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...
by Julie A Symons | Sep 29, 2017 | Dog 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 A Symons | Sep 18, 2017 | Dog 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!!...
