Thanks For Demo Help!

The Demo to help the Baltimore Humane Society raise money for the good work they do for the animals went well despite the excessive heat.
We had a nice sunny location and an unseasonable hot day.  Luckily snifferdog sport does not require a lot of physical activity on the part of the participants.  It was an amazing turn out with an enthusiastic mix of people and dogs.
We used a fall/halloween theme because it was the fall festival time.
Teams got introduced to scent work and were given a crash course in watching their dogs body language and finding vanilla scent.
We did provide a birch/food pairing option for any nosework teams that wanted to play with their dogs as well.
We used to be the only scent game at these events I was pleased to see several booths incorporated scent games into their activities.  The dog's strength has always been his nose.  It is good to see people participating with their dogs each using their unique abilities.

I told several people that I am hoping to have the book available by the holiday season.  (contingent on the availability of my web expert.)

For those of you who know Buck my poster child demo dog for the last decade or so, he is having problems with his neck and back and cancer.  As a result he is not participating in demos.  Special thanks to Maggie and her person Liz who came out to help coach the teams and demonstrate advanced scenting skills.  As well as Pipen & her person Marybeth who came to illustrate advanced scent work in the form of lost pet tracking.  Both teams were students in a snifferdog sport class then wanted to continue to do scenting work with their dogs.  Hopefully they will be willing to promote snifferdog sport at more events in the future!

I did take lots of photographs, unfortunately Chrome has some glitch in it's program so that I do not seem able to upload photographs.  I'll have to try with Safari when I am in that browser.

EVENTS & DEMOS

We will be doing some events and demos in the area.  On Saturday October 5 come out and visit us at the Humane Society  DogFest in Reisterstown MD.
The demo is fine but we will also be hosting a snifferdog game at the event.  Bring your dog and run the fall course.  Even if you dog has never smelled anything but cookies this should be a fun little exercise for you both.  If your dog is a noseworks competitor we are going to provide some birch scented exercises so your dogs can play as well.
I have done some training work with the previous administration at this shelter.  They have always been at the cutting edge of providing services for the animals in need in their community.  It is a beautiful grounds (They have even donated the area for search and rescue training there in the past!)   Bring your dog for a day of fun, or come visit the shelter critters.

Kicking off The Fall With a New Class

Looking forward to teaching a new class for GR8K9s in Frederick MD.  I also revised the syllabus to experiment with some new protocols to give participants a venue to continue after the class.   I'll keep you posted.

A tough year for events!

So many of our scheduled events ended up cancelled due to heat and storms this summer.  We are looking forward to a cooler fall season.  And working on some "do it yourself options for people that want the convenience of playing almost any time in their neck of the woods.  We'll keep you posted.

Why We Only Do Events Not Levels Tests Anymore

In 2010 I taught the classes for Humane Domain.  We had some students that really worked hard with their dogs.  I noticed some angst as the final class approached and the level 1 test was scheduled.  Although from a working with the dogs stand point and the having fun in the class everyone did a great job.  Still several students were not pleased with their performance on the levels test.  I don't want passing a test to be an issue for snifferdog sport.
So the after a little discussion it was decided that it is counterintuitive to say Snifferdog Sport is all for fun yet we set people up with a goal of passing an examination.  "It is for fun and almost any dog team can play"  If you want a piece of paper saying you passed a test there are plenty of organizations that specialize in selling those.  Look at tracking with the AKC or UKC.  If you just want to spend a day having a good time with family including the four legged family members come join us at a snifferdog event.

We revamped the program.  Come to an event we will get you started finding the scents almost any dog can find.  Sign up for a class or a seminar and we will teach you how to teach your dog to scent discriminate and indicate the sources when he finds them, so you can participate the "advanced" events.  But the real priority for snifferdog sport is getting into the field and having a good time with your dog.  

The only testing we do is the instinct test.  This has been a contribution to the community for years.  It is not a pass fail test it is an evaluation of your dogs strengths and how you can use that information to introduce your dog to snifferdog sport games.

Want to grow snifferdog sport into your area?  Contact Laura for information on teaching and hosting your own snifferdog sport event.  Great fun for dog camps, 4H, Dog Clubs, etc.  Better yet bring your dog and come to a snifferdog event.

We Are Looking Forward to Summer 2012!!

Check out the calendar we are beginning to schedule events, classes, and workshops for 2012.  If you or your organization would like to add a snifferdog sport event to your program now is the time to reserve your date.
snifferdogsport@gmail.com

SniferdogSport Class 2011

The class was small but the dogs and their people were all great!  

Snifferdog sport class for Montgomery County 2011.  A nice hunting dog with the opportunity to hunt.

This Snifferdog sport event was the final of a beginner class.  Teaching the teams foundation skills for scent work.

It is hard cropping the photographs to only show the dogs since it is such a team activity. 

The Snifferdog sport teams include almost any kind of dog.  Many are family affairs where the whole family comes out to play.  It is more like a geocaching or letter-boxing event than a dog training class.  What class is going to teach a dog to sniff anyway??  

We are scheduling classes fun events with Montgomery County Department of Recreation for 2012.  Look for them late summer.