All About Scent Work Podcast

Dog Asked a Question...Is That Bad?

You're tackling a search with your dog. They have found a few hides and there are one or more hides left. Suddenly, they stop and look back at you. They are not near anything, they are not alerting...no, they are asking a dreaded question! Now what?! Is this the end of the world? What does mean?! What do you do?!
In this episode, we discuss the meaning behind our dog's asking questions in Scent Work, what this can look like and how questions are not necessarily "bad", but rather information. Once we catch our breath and calm ourselves down, we can use this information. Perhaps to decide what next steps to take, or ways we can provide more clarity to our dog or maybe identify a weakness we didn't know existed before. Having this information is critical if we wish to continue to progress in our Scent Work training.
Speaker:
Dianna L. Santos

Perspectives and Blind Spots

It is far too easy to develop blind spots when training or trialing with our dogs, working with clients, designing searches as a trial official, finding or running trials as a host or evaluating rules or regulations as a competition organization staff member. Our perspective may be rather limited, causing us to not see the fullest and most accurate picture possible. This skewed perspective may then color the decisions we make, the training plan we put together, how we evaluate our team's progress and so on.
In this episode, we discuss the importance of obtaining outside perspectives. Even having a family member or friend set out a hide for us every now and again may be incredibly enlightening! Our hope is this episode will cause everyone to consider how their perspective may be slanted or incomplete, what their blind spots may be and how they can further illuminate their "map of possibilities".
Training on your own? Check out the Considerations: Training Scent Work on Your Own Webinar.
Looking for an outside perspective? Use our video review and Zoom consultation services to receive helpful feedback from our instructors.
Are you an instructor, trial official or trial host? Schedule a Zoom consultation with a trusted colleague to get their insights and perspectives.
Speaker:
Dianna L. Santos

Art of Giving and Receiving Information

Instructors are tasked to share their knowledge and expertise with their human clients in such a way that the client can then internalize, understand and interpret that information for their dog. This is no easy task! However, it becomes close to impossible if the way this information is packaged causes the client to not want to receive it. 
In this episode, we discuss the art of giving and receiving information. Tone, facial expressions, body behavior are all important factors. Exhaustion, burnout and frustration can further complicate the situation on both sides of this divide. We must openly discuss the need to take a breath, modify and adjust our approaches the very same way we advocate when working directly with our dogs. Instructors and clients should see one another as teammates and partners, not adversaries. 
Speaker:
Dianna L. Santos

Importance of Flexibility

It is all too common to find ourselves making statements such as, "At this stage, I should do THIS" or "After this STEP, I follow this STEP and then that STEP." What's the issue you may ask? Well, this line of thinking is rather concrete. Individual needs of the dog, handler or team, unique factors for that given search, environment or training session or trialing search are not taken into account. 
In this episode, we discuss the importance of being more flexible both when we are training and trialing in Scent Work and how challenging being flexible can be!
Speaker:
Dianna L. Santos

Spotlight: Kayla Dever and Samantha Winslow

In this spotlight episode, we have the distinct privilege to speak to Kayla Dever and Samantha Winslow of Every Dog Nosework about how they plunged into helping build the Nose Work community in their area. This includes developing their training skills, competition accolades, hosting trials, workshops, seminars and more.
An amazing example of doers who are giving back to the sniffing community and sharing their love for all things Nose Work with many dog and handler teams.
Speaker:
Dianna L. Santos
Kayla Dever
Samantha Winslow

Is the Issue Scent Work Related?

It is interesting how when it comes to Scent Work, everything is seemingly viewed through the lens of the dog's ability to hunt and source their hides. If something doesn't go well, that means we must do more searches, right?
In this episode, we discuss how there are so many skills a dog, handler and team need to be successful in Scent Work, many of which have absolutely nothing to do with hunting or odor! Thus, there are times drilling more searches may be the last thing we want to do.
Speaker:
Dianna L. Santos
There were several resources mentioned in this podcast episode, be certain to check them all out:
Conquering Competition Stress Webinar by Michael McManus
Car Crate Crazy Webinar with Kayla Dever and Samantha Winslow
Harnessing Joy Webinar with Kayla Dever and Samantha Winslow
The Floor is Lava Webinar with Kayla Dever and Samantha Winslow
Tackling NW3 Head-On: Conquering the Mind Game Webinar with Kayla Dever and Samantha Winslow
Fitness for the Life of Your Dog Webinar with Donna Morgan Murray
Fitness Exercises for Your Puppy Webinar with Donna Morgan Murray
Keeping Your Senior Dog Fit to Work and Play Webinar with Donna Morgan Murray
Elevation Elation: Build and Use of Body Awareness Webinar with Vicky Lovejoy
Shrinking Space = Success Webinar with Vicky Lovejoy
Parkour to Benefit Nose Work Dogs Webinar with Lori Timberlake

