General Scent Work Skills

There are general Scent Work skills all dog and handler teams will need to work on and perfect during their sniffing journeys.

These resources will help you and your dog master these skills!

General Scent Work Skills
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Trial Prep Program
Failure is a Growth Opportunity Virtual Event Instructor Holly Bushard, Tony Gravley, Jill Kovacevich, Michael McManus, Nancy Reyes, Aleks Woodroffe Failure is a necessary feature of the learning process. Yet, we in the sniffing community seemingly shy away and treat failure as a "bad" or "scary" thing! Our speakers will share how we can more leverage failure to further grow as dog trainers, handlers and dog owners.
Intro to Odor
Introducing Birch Course Instructor Dianna L. Santos It's officially time to show your dog how to hunt for a target odor and love doing it in Container and Interior search elements.
Trial Prep Program
All About the Box; A Detailed Look at Container Searches Webinar Instructor Dana Zinn Containers have proven to be one of the most challenging elements in nose work for many teams. Find out why and how you may be more successful in this detailed webinar.
Trial Prep Program
You Can Crush Pooling Odor! Webinar Instructor Tony Gravley The dreaded pooling odor has been the cause of many painful “NO”s ! Learn how to crush this odor puzzle in this webinar!
Scent Work for Everyone
More Than Payment: Strategic Treat Delivery for Nose Work Dogs Webinar Instructor Michael McManus Treat delivery is more than just paying your dog, it’s a powerful training tool that shapes confidence, independence, and search behavior. This webinar is designed to help handlers move from habitual reinforcement to thoughtful, intentional reinforcement choices.
AKC Scent Work Program
Beat the Buried Blues! Webinar Instructor Holly Bushard Has the AKC Scent Work Buried element got you down? Explore solutions to common problems and break down training concepts to increase your consistent reliability in competition. Let's prove how fun Buried can be.
Trial Prep Program
The Dog-Driven Vehicle: The Why and How Webinar Instructor Michele Ellertson Are you finding your dog is having a lack-luster response to searching vehicles? Learn how to build your dog's eagerness and determination to tackle their vehicle searches by making them dog-driven patterns in this webinar.
Common Issues
Maintaining and Troubleshooting the Nose Poke Alert Webinar Instructor Holly Bushard Have you taken the Noke Poke Alert Webinar? Perhaps you have been practicing building a nose poke alert with your own dog. Are you looking for more tips on how to maintain this behavior and cope with any issues you may running into? This webinar is for you!
Trial Prep Program
Sniff. Plan. Crush It: Goal Setting the Nosework Way Webinar Instructor Michele Ellertson Ready to bring focus and purpose to your Nosework training? In this webinar, Michele will break down how to set clear, achievable goals that actually move your Nosework team forward, the Nosework way.
Trial Prep Program
Call Finish: Clearing Your Nosework Search Areas Webinar Instructor Michele Ellertson Clearing a search area at trial can be unnerving to say the least. Learn the clues our dogs provide at the very start of the search that can help us more confidently call "Finish" with this webinar.
Trial Prep
Train the Drive Webinar Instructor Jill Kovacevich Let's refresh our training skills for proficient odor drive search work. It is important to reconnect with an solid odor drive progression from basic hides in simplistic search areas to complex odor problems in environmental gotcha zones. Learn how in this information packed webinar!
Trial Prep Program
All About Brackets Webinar Instructor Michele Ellertson In this webinar, Michele will discuss the differences between all brackets styles including how bracketing looks when a dog is working an inaccessible and elevated hide!
Trial Prep Program
The Goal-Powered Search: Mastering Process & Outcome Goals to Achieve Success in Nose Work Webinar Instructor Silke Wittig Learn the difference between process and outcome goals, how to identify meaningful goals that drive progress to make your training more efficient, measurable and successful in more ways than one in this information-packed webinar.
