Sniffing Again

My German shepherd dog club held an AKC Scent Work workshop last Saturday -- and it was awesome! RK opened her house to 20 people and 16 dogs. A trainer (and fellow club member) prepared a comprehensive program for all of us. She spent the day teaching us how to introduce scent work to our dogs. She started with the basics for the very beginners, gave additional tricks and tools to novice handlers, and ended the day with some challenges for those of us who are more experienced.

This was the first time Jedi and I have worked odor in several months. I was happy to see that he remembered the game: find odor, tell Mom, get hot dogs.

This instructor comes from a different background than the instructors we've had in the past. It was exciting to learn something new. Odors were hidden in unusual containers (like egg cartons) and various objects (like a working music box) were placed in the search area as distractors. Jedi and I had to up our game!

Everybody seemed to have a good time. Lots of information was given out. Fortunately, there were a dozen handouts, so that we could look back on what we've learned. The instructor offered to come back for a follow-up workshop in 4-6 weeks. Homework was assigned to everybody based on their dogs' skill level

Hopefully this successful workshop is a baby step toward the club hosting an actual trial in the fall. Cross your fingers! -- K