In 2019 – when I decided I wanted to learn more about nose/scent work – I was thrilled to learn that past ATA podcast guest Sarah Owings ran an online learning opportunity called Cyber Scent with her colleague Helix Fairweather!
Cyber Scent is set up as a – learn at your own pace – (perfect for me @ that time) monthly subscription service for people who already have clicker training skills and where you get drip-fed course instructions based on your progress!
NOTE: This blog post was initially created in 2019, but I wanted to re-share some of the awesomeness from my Cyber Scent experience! – So here are 5 of my favourite training videos of mine and Fibi’s scent work adventure back in 2019.
In this first video, you can see Fibi and me pairing the odour we will be using with high valued food items. The odour is located at the bottom of the bowl under a Colander. We did MANY repetitions so that when Fibi smelled the odour, it would be associated with good things/feelings.
Here we have added a verbal “eyes on” cue to the behaviour of Fibi targeting her nose over the odour (Still in the bowl under he Colander). And you can see I am starting to add the distraction of – me moving- whilst – reinforcing her for keeping her head in the bowl.
By this stage, Fibi is offering a small duration nose target with the odour hidden in different containers! And she is also doing this with me being positioned in lots of different places around the room!
In this video, we have moved the odour up of the ground with a few distractions in place! Fibi shows some of her first signs of actively sniffing out the odour!
Next, we moved the odour onto objects in the room! The first time I put it up on the heater was one of the most extensive searches Fibi had done up until that point! I LOVED doing this training so much!
I highly recommend the Cyber Scent course if you already have clicker training experience and are looking to learn more about getting started in scent work yourself. I know I absolutely loved my experience with it and am looking forward to learning even more.
What about your nose/scent work journey? Leave a comment below to share with us your experiences!
Best Regards
Ryan Cartlidge
Animal Training Academy
Comments on Watch me scent train my dog [Fibi]!
I really love your training videos thank u heaps
I love your training videos, thank you! Fibi is super engaged and your videos are so clear and kind x
This looks like a lot of fun and a good ‘game’ for both of you. I love the enthusiasm Fibi exhibits in her search for the scent.
Great job Ryan and Fibi! Love seeing the enthusiastic progression. This looks enriching for both of you.
Inspiring!
just lovely!!!