Trial Prep Program
The Good Call: Calling the Hide in Training and in Trial Webinar Instructor Jill Kovacevich The "Alert" call is the crux of the handler's responsibilities in competition Nose Work. If you have ever felt like, "My dog said trash can", but the Judge said, "No", this webinar may be just what you need. A discussion focused on shaping your training for improved trial success.
Trial Prep Program
Inaccessible Hides Webinar Instructor Tony Gravley Inaccessible hides can be tricky for many dog and handler teams. In this webinar, learn how to train for these hides, avoid common pitfalls and how handlers can better read their dogs.
Trial Prep
Mastering Multiple Hides Webinar Instructor Michael McManus Do you want a step-by-step guide to how we teach our own dogs to do multiple hides? Learn how to take the conflict out of multiple hides, starting with building stickiness, and then following a procedure that introduces each new concept slowly and clearly.
General Scent Work
Gettin' Creative: Unique and Themed Searches eBook Instructor Dianna L. Santos Do you find yourself in a sniffing rut? Running out of ideas? Lacking inspiration? We have what you need to jumpstart your creativity with this collection of searches and suggestions to keep you and your pup happily searching all yearlong.
Trial Prep Program
What Do You Need Pup Webinar Instructor Aleks Woodroffe Success in a search can be made or broken before you even step to the line. Join Aleks in this webinar to learn the types of specific needs your dog might have in training or trialing and how you can support them before, during and after the search.
Trial Prep Program
Trialing with Multiple Dogs and Making it Work Webinar Instructor Holly Bushard As addictive as scent sports are, it’s easy to find yourself trialing behind multiple canine partners! Whether this happens in the same weekend, the same day, or even the same hour, there are several things we can do as handlers to set ourselves up to best support our dogs.
Senior Handlers
The Silver Lining: Successful Nosework Strategies for the Senior Handler Webinar Instructor Ana Cilursu This webinar is specifically designed for senior handlers with dogs of any age by focusing on the distinct requirements and challenges that come with aging, while building stronger foundations based on experience and acquired skills.
Puppy Scent Work
Puppy Series Part 2: From Curiosity to Hunt Webinar Instructor Judith Guthrie Your puppy has started using their nose, exploring the world, and building confidence. The next step is helping that curiosity become hunt. In this webinar, learn how to build search desire, strengthen reward value and support independent problem-solving.
Trial Prep
Let's Look at Leash Work! Webinar Instructor Holly Bushard Do you find using your leash or long line to be stressful, frustrating and downright a messy process? Learn how to work on this crucial skill and be far more effective in using your leash or long line in your searches with this webinar.
Trial Prep
Hunt Drive Webinar Instructor Tony Gravley What is actual hunt drive? Does your dog have adequate hunt drive and how can you get the most out of your dogs hunt drive? Learn all of this and more in this informative webinar.
Trial Prep Program
What the Nose Knows and the Camera Sees Webinar Instructor Ana Cilursu Whether you’re learning about changes of behavior, fine-tuning your observation skills, working on your handling or everything in between, this webinar will show you how to use video to recognize patterns and behaviors, build clearer communication, expand your knowledge and take your Scent Work to the next level.
Trial Prep Program
Do You Have a Team Mindset? Webinar Instructor Jason Heng A mindset is simply the set of beliefs that shape how you see and react to the world. These beliefs influence what you do, how you act, and how you feel. Having a team mindset means directing those actions and emotions to improve the team's success.
Common Issues
Stopping the Potty: Tips for Exterior Searches Webinar Instructor Dianna L. Santos You see grass. You see trees. You see vertical spaces. All of this means your dog is going to potty during the search and your heart is racing! What to do?! Find out in this webinar.
Understanding Odor Theory
Odor Theory: How to Set for the Goal Webinar Instructor Judith Guthrie We know we must set hides with purpose and that means having a goal. But how do you actually do that? Setting hides that consistently do what you want is a skill in itself. Learn how to do so by having a better understanding of odor theory with this webinar.
Trial Prep Program
Cause and Cure for False Alerts: Container Searches Webinar Instructor Dianna L. Santos Do you struggle with blind Container searches? Find out why false alerts occur and possible training solutions in this webinar.
