicate to us.

This list exemplifies why Scent Work is far more complicated than we give it credit.

There are countless ways a “must” may be lacking which may manifest itself in other ways…such as a dog choosing to become invested in dog odor rather than finding their hide.

In other words, it is entirely possible that our dog’s interest in dog odor is more of a symptom than a cause. If we identified the core issue, their interest in dog odor would fade or even disappear over time. But if instead we became obsessive with the dog odor in our training and when trialing, we could worsen the dog odor issue and exacerbate the core problem as well.

Unintentionally, we have added more layers to the onion that we must then peel back and work through, layer by layer.

Does this mean that dog odor is never the core issue and that proofing exercises are bad? No.

The key is to dig down into what is truly going on. Distinguishing core issues from symptoms. Identifying the paths you may need to implement in your training to address the needs of your dog and your team. Embracing the fact there may be several parallel paths you will travel upon, both within and outside the context of Scent Work and that this is completely normal. Owning that this will be a fluid process, requiring regular assessments, evaluations and adjustments based upon the same. Videoing as much as possible and gaining the outside perspective of an instructor can help ensure you are on the right path.

The bumps in road are gifts. They are opportunities for us to grow as handlers, trainers and partners to our dogs. Embrace and learn from the bumps without making them your entire identity.

Are you interested in learning more about dog odor and Scent Work? You may be interested in these resources:

• Dogs are Scary: Dog Odor v Target Odor Webinar with Dianna L. Santos
• Sexy Time: Dog Odor v. Target Odor Webinar with Dianna L. Santos
  
• Find Your Hide - Proofing for Dog Odor Webinar with Dianna L. Santos
• P for Pronounced or Pee? Webinar with Sue Sternberg
• Influence of Dog's Reactivity on their Scent Work Training and Trialing Webinar with Sue Sternberg
  

Dianna has been training dogs professionally since 2011. She has done everything from teaching group training classes and private lessons, to specializing in working with fearful, reactive and aggressive dogs, to being a trial official and competition organization staff member.

Following a serious neck and back injury, Dianna was forced to retire from in-person dog training. But she was not ready to give up her passion! So, she created Pet Dog U and Scent Work University to provide outstanding online dog training to as many dog handlers, owners and trainers possible…regardless of where they live! Dianna is incredibly grateful to the amazingly talented group of instructors who have joined PDU and SWU and she looks forward to the continued growth of PDU and SWU and increased learning opportunities all of these online dog training platforms can provide.

In June 2021, Dianna and her business partner, Sean McMurray launched Cyber Scent Work, an organization that operates in the gray space between training and trialing in Scent Work. With Cyber Scent Work, handlers have the opportunity to earn Qs, titles and ribbons while also receiving helpful training advice regardless of whether they qualify or not! The advent of the Cyber Sniffing Games, Traditional Cyber Scent Work Program, in-person and online assessments have been met with much fanfare! Be sure to check out Cyber Scent Work, you will be happy you did!