I had a wonderful opportunity recently to watch over 40 teams trying for their NW1 title. I don't know how many were trialing for the first time but I spoke to several who were attempting to achieve the title for the second or third time. Unfortunately this element had a very low pass rate and [...]
Several years ago the NACSW decided to add examples of trial searches to their website and asked if they could post two from one of Devon's NW2 trials. Of course I said yes and they've been on the website ever since. Now that Devon is 14, deaf and with limited vision, I love looking at [...]
I'm giving a workshop in Sanford at the Bon-Clyde Learning Center for people who would like to try nosework. If there;s enough interest a regular weekly class may follow. Here is the flyer: flyer
One of the very best nosework instructors I've ever worked with taught me how important it was to reward well and reward at source. This is the most important thing to do if you want your dog to be able to ignore the distractions that are ever present in search areas everywhere. Here are some [...]
Container searches have the lowest pass rate of all the elements in a NACSW trial. Here's your chance to practice in a trial-like atmosphere. I'm offering another Sniff N Go at Ramble Rill Farm in Hillsborough, NC. Each dog will do three containers searches back to back and all levels will be offered (for dogs [...]
When I first started trialing I used to get more nervous during the vehicle searches than anything else. My mouth would go dry, my legs were wobbly and I felt like I was having an out of body experience. Needless to say I often had no memory of the specifics of the search once it [...]
Off leash vehicle searches aren't usually an option in a trial or even in practice but they can teach us a lot about how our dogs would like to search. In this search, Spriggs finds 4 hides (all known) in a large area with 17 cars and trucks in about 4 minutes. Because [...]
Fall is here and so is my new Nosework Class. This Beginning Nosework class is for dogs with no previous experience in Nosework. Nosework is something your dog is already an expert in so there are no prerequisites for this class. If your dog needs to burn off some excess energy, learn to focus or [...]
Spring has sprung in the Southeast which means there are more opportunities for trials. In 2 weeks there will be a NW1 and a NW2 trial offered in Greenville, SC. A few of my students were lucky enough to get into the trial on the random draw and are probably in various states of nervousness [...]
I don't remember where I first heard this phrase in relation to Nosework but I think it was used to explain why the judges in NACSW trials who mostly come from the world of professional detection, enjoy judging Nosework trials. They said they enjoyed judging at our trials so much because "nobody dies and no [...]