AKC Scent Work
Instructors: How Best to Prep AKC Scent Work Clients Virtual Event Instructor Anita Ambani, Holly Bushard, Tony Gravley, Judith Guthrie, Natalie McManus, Khara Schuetzner Both instructors and clients will benefit from this exciting roundtable. Our panelists will discuss ways instructors can best help their client prepare to succeed in the various levels of AKC Scent Work trials.
Advanced Topics Program
Building an Effective Nosework Training Plan for Dog Owners Webinar Instructor Michele Ellertson Breaking down complex ideas into smaller pieces helps our dogs better understand. Learn how you can do this in Nosework, designing effective training plans, with this webinar!
Trial Prep Program
All About the Box: Part 2 Webinar Instructor Dana Zinn In this webinar, Dana returns to discuss why container searches can vex so many teams, including discussing distractors and how to take the guesswork when tackling this search element.
Foundation Sniffing Program
A Comprehensive Scent Work Glossary Instructor Dianna L. Santos All the jargon, terms and lingo associated with Scent Work can be daunting for those new to activity. Learn what all this means in this easy-to-ready eBook!
Trial Prep
Games for Maintenance Webinar Instructor Michele Ellertson Remember when you first introduced the game of Nose Work to your dog and they loved it, excited and driven to play? Learn how to further build and maintain this drive all throughout their Nose Work journey in this webinar.
Common Issues
Squirrel! From Distracted to Committed: Reading, Training, and Recovering the Search Webinar Instructor Judith Guthrie Distractor behavior tells you what changed in the search. Learn how to how to read distractor interest, understand how distractors affect hunt, odor work, decision-making, and recovery, train stronger task commitment, and help the dog return to productive searching when competing reinforcement, environmental pressure, or handler choices change the dog’s search.
Scent Work Skills
How Would You Train It: Vol 2 Virtual Event Instructor Anita Ambani, Holly Bushard, Kayla Dever, Judith Guthrie, Jill Kovacevich, Michael McManus Hear from our experienced panel of speakers on how they would tackle three distinct scenarios. The discussion will include potential training solutions, ways to determine if progress was being made, whether modifications were warranted, which ones and why and so much more.
General Scent Work
Bringing Experience to the Nose Game: Starting Strong in Scent Work Webinar Instructor Ana Cilursu You already have that fascinating combination of instinct, training and trust between you and your dog. Starting Scent Work with prior experience in other dog sport venues can give you a serious edge. Learn how in this webinar!
Common Issues
Back to Foundations: Containers Webinar Instructor Dianna L. Santos We oftentimes hear the term, "go back to foundations" when it comes to training in Scent Work. Learn what this means, the benefits and how to go about it regarding our cotnainer searches in this webinar.
Trial Prep Program
Strategic Trialing - Choosing Which Venue and When Webinar Instructor Holly Bushard There are several Scent Work competition organizations out there. Learn how to be more strategic in which you choose to compete with, when and how in this webinar.
Trial Prep
Odor Drive: How To Train to Maintain Webinar Instructor Jill Kovacevich Let's discuss odor drive! Enjoy an in depth discussion on what odor drive is, why it is important for scent detection sport dogs, how we can assess what drive gear our dogs are in when they are searching, when to train odor drive and how to maintain it.
Handler Skills Program
The Handler's Role: Managing Behavioral Challenges Webinar Instructor Nancy Reyes In this second entry for this three-part webinar series, learn practical, in-the-moment strategies to manage reactivity, anxiety, distractions, and movement/sensory challenges so searches stay safe, smooth, and productive.
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Let's Chat: Role of Personality - When Training and Trialing in Nose Work Livestream

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Let's Chat: International Travels and Training Adventures
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Let's Chat: Using Competition to Improve Your Training Standards
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Terminology in Nose Work: Common Misconceptions and Misunderstandings Livestream
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Let's Chat: Problem with "Just Have Fun" in Nose Work