Spotlight: Foster Dog Sniffer School

In this Spotlight Series episode, we have the distinct privilege of speaking with Lori Timberlake of Do Over Dog Training regarding her amazing Foster Dog Sniffer School program. This is an incredible program designed to help shelter and foster dogs within Lori's community by providing them an opportunity to enjoy all the benefits Nose Work has to offer.
Lori recently offered a webinar where she went into more detail about how this type of program works, Nose Work: Perfect Activity for Dogs in Rescue Webinar.
If you are an instructor looking to offer a similar program for your community, schedule a Zoom consultation with Lori here.
Speakers:
Dianna L. Santos
Lori Timberlake

Keeping It Safe: The Choices We Make Matter

The choices we make regarding our reactive, sensitive and aggressive dogs is an important conversation to have. It is paramount that safety be a significant factor. This is especially true when we are considering whether to trial with our dog or not. We delve into this important topic in this podcast episode.
If your dog is struggling with behavioral issues, please seek out professional, reputable help. This professional should be experienced in working with behavioral cases. Ideally, this professional will come and meet with you for an in-person initial consultation, to get a full grasp of what is going on. Afterwards, they may provide virtual follow-up sessions. 
Here are some resources to find reputable professionals with behavioral expertise:
Certification Council of Professional Dog Trainers (CPDT)
International Association of Animal Behavior Consultants (IAABC)
Other professional dog trainer directories:
Karen Pryor Academy
CATCH Dog Trainers Academy
The Association of Professional Dog Trainers 
Other resources:
AggressiveDog.com
Behavior Vets
Grisha Stewart - BAT Training
Conference Unleashed - Leslie McDevitt (Control Unleashed) and other speakers
Relationship Centered Training Skills for Reactive Dogs with Suzanne Clothier
Emma Parsons - Click to Calm and Teaching the Reactive Dog Class
Fired Up, Frantic and Freaked Out by Laura VanArendonk Baugh
Virtual Trialing Options:
Cyber Scent Work
NACSW Skills Challenge
Fenzi Team Nosework

Our Misleading Dialogue

When it comes to training or trialing in Scent Work, we oftentimes have a running dialogue in our mind that may be less than accurate. Some common examples include:
"My dog is distracted!"
"My dog lies!"
"My dog is so lazy!"
"My leash handling is awful!"
"I cannot read my dog!"
"My memory is terrible, I cannot remember where we have been or what hides I have called!"
These declarative statements become a self-fulfilling prophecy of sorts, but they are oftentimes missing the mark or are simply not true. By coloring and skewing our perspective, we prevent ourselves from identifying the real cause of a given issue and devising an appropriate solution.
In this episode, we discuss how easy it can be to fall into these misleading types of dialogues and conversations with ourselves. Being mindful of this pitfall, we can catch ourselves and instead choose to observe what is really going on and come up potential solutions. 

Meaning of Trial Results May Vary

Competing in Scent Work involves receiving qualifying or non-qualifying scores, earning titles or even placements...but what does all of this really mean?!
Does every Q earned mean our training is utterly perfect, unicorns and rainbows, whereas every NQ should be met with blowing up our training and starting over from scratch? If we do not earn a placement at a trial, do we have a ton of work ahead of us whereas earning a placement means all is well? If we do earn a title, does that mean that our dogs, ourselves as handlers and our team as a whole have all the requisite skills needed for this level and beyond?
In this podcast episode, we discuss the nuances involved with competition, how we may need to more closely evaluate our trial results and the potential pitfalls of incorrectly interpreting these results.
Speaker: Dianna L. Santos

