by Julie A Symons | May 24, 2018 | Dog Sports
A training gem I picked up many years ago from Patti Hatfield Mah was that our seasoned dogs still need to have baby dog training days. Pick one day a week where you go back to training your foundations skills. Foundations is everything! Without a strong base,...
by Julie A Symons | Feb 23, 2018 | Dog Sports
With many teams getting ready for NACSW NW3/L3 or AKC Master/Detective levels, having a solid search strategy and a strong mental game plan is key! At these higher levels, you will have unknown number of hides – very different from knowing how many in each...
by Julie A Symons | Jan 29, 2018 | Dog 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 A Symons | Dec 24, 2017 | Dog 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 A Symons | Dec 16, 2017 | Dog 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 A Symons | Nov 23, 2017 | Dog 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...
