K9 Nose Work - I Like It - My Dogs Love It

Once upon a time, three friends, Ron, Amy & Jill Marie, who were owned by search and rescue, narcotics detection, and K9 unit police dogs, were working in a field with their dogs. Both dogs and humans were having a great time while honing and practicing their scent work skills. These three people got to talking and wondering why it seemed that only highly trained, professional dogs could enjoy this work. They put their heads together and came up with "K9 Nose Work: The next urban sport for dogs..." http://www.funnosework.com/home.html.

What kind of dogs use their nose? Young dogs, old dogs, shy dogs, reactive dogs, fat dogs, skinny dogs, even dogs with chicken pox love nose work. It's a natural, God given talent that all dogs have, from blood hounds to site hounds, show dogs to rescue dogs, big dogs and little dogs, house dogs and ferrell dogs. They do it when they are awake and they do it while they sleep. They scent the air, they scent the ground, dogs scent everywhere. "As we see the world, the dog smells it. The dog's universe is a stratum of complex odors" ( 'Inside of A Dog' by Alexandra Horowitz ). Professional dogs are not trained to smell, they already know how to do that. Rather they are trained to identify and indicate certain specific odors; lost people, diseases, narcotics, explosives, insects, fear (Police Dogs) ... The list goes on and on and gets longer everyday.

So what about non-professional dogs? Isn't Fido in the park as capable of locating and identifying scents as any professionally trained dog? They (dogs) do it all the time; they gather information through their noses; they explore the world with their noses. And then, here comes the HUMAN! Don't smell that pile; Don't smell the ground; Lift your head up and look at me; And for goodness sake get your nose out of that kid's posterior!
We are constantly telling dogs not to do what comes naturally. We are the boss and they need to 'see' things our way. So I ask you; What fun is that for an animal with over two or three HUNDRED MILLION sensory receptors? (Compared to we humans with a meager six million receptors.) Is it any wonder that they like the sport of K9 Nose Work?

So why do my dogs LOVE K9 Nose work? Well, we've really already answered the main reason why in the above paragraph. They can't really help it, they are DOGS after all.

Here's what my boy Eric has to say about it:

"We get to be in charge for a change. ( Mom's note: The K9 Nose Work arena is a 'No Obedience' arena.) We decide which boxes to look in, Mom just tags along. I get to smell anything I want and put my nose anywhere I want. Then there are the TREATS. OH THOSE TREATS! Mom puts the best goodies she can find in the goodie box. Sometimes it's liver, or hot dogs, or cheese. My sister Me O likes the cheese best; my sister Sally Marie doesn't really care, she likes everything. My favorites are the peanut butter crackers and those salty, cheesy, crunchy things (Cheetos). OK, so Mom hides the treats and sometimes it's hard. But then that's half the fun . And boy howdy, when I pick out the right box Mom gets all excited and happy and gives me even more goodies. I like to make my Mom smile almost as much as I like peanut butter!"

And why do I like K9Nose work? It exercises the dogs mind and it teaches confidence. It's fun, easy and the dog does all the work. OK, I do have to buy the treats, put them in the box and hide the box but after that the dog does all the work. And I like to see my Eric smile almost as much as I like a good filet mignon.

For more information on K9 Nose Work go to:

K9 NOSE WORK http://www.k9nosework.com/

National Association of Canine Scent Work (NACSW) http://www.nacsw.net/