Learning Canine Nosework

Name: Learning Canine Nosework
Rating: 4.9 (4 reviews)

Nosework (scent training) teaches your dog to search for a specific scent, then give an alert to let you know its found.

Created byTania Evans

Last updated 4/2025

English

What you'll learn

Learn how to handle and prepare the scent material for your dog
Introducing the scent odour to your dog
Teaching your dog to alert to the scent odour
Scent search skills for you and your dog

Course content

5 sections • 21 lectures • 3h 35m total length

Introduction24:58
Congratulations and welcome to the wonderful world of scent training!
In this lecture we look at the benefits of scent training and the training process that we will follow. We cover the basics of positive dog training for those that are new to training their dog. There is a quick overview of essential oils.
All About Scent18:35
All about scent provides you with a basic understanding of scent and how it works. This basic understanding allows you to help your dog be successful in locating hidden odour.
Scent Preparation10:36
Previously we talked about the items that you will need for scent training and about essential oils. This lesson we cover how to handle the essential oil safely and how to prepare your scent items for training.
Line Handling Skills5:58
This is a technique that is important for you to learn. The line (or long lead) can be your best friend, or if poorly handled, it can be a huge hindrance to your training and searches.
The Alert14:26
It is a good idea to start now on teaching the behaviour your dog will use to tell you that it has found the scent. There are two categories of alerts – passive and active. A passive alert is where your dog is stationary and an active alert is where your dog is doing something to indicate the scent has been found, eg digging, barking etc. For this type of Nosework it is best to use a passive alert.
Harness Shaping (optional)9:42
It is optional, in Nosework, for your dog to wear a harness. Wearing a harness helps the dog to know that when the harness goes on, searching for odour is the job. However, in saying that, some dogs struggle wearing a harness, no matter how much positive harness training you do with your dog. So, please go with which option works best for both you and your dog.

Use Your Nose Game18:27
This is a fun game just to help your dog to get the idea of searching for something.
Odour/Scent Imprinting5:16
This is your dog’s first introduction to the target scent. The idea of this activity is for your dog to start pairing up the scent with something good.
Hand Swap Game5:39
The Hand Swap Game moves your dog on from just touching whatever is in your hand to actively locating the scent tin.
Find it Here, Find it There2:03
Instead of your dog always locating scent in your hand, we are now playing a game to help your dog to be able to find scent in various locations

Sniff-Alert-Mark-Reward4:45
This exercise is teaching your dog the alert behaviour to show you that he/she has found the scent.
Let Me at It5:37
This game is building your dog’s love and desire to find the scent.
Find it Here, Find it There with Alert2:21
We are going to go back and revisit the “Can You Find it Here, Can Your Find it There?” game, but now we want to encourage your dog to give her/his alert behaviour when they find the scent tin.
The Loyalty Game8:06
Now that we have built your dog’s love and desire to find the scent, we are going to start creating focus on the scent instead of you or the environment.
Ducks in a Row16:40
So far all of our training has been with the one scent tin and based on building our dog’s desire to find scent. Now we are going to start to introduce some “clean” items that look the same as our scent tin so that our dog has to use its nose (rather than eyes & nose) to locate the scent.

Growing Nosework Confidence13:39
Your dog’s confidence level is one of the key aspects in their ability to search. This session we look at how to build your dog’s confidence with new and novel things.
Its in the Bucket19:25
Today we are going to introduce the plastic buckets that are used for competition container searches.
I'm Back!6:53
This lesson we are going to introduce searches where the scent is hidden (no visible scent tin or buckets/containers). I have used room searches in this video however, you can also hide the scent tin in your garage or outside in your garden.
Push into Hides13:43
One of the important skills to teach your dog is to push in to locate the strongest source of scent, especially for room and vehicle searches.
Present Technique6:49
This is a technique for you to learn was well as your dog. The Present Technique enables you as the handler to help and guide your dog during a search. If you are aware of places within the search area that your dog has not checked out, then you can use the present technique to ask your dog to search those specific locations.

Requirements

No prerequistes required

Description

Nose work (or scent training) is such a wonderful activity to be able to do with your dog. Dogs naturally love to use their nose and it’s a fun activity. The benefits in training your dog in nose work are HUGE! Locating scent requires calm concentration and it also stimulates a number of your dog’s innate abilities. It is a thoughtful activity for your dog and is mentally tiring. A few minutes scent training and you can have a tired and calm dog without having to hit the pavements walking and exercising your dog during those cold and wet winter months. For less confident dogs it is an avenue for them to become more confident with their surroundings, as they focus on locating the scent rather than the surroundings. It also helps them to learn to be more independent. For dogs that are full of energy, it is an activity to focus their energy and engage the mind. Dogs who do not enjoy the company of other dogs can delight in participating in nose work without being concerned about interacting with another dog. Nose work is also a great way to build teamwork and connection with your dog. I know it is something that is going to inspire you to find more enjoyment with your dog.

The following is a basic run down of the steps involved in turning your dog into a sniffing super star….

a) Handler learning safe handling techniques of the scent items

b) Teaching an alert behaviour to your dog

c) Introducing the specific scent to your dog

d) The nose knows – encouraging your dog to use its nose to locate scent rather than its eyes

e) Scent searching games

The course uses an essential oil for the scent material, however if you do not intend to progress onto Nosework/Scent trails then you can substitute the essential oil for a different scent material. Please ensure that whatever scent material you use is not regularly present in your dog's everyday life and you can purchase more of that specific scent material.

During this course we use positive reinforcement training methods and I prefer to use food to reward your dog. Using a toy to reward your dog builds drive or speed. Using food as a reward builds behaviour, which is what we really want to help your dog learn the behaviours initially. This course has 20 lessons (video plus notes.)

Enrol today to turn your dog into a super scent detective!

Who this course is for:

This course is designed for the pet dog owner to help the owner and dog to learn canine nosework (scent training). Nose work is such a wonderful activity to be able to do with your dog. Dogs naturally love to use their nose and it’s a fun activity that mentally tires your dog as well as grows your dog’s self confidence. Nose work is also a great way to build teamwork and connection with your dog.

Learning Canine Nosework

What you'll learn

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Course content

Human Fundamentals6 lectures • 1hr 24min

Dog Fundamentals4 lectures • 31min

Alert and Search Beginning5 lectures • 37min

Growing Nosework Confidence5 lectures • 1hr

Wrap-up1 lecture • 2min

Requirements

Description

Who this course is for: