The Best Instructors Are Students First

Author: Anita Ambani of The Scholarly ScentZ, LLC

When you think you've learned everything, you're usually just realizing how much you still don't know. It's a humbling place to be, but also one of the most exciting.

Every so often, usually while chatting in a trial parking lot, someone will say something that reminds me people often assume instructors and trial officials have all the answers. That we're somehow beyond making mistakes.

The longer I teach, the more I realize that's the opposite of what makes a good instructor.

Dog training. especially Nose Work, is an evolving sport. If I were teaching my students exactly the way I did seven years ago when I started instructing, I'd be doing them a disservice. True expertise isn't having every answer. It's staying curious enough to keep asking questions.

For me, that means regularly trading the instructor role for the student seat.

As a Certified Nose Work Instructor (CNWI) and Certifying Official (CO) with the National Association of Canine Scent Work (NACSW), continuing education is required to maintain my certifications. Thanks to online learning, it's easier than ever to learn from experienced instructors around the country. I love being able to watch, listen, and absorb new ideas from behind a computer screen.

But growth rarely happens where we're comfortable.

My comfort zone is teaching.

As an instructor, I'm constantly evaluating teams, reading dogs, identifying opportunities for improvement, and coaching handlers through challenges. After years of doing it, that role feels natural.

Being the student doesn't.

Because I don't have a regular in-person instructor, I make it a point to attend seminars and training sessions at least once a month. Every time, I willingly step into an environment where I'm no longer the expert. I'm just another handler trying to figure things out.

And honestly? That's uncomfortable.

My fellow competitors know me as a trial official. My students know me as their instructor. My colleagues know that instructors aren't perfect, we probably make more mistakes in training than our students ever see, but that doesn't stop the little voice in my head.

What if I mess this up?

What if everyone is watching?

What if someone thinks, "How is she an instructor?"

Suddenly, the team that felt so polished at home seems to fall apart. My timing is off. My handling feels clumsy. I second-guess my read on my dog. I start overthinking everything I thought I knew.

It's frustrating.

Then, almost without realizing it, something changes.

Over the course of the seminar, the puzzle pieces start fitting together. One concept clicks. My dog responds differently. My confidence slowly returns. That familiar "we've got this" feeling comes back.

I almost always leave those weekends energized, not because everything went perfectly, but because I learned something that made me a better handler.

And ultimately, a better instructor.

Putting myself back in the student chair is my regular reality check.

It reminds me that learning isn't linear. It's messy, frustrating, humbling, and sometimes downright uncomfortable. It reminds me what it feels like when things aren't clicking, when self-doubt creeps in, and when progress feels painfully slow.

Remembering those feelings helps me better support my own students when they experience them too.

One of the greatest gifts of teaching in-person classes for the last 6 years is that many of my students now compete at the same level, or even beyond, my own dogs. We regularly meet to train together before trials. Everyone brings odor kits, we divide up search areas, set challenges, decide individually whether we'll run known, blind, or range searches, and then take turns running each other's setups.

I am constantly impressed by the creativity they bring.

Almost all of my personal training is done with known hides, but these group sessions push me to tackle blind searches designed by someone else. They expose my own habits, assumptions, and handling biases in ways I could never create for myself.

Even better, they're built on trust.

When my dogs crush a search, everyone celebrates. When we struggle, nobody laughs or criticizes. The student who set the search offers guidance, points me toward the hide location, and helps me figure it out to set my dog(s) up for success.

My students like to joke that since I challenge them in every class, it's only fair they challenge me back.

They're absolutely right.

Last year, I decided to bring that idea into my classes.

Each week, I ask a different group of students to design the searches.  They sent me their plans before class and explained the challenges they're creating. When we got to class they set the hides, and then the students ran each other's searches and I had the chance to stand back and observe.

The creativity had been incredible.

Every student thinks differently. Every hide setter has tendencies, blind spots, and unique ways of seeing the search. By stepping into their perspective instead of my own, I've learned just as much as they have.

Sometimes the hides are a little too difficult.

That's okay. We talk about why. We adjust. We learn. Because that's why we're here.

To learn.

To grow.

To keep improving.

The best instructors never stop being students. And sometimes the greatest lessons come when the students become the teachers, and the instructor is willing to learn right alongside them.

Anita Ambani is a Certified Nose Work Instructor (CNWI) and Certifying Official with the National Association of Canine Scent Work (NACSW), as well as a licensed scent work judge for AKC, NACSW, and C-WAGS.

Her journey into dog sports began with her first dog, Zuri, exploring Trick Dog, Agility, and Rally Obedience before discovering Nose Work in 2017. Originally introduced as a way to build Zuri's confidence and help her overcome fear reactivity, Nose Work quickly became far more than a training exercise—it became a passion for both dog and handler. Together, they entered the competitive scent work world in 2019, competing across multiple organizations. Along the way, Zuri became the first—and currently highest-titled—Bolognese in the sport. Today, as Zuri enjoys the transition into retirement, the pair continue working toward her remaining AKC Elite titles while also enjoying the opportunity to revisit the lower levels simply for fun.

With her second dog, Figment, Anita found herself on a very different journey. Figment's sensitivity and "big feelings" required a thoughtful training approach, leading Anita to combine Nose Work with confidence-building exercises through Project Poodle. That foundation allowed the team to begin competing in scent work in 2023, and they continue to work their way through the upper levels of NACSW and AKC while pursuing AKC Elite titles.

Inspired by the transformative impact Nose Work had on both of her dogs, Anita is passionate about helping other teams discover the same confidence, partnership, and joy. Through The Scholarly ScentZ, LLC in Ohio, she teaches K9 Nose Work classes for dogs and handlers of all experience levels, hosts seminars, volunteers extensively within the sport, and is dedicated to giving back to the community that has given so much to her.

Scent Work University has been incredibly fortunate to host Anita for a number of online webinars and virtual events. Check out her entire library here.