Sniffers
Scentwork for sniffy dogs
Sniffers is our club for all things scent related. This is a group of dog-handler teams to practice their skills, learn new techniques and introduce new scenting environments. We build teamwork, collaboration, and most importantly fun mentally stimulating activities to build on at home and out on your walks
Harness your dog's scenting skills
Using that nose for good
Most dogs love a good sniff and those who are not so skilled at finding something in the grass will still be very happy to follow a bigger smell that catches their attention. Searching through sniffing is a hugely rewarding activity for your dog and building it up as a team-sport will not only be a wonderful game to play together, once your dog knows that you enjoy doing this with them they are more likely to get your help with other smells they find in the world rather than running off after them.
Dogs not only learn how to ask for nice things that they want but also the self control to not just grab for them or run off after them. This builds focus and easier attention towards you around distracting spaces. The overall communication between you will improve and it eases up pulling on lead since you are working together rather than two separate activities on a walk.
Scentwork Foundations - Introduction
To get started in scentwork we need to teach you and your dog the main skills. That is learning to communicate, self control, how to navigate a search space, how to find a specific odour, how to point it out safely and effectively and how to recognise that your dog is pointing it out. We do this as a 4-week long introductory course run at our training field just outside of Prosperous, Co. Kildare. Each session is one and a half hours long. Every dog is an individual and every dog-handler team are unique so although we have the same work to get through with everyone, we will tweak things to best suit your team's dynamic. Different dogs like different methods for indications on odour, different search strategies and how to manage external factors such as wind, unusual search item shape, and searching around distractions.
Our next round or this course starts on the 22nd of June 2025.
Sniffers Club
Build on your foundations
Sniffers club sessions are a Pay-As-You-Go sessions or you can pay in a block of four consecutive sessions which is cheaper. Each session is 1.5 hours long. We work on one topic for the three consecutive weeks, this is to introduce this new environment to dogs just joining the club and as a practice for those who have already worked on these environments. We introduce new activities and exercises to build up your dog's skill at searching and have some fun in a great community of like-minded dog and search enthusiasts. The different environments we primarily practice are: exterior vehicle search; office search; container & luggage search; wall search; and warehouse search. See below for descriptions of each.
Whether you are looking to build your skills, work towards competition, or just to do something fun with your dog, scentwork and sniffing is one of the best things you can do together. Note that you and your dog must have completed the Scentwork Foundations course to join this group.
Sessions cost €50 each or €140 for a consecutive bundle of 3 weeks.
Vehicle Search
There is a skill to properly searching the outside of a vehicle for a defined odour. Not only are there a huge number of nooks and crannies where odour could be hidden, we also have to contend with the distracting smells of the environment stuck to the car from all over and the fact that odour can pool in unsuspecting spaces around the car that can be confusing. We must also be sure that the dogs never jump up on the car or do any damage to a car when searching.
Dogs are given lots of space to fully search the vehicle, help understanding if there is odour pooling or wafting in or around corners, and taught how to ask for help if they get stuck or confused.
For most dogs who do this work, the vehicle search is one of their favourite environments to search. Working on this also provides dogs who are nervous of cars a chance to change how they feel about them for the better under safe environmental controls.
Interior Room Search
In office search we teach dogs how to thoroughly search around and under tables and chairs without getting tangled up. We also introduce searching the full room and its built in elements such as door frames, skirting boards and radiators. Dogs and handlers can get stuck on the notion that only separate objects in a room can be searched but it is important not to lose sight of the environment itself.
Once you have the basics, this is the easiest search to practice at home. Just make sure that you are happy for your dog to search the areas you practice in.
Container Search
This is a very broad category of searching. It ranges from bags and luggage to boxes, bins and storage benches. These items are usually very malleable for a dog so it is important that they learn not to trash or move the items around. What adds an extra layer of complexity is that we often teach our dogs that killing and shredding an old cardboard box is a great way to vent frustration or boredom. This shouldn't be stopped but instead introduced in a specific context so that in other contexts we search them rather than rip them up.
This is a great way to explore what searching strategies your dog naturally employs and to learn how we can enhance their approach to help them be as successful as possible.
Wall Search
While it may seem a basic or boring search, wall searches vary hugely from location to location. Domestic walls with pipes, drains, door thresholds and different surfaces are extremely interesting to search due to the vast variety of smells along them. More agricultural or industrial walls involve a whole different array of new smells to have to wade through, along with noisier environments due to the materials that make up the buildings and ground surfaces along with the higher volume of traffic in the vicinity.
Dogs will never be asked to search around pipes or other structures that emit waste or have hot or very cold water going through them. Safety is paramount at all times.
Warehouse Search
Warehouse search describes a category of search that aims to constantly introduce novel items for your dog to search with different shapes, sizes, and textures. Learning how to efficiently search these items along with ensuring that no nooks or crannies are missed is a key part of this type of search. Not only is the shape challenging in many cases but so are the underlying, transferred odours that come from being stored in a warehouse setting.
We get to have a lot of fun with this one, introducing new things and swapping between us to also work on different smells from the other dogs in the group.
Everyday Scentwork Activities
We utilise scentwork to introduce everyday manners and for confidence building for nervous dogs
Nervous Nosework
Our Nervous Nosework group is intended for dogs who are nervous of their environments, new people or other dogs. It is not suitable for dogs who are reacting to these external factors with barking and lunging, we have other work to start addressing these issues before joining this group. In this group we are building confidence through a safe environment and predictable activities that help to lower arousal levels from fear or stress and start to change how they feel in these settings. Simple scentwork is hugely rewarding in itself but so is the predictability of the set up. Having fun sniffing predicts getting something nice (toy or food) and more engagement with my handler.
This is a four week long course for new comers and a drop in PAYG for those who have done one round of the course already.
Sniffy Dog Manners
This is a six week long group course that runs for one hour each week. We use your dog's natural enjoyment of sniffing to teach them how to walk nicely on leash, to introduce coming back when called and self control. We introduce sniffy games, nosework and simple scentwork to work on these skills. Using scent work to achieve these goals is much easier than treats and toys in many cases as it is the main thing your dog gets distracted by when out and about. Instead now we are using access to those things as a reward for doing what we would like them to consider doing. It becomes a game for two instead of an activity for one.
The next round of this course starts on June 29th.