N120J NW120 - Introduction to NW Search Elements

Week 1: Foundation / Self-Assessment / Baseline

• Supplemental: Organizing your scent supplies
• Supplemental: Review of foundation games
• Supplemental: Review Intro to Interiors
• Supplemental: Review Intro to Containers
• Self-Assessment and Baseline video
• Taking Containers on the road!
• Novel Interior searches
• Introducing other qtip vessels
• Hide Placement: What makes a hide Accessible and Inaccessible

Week 2: Airflow/Handling/Exteriors

• Airflow
• Handling
• Intro to Exteriors
• Interior Hides Low and Slightly Elevated

Week 3: New target odors/Distractors/Vehicles

• Cluttered areas
• Expanding Exterior search area
• Introducing new target odors
• Introducing food/toy distractors (containers)
• Patterning Container Thresholds Hide Locations
• Intro to Vehicles

Week 4: Exterior/Vehicles/Duration at Source

• Novel Exteriors
• Building duration at source
• Expanding Vehicle search skills

Week 5:Air Scenting/Multiple Hides/Buried

• Air Scenting
• Novel Vehicle searches
• Intro to Multiole hides
• Intro to Buired

Week 6: Putting it all together

• Aging Hides (Containers)
• Developing independent start lines
• Building search stamina
• Assessing trial readiness/What to expect when trialing
• Revisit Self-Assessment

Prerequisites:

NW101 (Introduction to Nosework) or equivalent. This class would also be appropriate for dogs needing to revisit search element foundation skills.

Equipment needed:

• Kit:
  • Birch oil (or whatever odor your dog will be searching for)
  • scented q-tips
  • Metal tins with holes (see picture below of more types of "qtip containers" we'll be using).
  • 2nd and 3rd odors for Week 3 lecture on introducing new odors (Anise and Clove for NACSW).
    • http://www.paws4fun.net/ (Target Odor Kit -or- Complete Odor Kit)
    • http://k9nwsource.com/ (Student Starter kit or Starter Kit Plus with "snap" tight container)
    • http://www.thek9nose.com/ (starter travel kit or Deluxe Scent kit)
    • http://www.allgooddogs.biz/ (Student Kit with single odor or Travel Kit Starter),

• Fun-Tak, Quake Hold, or glue dashes (to stick hides to surfaces, available online or in some department stores),
• White cardboard boxes (ORT standard), 10-15 cardboard boxes (various sizes). ~ 9x6x3 is a good size.
  • https://www.amazon.com/BOX-USA-BM962-White-Pack/dp/B01D9T2G3M/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?keywords=BOX+USA+BM962+9%22L+x+6+1%2F2%22W+x+2+3%2F4%22H%2C+White+%28Pack+of+50%29&qid=1573768416&sr=8-1-fkmr0
• Sterlite shoe boxes (can get at dollar stores) with holes in the top.
• A vehicle to search.
• Tasty treats that don't fall apart.
• OPTIONAL: Sand for buried hide searches (AKC) - a 50 pound bag will fill up 4 containers roughly 12x8x6.5 (6.5 qt). You can reuse your game boxes if they are about 6" tall, otherwise you might want to purchase a few more - think shoe box size.
• Rule book for the trial you will be training for.
  • NACSW http://www.nacsw.net/trial-information/trial-rule-book
  • AKC: http://images.akc.org/pdf/rulebooks/RSW001.pdf

We will start using other items to hold the qtips in for hide placement other than a tin. Here is a picture of some of the items we will be using. One of my favorite items to use are the flat heat shrink wrap tubes that you can get at your local hardware store.

Space required: None specified. Some people have asked about working outside in winter. We will cover exteriors and vehicles. However people in previous courses have found creative ways to introduce those elements in less than ideal conditions. This class, like NW101, is ultimately about obedience to odor - just work on getting that strong for the elements that you have access to and you aren't likely to have any trouble with the others!