Celebrate Learning Opportunities

We are living through an exciting time where there is a plethora of learning opportunities within the Scent Work training community! This includes access to countless experienced instructors and trainers who offer unique viewpoints and training approaches, creative training exercises and much more.
The way we take in and utilize all this information matters.
In this episode, we discuss the importance of being a critical consumer, asking questions, being mindful, looking for what will be helpful for us, our dog and our team as well as identifying what may not be so helpful or what we may simply dislike or disagree with. Additionally, we discuss how crucial it is to be respectful toward everyone, even those we may disagree with. Otherwise, these learning opportunities will simply dry up and disappear.Hopefully this is the start of an important conversation within the community, striving to promote more growth and learning in a respectful manner. If we focus on celebrating our dogs and the incredible sniffing game we are privileged to play with them, everything else will fall into place.
Speaker: Dianna L. Santos

Let's Talk: Creative Sniffy Events

As we play Scent Work, we work to develop skills for the dog, handler and team in our classes and training sessions. Especially for teams who are interested in competing, testing those skills with blind hides, time limits and other potential stressors is key. Traditionally, mock trials and Sniff N' Gos were the type of events that met this need. However, we can all agree the more creative the event, the more likely we are to participate!
In this episode, we speak with Lori Timberlake of Do Over Dog Training about the types of creative events she has offered for her clients and the many benefits of these types of events. Handlers, instructors and event hosts alike will find inspiration from listening to this episode.
Are you looking to offer some creative search events in your program? Contact Lori here to potentially schedule a phone or Zoom consultation. She wants to help you offer creative sniffing opportunities for your clients!
Lori is an amazing Nose Work instructor, trial official, trial host and competitor. Scent Work University has been incredibly fortunate to host Lori for a variety of online courses, seminars, webinars and eBooks. Check out a few of her offerings here:
TRAINING AND TRIALING IN NOSE WORK
All-Level Trial Prep Webinar
All-Level NACSW Trial Prep Course
Covering the Search Area Webinar
Elevated Hides for the Vertically Challenged Webinar
NACSW: Odor Recognition Prep (ORT) Course
NACSW: NW1 Trial Prep Course
NACSW: NW2 Trial Prep Course
NACSW: NW3 Trial Prep Course
Skill Building for Elevated Hides Course
Start Lines: From Beginning to End Webinar
BEING A TRIAL HOST
Hosting Scent Work Trials eBook
How to Run Mock ORT & Trials Webinar
BEING A NOSE WORK INSTRUCTOR
Setting Up Your Training Space for All Dogs Seminar Module
We are also incredibly fortunate to host Lori for a series of online courses through our sister site, Pet Dog U:
Confidence Building Course
Intro to Canine Parkour Course
Intermediate Canine Parkour I Course
Speakers:
Dianna L. Santos
Lori Timberlake
TRANSCRIPT
Read the full transcript here.

Let's Talk Reactive Dogs and Scent Work

One of the many wonderful aspects of Scent Work is how it is a benefical activity for so many categories of dogs, including reactive dogs.
In this episode, we have the privilege to speak with Christina Young of Positive Dog, a certified dog behavior consultant with IAABC and PPG, about playing the Scent Work game with reactive dogs.
Learn more about Christina:
Positive Dog Website
Leash Reactivity: Make Walks Fun Again Webinar
Primary, Paired and Odor Hides: Choosing the Hide for the Training Challenge Webinar offered through Scent Work University
REACTIVE DOG RESOURCES THROUGH SCENT WORK UNIVERSITY
Canine Body Behavior and Scent Work for Handlers Webinar
Control Unleashed and Scent Work Webinar
Scent Work for Reactive Dogs Webinar
Trial Prep for Reactive Dogs Webinar
When Dog Odor Trumps Target Odors: Dogs are Scary Webinar
Speakers:
Dianna L. Santos
Christina Young

