Sniffin’ – My 1st go at K9 Nose Time

Thanks to the awesome folks at NSDTC where we train, I got to try nose work this afternoon. Our Education Committee organise regular talks on different topics. This afternoon they had some people from K9 NoseTime. I think they sniffed out a great idea (pun intended… Couldn’t help myself).

So there was a bit of a talk about what it was all about. Interesting stuff mum tells me. Great for all dogs including those that might be a bit shy or timid as it is just handler and dog rather than lots of other dogs around. They are actually doing it with a lot of shelter dogs as it is great for building their confidence and human bond.

But after all that chatting we got to the demos and then it got really good. I got to be a demo dog.

Now I’d never done this before so I was a novice demo dog but have to say it was lots of fun…. And really tiring for my puppy brain.

Lots of cardboard boxes placed around and food treats hidden amongst the boxes. I had to sniff them out. I was a bit nervous initially as there were lots of people around and mum was just letting me do my thing without any direction from her (she found it hard not to speak either). I got two goes of it. Way less nervous the 2nd time round and had lots of fun… You should have seen my tail wagging.

So when you get better at this you learn to scent out particular scents (birch, aniseed and clove) but have to say I like the sniffing out food at a novice level. You also get different locations from inside to outside and then stuff in containers. Lots of things to make me think.

Hope we get to do it again soon.