In training, your dog often knows the environment well. They may train alone, at home, or with the same few dogs — which means background scent is predictable. Trials change that picture completely. In a trial environment, your dog is suddenly exposed to: • Residual dog odor from dozens of unfamiliar dogs • Leash paths, corners, and furniture heavily trafficked by dogs • Possible drool or pheromone scent where dogs have paused, waited, or been rewarded • Scent pictures that don’t exist in your normal training spaces For some dogs, this creates a totally new kind of scent picture. Dogs sometime alert where another dog alerted even if that other dog was wrong. Other times this creates a handler challenge where the dog isn't actually indicating, but shows a change of behaviour that the handler incorrectly identifies as source odor. This is especially common for dogs that have limited experience: • Training only at home • Training with the same dogs • Training in low-traffic environments How to work through this in training Instead of trying to “ignore dog odor,” teach your dog how to sort through it: • Train in spaces used by unfamiliar dogs --- especially if those other dogs a drooly • Intentionally run searches after other dogs have worked • Reinforce clear sourcing away from dog odor • Occasionally train with no target odor in high dog-traffic areas (for teams that have progressed to blank searches) The goal isn’t to eliminate dog odor — it’s to help your dog learn that dog scent is just part of the environment, not the answer. Has your dog ever "falsed" and you've come to find out later that dogs ahead of you incorrectly indicated to the same spot? Could be that your dog is picking up on scent from the other dog! Although it could also mean that multiple dogs are getting tripped up by the same problem.

I've added links to the YouTube videos I've done for Intro to Nosework so you can start playing along at home if you have a dog that you haven't started in nosework yet!

1. Start Here — Watch the Quick Welcome Video 🎥 Before diving in, please take a few minutes to watch our short welcome video — it’ll help you get the most out of this space. 2. Courses Are a Work in Progress 📚 I'm currently migrating our existing content from Facebook, YouTube, and our registration software. You might notice some areas are still being built — thanks for your patience while we get everything in one place! 3. Keep Track of What You’ve Seen ✅ As you review course content, click the checkmark at the top right of each page to mark it as “complete.” This makes it easy to see what you’ve watched and what’s still new to you. 4. Introduce Yourself in the Introduction Thread 🐕 We’d love to meet you and your dog(s)! 5. Jump In and Have Fun! 🎉 Explore, learn, and connect. Thank you for being here!