Scent Work

A duck toller sniffing a wooden crate at a scent work trial

Scent work is great activity for dogs of any age. Whether you are looking for a fun new activity to do at home, or to someday compete, it’s never too late to start. These classes are appropriate for dogs over the age of 6 months.

Scent work is an accessible sport for dogs of any size or physical ability, it is even great for blind dogs. This sport puts our dogs’ noses and minds to work, and encourages independence and confidence to search. The goal is to create teams made up of confidently committed searching dogs and smart, observant handlers who can read when their dog is in odour, and can handle all different kinds of searches.

Come try canine scent work, build your dog’s confidence, and become a fantastic sniffy team!

If you are still on the fence – check out this great podcast episode from Diana Santos of Scent Work University. 

Intro to Canine Scent Work

This class will teach you and your dog the foundation skills of the sport of Scent Detection. In this class we will start by searching for food, a game most dogs are good at. Then we will use food pairing – where we pair the treats with the goal odour (Wintergreen). We will discuss handling techniques, how to read dog body language, and how to effectively reward your dog. Scent work is known to be confidence building for all dogs, but especially sensitive dogs because sniffing is a physiologically calming behaviour. Dogs are naturals at sniffing, we will put their noses to the test in this fun class!

Upcoming Classes:

Intro to Scent Work
Mondays 8:10-9:10pm

Class Dates: April 21, 28, May 5, 12, 19, and 26

Cost $180 for 6 weeks

Space Available

Please email Lily at bigstickdogtraining@gmail.com to register for this class.
There is a $50 non-refundable deposit for this class, the rest of the class cost will be due by the first day of class.

Lily makes every attempt to make her classes welcoming to sensitive dogs. She does this by ensuring that dogs have space in class, this sometimes includes using x-pens as visual barriers until a dog is feeling more comfortable in class. Feel free to email Lily and ask her any questions you may have: bigstickdogtraining@gmail.com

Lily also teaches Rally Obedience at Nova Dogsport – you can learn more here.