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Monday, August 29, 2016

Shyla's Incredible Nose

Shyla and I have continued our "nosework education" by taking another Fenzi course. I am absolutely amazed by Shyla's amazing drive to find the target scents.

I've also noticed that Shyla becomes more confident when she is doing nosework. Kids screaming nearby or things unexpectedly falling still scare her but her love of finding the hidden scent overrides her fear. She simply loves using her nose to search!

To give you an idea of how far she's come, I'm including a fun search that we did on a recent camping trip. I hid six scent sources (q-tips soaked in the scent and placed in a tube or a tin). They were all on one side of our LabMobile but not necessarily on the structure of the LabMobile itself.

In the short video, if you hear me say "alert", it means that Shyla has indicated that she found a scent source. I then give her a series of treats before saying "find another". When I say that, it means that she needs to find a *different* source of scent than the ones she already found. I am utterly amazed by how good she's become at remembering which sources she's already found, passing over them, and looking for new ones.

As you'll see in the video, Shyla found all six in under three minutes, and that includes the time that I was rewarding her for each found scent source. The barking is our crazy R. Ever since he restarted some nosework post-surgery, he wants to be involved in every search!

I hope that you enjoy the video either here or at Youtube!


It's fun to realize that Shyla learned to do this completely using positive training - being rewarded for finding the scent. I love training when it's positive!

Have a great Monday!

21 comments:

  1. Fabulous nosework, Shyla!!!! We love seeing your tail wag so excitedly:)

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  2. Susan trained Holly to a Tracking Dog title (AKC). Basically, it was a 1000-yard trail that someone had left several hours before. He dropped probably three articles (like a glove) along the way. Holly came along and followed his trail doing a "down" at each article. Their noses are amazing.

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  3. Wow, how impressive!!

    Your Pals,

    Murphy & Stanley

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  4. OMD look at her work. Great job Shyla!

    Aroo to you,
    Sully

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  5. She sure looks like she is having fun. You are doing great things with her.

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  6. Way to go Shyla, that's darn impressive pretty girl!

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  7. That constantly wagging tail!!

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  8. That's so impressive! I want to try this with Nola, and I think it could help Pike's confidence.

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  9. That's great, Shyla! Very nice work.

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  10. You have done amazing work with Shyla. And she does have a great nose.

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  11. WOW that's amazing. Might even come in handy in finding, oh I don't know, lets say some keys, right momma? hehehhehe. Momma lost her keys.
    Blessings,
    Buddy

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  12. I love her intensity. She clearly knows she has a job to do and she goes about doing it.

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  13. WooooHoooooo!!!! Way to go gurl!!! I thinks Ma should try that with me....do you use cheesyburgers for a scent??? That would be pawsome! I would find all of em'! BOL
    Seriously, that is some FABulous nosework, and I can see by your waggy hinnie, you are havin' a pawsome time!
    Kisses,
    Ruby ♥

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  14. That is amazing! Shyla is amazing!
    Isn't it wonderful to realize how smart our girls are!
    hugs
    Mabel & Mom

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  15. You are amazing, Shyla! Great work!

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  16. Bravo Shyla!!! and thanks for the video :o) we plan to do some nosework in fall and are grateful for all tips and ideas :o)

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  17. What a cool game Shyla. I would love playing scent. We are not suppose to have good sniffers but I have the best in the west. No matter where Edward pee pees I walk mom right to it. Mom may have to try your scent game on me
    Snorts,
    Lily & Edward

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