Retiring a Dog from Nose Work

Whether it be due to old age, injuries, illness or simply not wanting to play the game anymore, we may find ourselves faced with the prospect of retiring our dogs from Nose Work.
In this episode, we speak with Lori Timberlake of Do Over Dog Training about her personal journey with her senior girl Daisy who, while still full of spice and vinegar, made it clear she much preferred romps in the woods over playing Nose Work. 
We are so incredibly thankful to Lori for sharing her story, the emotions she has gone through, the options she weighed and more. Doing so may help others who are in a similar situation better navigate their journey to make the best decision for them and their dogs.
Lori is an amazing Nose Work instructor, trial official, trial host and competitor. Scent Work University has been incredibly fortunate to host Lori for a variety of online courses, seminars, webinars and eBooks. Check out a few of her offerings here:
TRAINING AND TRIALING IN NOSE WORK
All-Level Trial Prep Webinar
All-Level NACSW Trial Prep Course
Covering the Search Area Webinar
Elevated Hides for the Vertically Challenged Webinar
NACSW: Odor Recognition Prep (ORT) Course
NACSW: NW1 Trial Prep Course
NACSW: NW2 Trial Prep Course
NACSW: NW3 Trial Prep Course
Skill Building for Elevated Hides Course
Start Lines: From Beginning to End Webinar
BEING A TRIAL HOST
Hosting Scent Work Trials eBook
How to Run Mock ORT & Trials Webinar
BEING A NOSE WORK INSTRUCTOR
Setting Up Your Training Space for All Dogs Seminar Module
Are you looking for another activity to do with your pup? Definitely check out Canine Parkour! Lori has an excellent program you and your dog will love through Pet Dog U.
Intro to Canine Parkour Course
Intermediate Canine Parkour I Course
Speakers:
Dianna L. Santos
Lori Timberlake

Tale of Squeezing in a Training Session

We are all incredibly busy, fluttering around doing a million things at once. How often have you found yourself trying to squeeze in a Scent Work training session? "I've got a few minutes...let's do a quick search!"
In this episode, Dianna explains how one such "I can do this quick!" training session went completely off the rails, how breathing and staying mindful would have been a far better solution yet the learning she was able to walk away with. 
Want to learn more about the new Let's Get Inspired: Creative Search Areas offering? You can here!
Other links:
What a Pair odor vessel accessory
Cirrus Wind Indicator
Speaker:
Dianna L. Santos

Take Time to Understand Odor

Regardless of why we are playing Scent Work or what our goals are, we should take time to better understand odor, odor theory and hide placement.
In this episode, we discuss the benefits of better understanding these concepts and how doing so can ensure our dogs to have more successful repetitions in their Scent Work training sessions.
Looking to learn more about odor theory and hide placement? Check out these resources:
Hide Placement and Odor Movement Seminar with Laurel Scarioni
Sniff Busters Webinar with Laurel Scarioni
Odor Concentrations Webinar with Judith Guthrie
Convergence Webinar with Judith Guthrie
The Mystery of Strings and Triangles Webinar with Judith Guthrie
Hound and The Found: How Scent and Airflow Works
Speaker:
Dianna L. Santos
TRANSCRIPT
You may read the full transcript here.

Embracing the Grey

Dealing with absolutes is riddled with issues. Yet it is far too common for statements containing "always" and "never" to be thrown around when discussing Scent Work. Black and white type thinking can be problematic to stay the very least.
In this episode, we delve into the importance of embracing the grey to take into account all the variables including the dog, handler, team, search area, environmental factors and more.
Speaker:
Dianna L. Santos

Group Classes and Customization

Handlers should absolutely advocate for their dogs. They know their dogs best and will be the ones who will decide the short-term and long-term goals for themselves, their dog and their team as a unit. Handlers working with an instructor should view this professional as an integral part of the team. These professionals can ensure all these goals are met, avoid common pitfalls or course correct if necessary. However, doing so can be complicated in a group class setting depending on the circumstances, particularly when we are talking about Scent Work.
In this episode, we discuss why this may be, the logistical realities of group classes and how supplementing attending class with private sessions or virtual training may offer better results. At the end of the day, communication is key and recognizing that instructors and professional trainers are devoted to helping their human and clients succeed.
Speaker:
Dianna L. Santos

Issues with Success

As we are training and trialing in Scent Work, we will start accumulating successes. However, we should evaluate these successes objectively and honestly, otherwise we can start experiencing some issues.
In this episode, we discuss why this type of honest assessment is crucially important to ensure the future progression of ourselves and our dogs as we continue to play the sniffing game.
Speaker:
Dianna L. Santos

