Once again this puppy blows my mind!! I’m almost embarrassed to say this is only his SECOND nosework training session with me! The breeder introduced the litter to Birch oil odor before their eyes opened and a couple weeks ago I did ONE “intro to odor” session in which I paired the odor tin in a box with treats that were put into the box through another hole. The other day I was cleaning up in the training area and decided to try some nosework hides for him. Granted, he has had several Barn Hunt sessions, so he knows how to follow a whiff of odor to source, but he did incredible!
I started with some container hides and he nailed them really fast. So I did some hides in the main room and he nailed those too! So I started recording and set some much harder hides to see if he would get them. My mind is blown! I see there is a really good reason why some of his full brothers and sisters are working as Search And Recovery dogs!
The video has the last 3 searches we did. I expected a bit too much on the final search and he got frustrated with me, but man! Did I mention I’m blown away by him yet again? THIS is just one example of how easy he makes training! We skipped a LOT of training steps and he still looks like a pro at 7.5 months!
https://vimeo.com/191392931
P.S. I cover his eyes as his signal that he needs to use his nose. I do it for both barn hunt and nose work. Having a very clear signal like that helps prevent sniffing when you don’t want it.
Raising a Genius Puppy 