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Continue reading →: More Handling Errors that Lead to False Alerts
Last week I posted about the “feedback loop” handling error (read about it here.) What I didn’t mention is that the “feedback loop” is actually a really good kind of way to get a false alert because it means that both you and your dog are in tune with each…
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Continue reading →: The Feedback Loop that Leads to False Alerts
I have been doing some coaching for the upcoming AKC Master Scent Work competition, and a handling issue has come up with a couple of my students. This handling mistake is subtle and it’s a trap that even experienced handlers fall into. I call it the feedback loop, and it…
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Continue reading →: Why You Don’t Want a Smart Dog
We all think we want a smart dog. We envision the dog learning effortlessly, from one or two repetitions. Of them understanding us and easily following directions. We imagine first place ribbons and High In Trial rosettes. We imagine the jealousy of our peers. What we don’t imagine…oh dear heaven,…
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Continue reading →: Why We are All So Stupid at Trials
NOTE: this is a republished post from two years ago. I have been so busy with seminars and pre-retirement projects that I have just not been able to finish any new blog posts (although I have started three!) However, this one is a classic topic and worth re-revisiting. Also, the…
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Continue reading →: Can We Get Rid of Lingering Odor?
I am not really a gadgets person. I don’t run out and buy the latest kitchen cookery thing…air fryers, food processors, insta-pots….I don’t collect dog self-feeders or enrichment toys. But, show me a good scent work gadget and now you have my attention. Not necessarily the scent vessels (of which…
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Continue reading →: Developing Scent Goggles
I hear about handlers developing “scent goggles.” This refers to people developing the ability to “see” where the scent is going, or will go, especially when setting hides for our competition dogs. I have been competing and studying and teaching scent work for about 12 years, and I am just…
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Continue reading →: The Handler Discrimination Class, the Latex Gloves and the Steward
I am teaching a beginner Handler Discrimination class this month, and am so excited that it is going well. One of my students brought up a question about the latex gloves (that the steward wears) in the upper level HD classes. She asked “does the hide steward change gloves for…
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Continue reading →: Setting Hides for Competition and Listening to the Demo Dog
Every so often, someone ask me how I go about setting hides as a judge, so this week I decided to blog about that. Last weekend I was judging interiors, and needed to do a UKC Elite level run. I had a big room to work with, some chairs and…
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Continue reading →: Are You a Good Manager for Your Scent Work Dog?
It has been a while since I posted, due in part, to the launch of my first online class (have you checked it out yet? You can see it here: https://sniffingaroundscentwork.thinkific.com/bundles/seeing-through-your-dog-s-nose. ) I have gotten some nice comments on it! Someone came up to me at the trial I judged…
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Continue reading →: Announcing Online Odor Theory Class
Well, here it is at last, the class that has been ten years in the making (click link below to see it): Seeing Through Your Dog’s Nose (Apologies to subscribers, this is a duplicate post…I needed to make this post public and couldn’t do it without the duplication) What the…
Hello,
I’m Ellen
A Scent Work trainer, instructor, competitor, student, and judge. Welcome to Sniffing Around Scent Work, a blog where I write about my experiences, thoughts and musings on my favorite past time.