Instructors: The Pain of Growth

Being a Scent Work instructor is an honor and a privilege. You devote countless hours learning and honing your craft, perfecting it with your own dogs and then transferring that knowledge to your clients. Those clients then go on to play the wonderful sniffing game, having successes and a blast doing so.
However, to be an effective teacher requires one also be a student, someone open to learning new information, approaches and perspectives. The issue? There may come a point in time when this seemingly runs in conflict with your current approaches, program or curriculum!
In this episode, we discuss how painful it can be for Scent Work instructors to grow and adjust their training approaches, lessons and curriculum. The possible professional ramifications. The emotional toll. How it may cause you to second guess your worth as an instructor and trainer! While growth can indeed be painful, even eliciting powerful emotional responses, growing as a Scent Work instructor is a GOOD thing and DOES NOT mean one was bad, unknowledgeable or worthless before said growth.
One such newer resource that can help you further grow as an instructor is the book authored by Sue Sternberg and Dana Zinn: The Dog-Driven Search: Handling Our Nose Work Dogs to Promote Independence, Joy, and Enthusiasm
This is the first installment for our new Scent Work instructor-focused podcast series. We look forward to sharing interviews with fellow colleagues about their training journeys, their experience as an instructor and much more.
Speaker:
Dianna L. Santos

There's More to Sniffing Success

When it comes to Scent Work, we work to to ensure our dog has solid odor recognition, that they find their hides valuable and are able to competently solve odor puzzles and source their hides both efficiently and effectively. However, to truly be successful, our dogs must also master a myriad of other skills which have nothing at all to do with searching.
In this episode, we delve into this topic, providing a few examples of the types of skills oftentimes brushed aside as unimportant when in truth they may be pivotal for the dog's or team's overall success.
A few of the resources you may want to look into to broaden your dog's skillset include:
Car Crate Crazy Webinar with Kayla Dever and Samantha Winslow
Harnessing Joy Webinar with Kayla Dever and Samantha Winslow
The Floor is Lava Webinar with Kayla Dever and Samantha Winslow
Worth Waiting For: Leveraging Staging Areas to Maximize Performance Webinar with Kayla Dever and Samantha Winslow
Elevation Elation: Build and Use Body Awareness Webinar with Vicky Lovejoy
Shrinking Space = Success Webinar with Vicky Lovejoy
Fitness for the Life of Your Dog Webinar with Donna Morgan Murray
Keeping Your Senior Dog Fit to Work and Play Webinar with Donna Morgan Murray
Fitness Exercises for Your Puppy Webinar with Donna Morgan Murray
Intro to Canine Parkour Course with Lori Timberlake
Intermediate Canine Parkour I Course with Lori Timberlake
Conquering Competiton Stress Webinar with Michael McManus
Why Stress is Good Webinar with Michael McManus and Natalie McManus
Speaker:
Dianna L. Santos

Cyber Scent Work: Games, Evaluators, Oh My!

In this episode, we discuss Cyber Scent Work and some of the changes, updates and new offerings including the launch of the Cyber Sniffing Games Program, the revamped Traditional Cyber Scent Work Program as well as introducing in-person assessments with the new Evaluator Program. YAY!
To learn more, be certain to check out:
Cyber Scent Work website
Cyber Sniffing Games Program
Traditional Cyber Scent Work Program
Evaluator Program
If you have any questions or would like to learn more, contact Dianna directly at dianna@cyberscentwork.com.
Speaker:
Dianna L. Santos

Let’s Talk Odor with Amy Herot and Jill Marie O’Brien

For our 100th episode, we have the distinct privilege of speaking with the Co-Founders of NACSW, Amy Herot and Jill Marie O'Brien about all things odor, K9 Nose Work, training, trialing and more.

Run on All Cylinders...Or Maybe Not

Are you going a million miles a minute when it comes to Scent Work? Doing all the training, learning, trialing possible, essentially all the things all the time? Or, do you feel as though MUST do all the things all the time to be a "good" Scent Work handler, instructor, trainer or trial official?
In this episode, we discuss the potential issues of doing too much for too long, lacking balance in your life and how it is NOT necessary to meet some arbitrary metric when it comes to playing Scent Work.
Speaker:
Dianna L. Santos

Instructors: Clients Cannot Live Inside Bubbles

As Scent Work Instructors, given our learning, background and expertise, we oftentimes have a fairly solid grasp for how a sniffy journey may go, common pitfalls teams may fall into and ways to avoid those pitfalls. Our desire is to help guide our clients to have the smoothest and most successful journey possible. However, some learning can only be obtained by doing.
In this episode, Dianna discusses how challenging it can be for instructors to thread this needle. While we want to guide our clients along their journey, we must simultaenously recognize it may be necessary for our client to experience something firsthand to truly absorb the information or obtain the requisite skills. Essentially, while instructors may have the best of intentions, placing clients into bubbles is oftentimes not the best option and could actually hinder their progression and growth.
Speaker: Dianna L. Santos