Jill is passionate about Nosework, an accomplished trial official, host, competitor and Certified Nose Work Instructor who utilizes progressive positive sports training methods to develop, enhance and enrich the human-canine bond with her K9 Nose Work students from Intro to Nose Work to Elite and Summit.
ACCOLADES
CNWI
ORT Certifying Official
NACSW Trial Certifying Official (NW1 to Elite)
NACSW Trial Judge
NACSW Score Room Lead NW1-NW2
Owner - Mountain Dogs
Bio
Jill is the owner of Mountain Dogs in McCoy Colorado. She specializes in K9 Nose Work training, coaching, hosting trial events and supporting NACSW in multiple ways. She has trained in obedience, therapy dogs, dock dogs, agility and mostly in K9 Nose Work for 14 years. She actively competes in NACSW trial events reaching Elite CH and Summit trialing with Digger, Elite 1 with Izzy and now trials with Zeke at Elite as well. Jill is also the Medical Administrator for Doctors On Call in Avon, CO working with her husband Guy, a primary care provider serving Eagle County and is a retired Colorado attorney. Jill is a Certified Nose Work Instructor, ORT Certifying Official and Judge, Score Room Lead NW1-NW2, Trial Certifying Official (NW1 to Elite), Trial Judge and supports NACSW for many years, including being honored with running Digger- ELTCH as Dog In White for the NACSW 2017 National Invitational including volunteer time on the Event Committee.
Jill has also been a professional ski instructor and scuba diving instructor utilizing progressive positive sports training methods for human sports training, a style of teaching she now uses as a key foundation in developing, enhancing and enriching the human-canine bond with her K9 Nose Work students from Intro to Nose Work to Elite and Summit. Jill teaches regularly in Eagle, Kremmling and frequently does work shops in Grand Junction CO and hosts multiple trials annually in Colorado as Mountain Dogs and enjoys nose work competition with Zeke at Elite.
LEARN WITH JILL
Below you will find the online courses, seminars, mini-webinars, webinars, eBooks Jill offers through Scent Work University.
Using Walkthrough and Debrief Videos to Analyze Your Team's Problem Solving Webinar
Instructor
Jill Kovacevich
The videos provided for NACSW trials are powerful training tools! Learn how to more effectively utilize both the walkthrough and debrief videos to analyze the problem solving skills of your team with this webinar.
Trial Prep
Train the Hide Webinar
Instructor
Jill Kovacevich
Hide placement for each trial level matters. Learning how to set hides is a go to skill for all trial teams whether you feel confident in doing so or not. Learn to understand the differences and the importance of progressive hides for effective and efficient search work.
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.
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
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
Skills for Elite and Summit: High-End Problem-Solving Webinar
Instructor
Jill Kovacevich
Join us as we explore, with input from Elite and Summit level teams, Coaches, Judges and others, this very evolving competition level of dogs and their handlers. Learn what does it take to succeed, who has it and what is so fascinating about Elite and Summit.
Trial Prep
Hide Placement in Training: Making Odor More Fun Webinar
Instructor
Jill Kovacevich
Effective hide placement can ensure our dogs develop the search clarity needed to tackle their searches, even rather complex ones. Learn how we can use hide placement to help our dogs develop healthy search habits that will serve them well through their sniffing journey.
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.
Live Virtual Event
Secret Sauce: Competitive Effectiveness Virtual Event
Date
January 9th at 4:30PM PT/5:30PM MT/6:30PM CT/7:30PM ET
Instructor
Ana Cilursu, Holly Bushard, Kayla Dever, Judith Guthrie, Jill Kovacevich, Michael McManus
What does it take to be effective and competitive in all levels of Scent Work competitions? How do those who compete regularly choose what to focus on? What strategic choices do they make to ensure their success? Learn this and much more from our talented panelist of speakers!
Trial Prep
Odor Observation: How to Read Your Dog and Become a Proficient Trial Team Webinar
Instructor
Jill Kovacevich
Ask yourself, as a nosework and scentwork handler, how would you rank your skill set to read your dog working odor? Learn how to become a proficient odor observer in this webinar. It is more than "watching" your dog, it is watching your dog work ODOR.
Live Virtual Event
Scent Work Toolbox: Choosing the Best Tool Virtual Event
Date
March 13th at 4:30PM PT/5:30PM MT/6:30PM CT/7:30PM ET
Instructor
Anita Ambani, Holly Bushard, Judith Guthrie, Jill Kovacevich, Michael McManus, Khara Schuetzner
There are countless tools when it comes to training and trialing in Scent Work. In this virtual event, our panelists will discuss which tool would be used in when, what their thought process is, how to tell if a given tool or approach is working, what adjustments may need to be made and when to change tact.
Live Virtual Event
How Would You Train It: Vol 2 Virtual Event
Date
February 13th at 4:30PM PT/5:30PM MT/6:30PM CT/7:30PM ET
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.
Trial Prep
Building Resiliency in You and Your Dog for Training & Trialing Webinar
Instructor
Jill Kovacevich
Building resilency and the capacity to recover from all things scary for your dog and for YOU is fundamental for any competition sport. This is not just a mindset, it is an in-the-moment understanding that you will fight the fight and survive or fight another day.
Trial Prep
Trial Readiness in Training: How to Build Happy Hunters for Trial Webinar
Instructor
Jill Kovacevich
Training and trialing differs. How will you best utilize training for optimized trial results? Delve into how we can build happy hunters which will allow our teams to be more prepared for trial.
Trial Prep
Start Line to Finish: Assessing Your Trial Team Webinar
Instructor
Jill Kovacevich
Learn how to assess the effectiveness of you, your dog and your team as you tackle NW1 all the way through Summit.
