by Julie Symons | Jan 29, 2018 | Dogs Sports
In my nosework classes, I talk more and more about how important handler mechanics are. Mechanics include your handling (position, movement, leash), timing, markers/cues, and delivery of reinforcement (having them ready, not dropping treats). This is very ingrained...
by Julie Symons | Dec 24, 2017 | Dogs Sports
As discussed in my last blog on how training methods need to make sense to you … I’d like to chat about how I handle false alerts in nosework and why the approach makes sense to me. You need to decide what makes sense to you. A false alert is the...
by Julie Symons | Dec 16, 2017 | Dogs Sports
Scent detection training is rapidly growing in popularity in the competitive dog sport community. Known as Nosework or Scent Work, the sport involves searching for essential oils or handler scent, using training methods similar to what professional K9 detection...
by Julie Symons | Nov 23, 2017 | Dogs Sports
If you are a dog trainer, how many times do you feel you are dragging yourself out of bed early to go train when you really just want to stay under those warm covers and sleep some more? Sometimes it may be training after a long day of work when you’d rather...
by Julie Symons | Sep 29, 2017 | Dogs Sports
We all know we need to be an advocate for our dogs ALWAYS. This means not putting them in an unsafe situation or not letting someone treat them inappropriately, etc. When we are trialing and under rules of an organization/exercise we can sometimes lose our judgement...
by Julie Symons | Sep 18, 2017 | Dogs Sports
Last month Savvy earned her NACSW NW3 Elite title. With trials few and far away, I was thrilled not only for all our skills and preparation, but not having to drive 9 hours to the next one we got into months later! And her previous NW3 trial was 8 months prior!!...
by Julie Symons | Jul 17, 2017 | Dogs Sports
What I’ve learned about training my young intact male: I’m not more interesting than dog pee or dog smells. Food is not always a motivator, nor worth eating at meals. Toys are not always a motivator. Trying to get him to stop sniffing is futile and adds...
by Julie Symons | Jun 14, 2017 | Dogs Sports
Why do you like being with your dog(s)? So much has changed with dog “ownership” since my childhood. Let’s call it companionship, as that sounds more like what it means to me! My dogs are my companions. More than a pet and a teammate, but also those...
by Julie Symons | Mar 25, 2017 | Dogs Sports
There has been a lot of buzz about new scent work dog sport programs over the last few years … nosework, barnhunt, and more recently handler discrimination scent work. We also hear about and see military and police detection dogs, and even usages in the medical...
by Julie Symons | Jan 30, 2017 | Dogs Sports
It’s true. Our dogs don’t have to find every hide. I still see people struggling with this concept and others embracing the idea to call it and review/recover. It’s quite liberating to abort a search! If I look back on my years of training sessions I...
by Julie Symons | Jan 22, 2017 | Dogs Sports
When it comes to dog training, it can be overwhelming with everything we need to train and prepare for to trial. Skills, precision, ring confidence, OUR confidence, weaning off primary and secondary reinforcers, etc. We all have goals and ambitions and want to do...
by Julie Symons | Jan 6, 2017 | Dogs Sports
The first year with a new dog is a test of patience! So much to train! So much to do! The first year is more about creating good manners, building a strong relationship, and simply learning about each other. For dog trainers, we also want to teach them fun tricks and...
