Foundation Level 1
Nose Work
K9 Nose Work(TM)
Official K9 Nose Work(TM) class. This class focuses on teaching you how to encourage and develop your dog’s natural scenting abilities by using their desire to hunt and their love of toys, food, and exercise. It’s a great class for your dog to have fun, build confidence, and burn lots of mental and physical energy and to find out just how good is your dog’s nose. This class introduces the concept of the game, builds handler observation skills and timing using boxes and a ‘hidden’ treat in an inside environment. You and your dog work in the ring one team at a time, allowing your dog to focus and learn with minimal distractions.
Cost: $175.00
Length: 6 weeks
Prerequisite: Your dog must be able to be crated between turns. Dogs must be at least 9 month old.
Foundation Level 2
Official K9 Nose Work(TM) class. This class will focus on two of the elements of K9 Nose Work©, Container searches, and Interior searches. You will continue to develop your skills as a handler and in sharing with your dog the excitement of more challenging hunts with more complex searches. The odor of birch will be introduced during this session.
Cost: $175.00
Length: 6 weeks
Prerequisite: Foundation Level 1
Foundation Level 3
Official K9 Nose Work(TM) class. This class will focus on the last two of the elements of K9 Nose Work©, Vehicle searches, and Exterior Searches. A higher level of environmental distractions is introduced with vehicle and exterior searches, keeping the challenge of the hunt always exciting for you and your dog. These classes will continue to develop your handler skills in leash management, understanding your dog’s ‘hunting’ language and the effects of ever-changing environments on a search.
Cost: $175.00
Length: 6 weeks
Prerequisite: Foundation Level 2
Foundation Level 4
Official K9 Nose Work© class. This 6 week course focuses on adding two additional target odors - Anise and Clove with exercises on building odor obedience in all four elements - interiors, exteriors, vehicles and containers. The second half of the course will focus on the basics of competitions and beginning preparation for an Odor Recognition Test (ORT).
Cost: $175.00
Length: 6 weeks
Prerequisite: Foundation Level 3
Dogs have an amazing sense of smell and a natural desire to hunt. The activity and sport of nose work is designed to develop your dog’s natural scenting abilities by using their desire to hunt and their love of toys, food and exercise. For The Love of Dogs offers Official K9 Nose Work(TM) Foundation and Continuing Nose Work classes, Skill Building classes and AKC Scent Work classes.
Continuing Nosework
Official K9 Nose Work(TM) class. This class will continue to develope handler skills and focuses on all of the elements of K9 Nose Work®, container, interior, exterior and vehicle searches. Higher level of environmental distractions are introduced with container, vehicle and exterior searches, keeping the challenge of the hunt always exciting for you and your dog. Focus on teamwork and supporting your dog during the search are emphasized. These classes will continue to develop your handler skills in leash management, understanding your dog’s ‘hunting’ language and the effects of ever changing environments on a search. You are encouraged to video tape your sessions for review, especially if you are considering competition. Field trips may be included as part of this course.
This is an ongoing nosework class for those people who want to build off the nose work skills started foundation classes, for fun and for competition. Search puzzles will be set up by the class coordinator and coaching will be available if needed. Field trips in the local area to give you exposure to new searching environments may be included. The focus will be on enhancing foundation skills for you and your dog, and will use all 4 elements of nosework for searches.
Cost: $150.00
Length: 6 weeks
Prerequisite: Nosework Foundation Level 4 class or instructor's permission.
Intro to AKC Scent Work
AKC(R) is now offering titling classes in scent work and there are some new elements in their competition classes. This six week class focuses on introducing your dog to handler discrimination, distractions of mimic, auditory and visual, and buried hides in preparation for the novice and advanced levels of competition. It will also introduce your dog to the scent of cypress if your dog isn't on cypress.
Prerequisite: Foundation nose work training, including introduction to odor.
Cost: $150.00
Length: 6 weeks
Prerequisite: Dog must be on all three odors of Birch, Anise and Clove and working in all elements of interiors, containers, exteriors and vehicles
Nose Work Skill Building
This is an ongoing nosework class for those people who want to build off the nose work skills started foundation classes, for fun and for competition. Search puzzles will be set up by the class coordinator and coaching will be available if needed. Field trips in the local area to give you exposure to new searching environments may be included. The focus will be on enhancing foundation skills for you and your dog, and will use all 4 elements of nosework for searches.
Cost: $150.00
Length: 6 weeks
Prerequisite: Nosework Foundation Level 4 class or instructor's permission.
