02 MarIntroduction to Scent Detection

Using their awesome schnoz power, dogs can discern different smells and remember those odors long after being exposed to them.

For millennia, they've used their awesome sniffing powers to help humans do everything from find drugs to truffles to bed bugs. They're naturals at this work; every dog is finding things with his nose all the time!

The trick to making this skill useful is teaching them to “tell” us about what they're smelling. A little good training can turn even a couch potato Maltese into a scent-detecting McGruff.

Starting this March, School for the Dogs will be offering Introduction to Nose Work, giving Manhattan dog owners and their pups a rare opportunity to get a sniff of what it is like to have a dog learn to do these kind of tasks. Our trainer Sandra Griffith has instructed dogs for police, drug detection and water rescue. She will be teaching a six-week class for four lucky dogs and owners in the principles of “scenting.” While Sandra may not be preparing your dog for a career with the NYPD or City Bugs, we will be engaging dog students' minds and noses in a series of exercises and games that will challenge our pets to use their noses like never before.

DAYS & TIMES
Fridays 7:30-8:30 PM // March 11-April 15

CLASS DETAILS
• Instructor: Sandra
• Prerequisite: Unless otherwise approved by the instructor, all dogs must have completed our Prep School.

SIGN UP
Introduction to Scent Detection, $360

The process begins by combining enticing foods with samples of odiferous substances like birch, clove, and anise. The foods and the scents are put in identical cardboard boxes so that the source of the smell is hidden. The first job for the human is to help the dog understand what we want him to find (the box with the smelly substance). Dogs work one at a time on a long lead while their owners work to resist “helping” the dogs with the kind of subtle and often unconscious hints that our pets are so good at reading. (Practicing letting a dog think for himself is a skill that can be used far beyond scent-work trials).

As the dog learns, Sandra will add more boxes to make the search more difficult. There will be only one box with a smell, while the others will be odor free. Dogs will leave this class with the foundation skills that can be built upon to make them scent-detection pros; humans will graduate with a new and fun way to mentally exhaust their dogs in their own living rooms. Whether the skill is used towards locating truffles or drugs or your misplaced phone charger, you and your dog will leave this class with honed training chops and a new appreciation for the incredible canine nose.