Hide Placement

In Nosework, you will hear terms Accessible and Inaccessible. These terms are often misunderstood. All too often new handlers will confuse “visible” to be “accessible” and “hidden” to be “inaccessible”.

In NW1, all of your hides will be “Accessible”. This means that they will be sourceable by the dog… or rather that your dog will be able to access the highest concentration of odor coming from the hide (from within 1-1.5 inches away). It doesn’t actually mean that your dog will be able to get his actual mouth on the hide. The hide will be hidden from view and you will need to time your Alert call on the dog’s indication that he is at source. You will NEVER see a hide at a trial.

"Inaccessible" simply means that the highest concentration of odor is not available to a dog. Picture a drawer with a hide in it. As the hide is aged, odor concentration will build up inside the drawer. This is where the concentration is the highest. Odor will also seep through the cracks to the outside of the cabinet. The concentration of odor will be less at the point of seepage than it will be inside the drawer. During the search, the dog can only get his nose to the cracks where odor is seeping and therefore cannot access the point at which odor is most highly concentration. That means that this example of a hide is Inaccessible. A hide placed 4 or 6 feet high, will be inaccessible for most dogs and moreso for small dogs! There are varying degrees of "inaccessibles". Some inaccessibles, my dog will alert just like an accessible if it's placed in a locker or cabinet. She'll source it to the closest she can get and keep her nose there. If the hide is elevated above her head she can only bracket and not be able to get at source. However, if we were to place a straw with a Qtip in the seam of the drawer, the area of highest concentration of odor will be at that seam and will be accessible by the dog. Also, that drawer seam hide will indeed be hidden from view.

Using my definition of an accessible hide, a box could be considered a lesser degree of an “inaccessible” hide. Your dog cannot get to within 1-1.5" of the source, but the entire container is hot and has odor and can be accessed on all sides so your dog can indicate anywhere on the container. But not everyone considers boxes to be inaccessible hides. Non-box containers used in NW2/3 like bags, purses, suitcases, the odor can be on the "outside" in a pocket, wheel, or handle so those would be "accessible". Other non-box containers will have enough venting so that the odor is not so "contained".

Your dog’s indication in a non-container search will likely be different than in a container search. Their indication will develop over time and your job as a handler is to recognize A CHANGE OF BEHAVIOR when at source. You will learn and are ALWAYS learning to read your dog’s body language so that you can identify when your dog has reached source. You won’t be able to rely on seeing a tin or a straw. Your dog might nose the area strongly or perhaps touch the area with a nose or paw and then look at you, or your dog may do something else entirely. Every dog is different!

Here’s a video of some dogs with different alerts.

In this class we will be dealing exclusively with accessible hides during our searches. As your dog starts to learn and you start to place hides, you need to make sure that the hides are accessible. Accessible hides build confidence because the dog builds a strong belief that he can get to source. Inaccessible hides won’t be introduced until NW130 and then will be worked on extensively in NW230. It is VERY important that your hide placements at this point in your training are NOT inaccessible.

Here are some examples of accessible hides. Notice that these hides are also hidden! When placed well, these hides will also not be retrievable.

Something to note… in NW1, you can have hides up to 4 feet high. If you have a little dog, these hides will automatically be inaccessible to your dog. We will work on elevated hides in NW130.

Notice how in this picture, this hide is accessible to a small dog:

However, this hide is inaccessible to a small dog:

When you start training, make sure that your hide is within an elevation accessible to your dog. In the beginning, the dog should not have to put his paws up on anything to get to source. Also, make sure your dog can access all sides of the item where the hide is placed. This allows the dog to work source from all angles since airflow could affect where the scent cone is and how the dog can more easily work it to source.

HOMEWORK:

Take 5 pictures of Accessible hide locations and post on your Gold thread with a description of the hide.

When you add your images to your post, you select the Add file button and then you need to select insert to add it to the post!