Lucy follows her nose.
Learn to play your dog’s kind of game.
(Classes in Maywood are suspended and will resume in the Fall. Please contact me for a referral or private session.)
You may not know it yet, but your dog is a bit of a show-off.
He absolutely loves to show you what he can do. He gets excited when you tell him he’s a good boy. He’ll repeat behaviors over and over again just for the praise and the delight in doing exactly what he’s supposed to do.
Until now, though, you’ve never given him a game that taps into the most basic of his innate skills.
He’s good at playing fetch. He may even be great at obeying commands like sit or roll over. But he is an absolute master at using his nose.
And now there’s a way for him to show off for you by using that incredible sense of smell.
Nose work training is one of the most enjoyable activities around for dogs and owners alike. Dogs get the fun of challenging themselves to develop a skill they absolutely love using – and owners get to crack up while their dogs get excited, make mistakes, and rejoice when they figure out a complicated problem.
So far, we’ve never yet held a nose work training class in Maywood NJ without both dog and owner going home with huge smiles on their faces.
And we think you should join us.
What IS nose work training, exactly?
Nose work training is essentially playing games that challenge your dog’s sense of smell.
To give you an idea, one of the first games we start with is by placing an object under a box in a room full of empty boxes. Your dog sniffs out his prize, chooses the right box, and gets rewarded for his find.
As the games go on, the challenges become more and more complicated. Your dog will be asked to differentiate between different smells, navigate obstacles, and solve complicated puzzles to find her prize.
She’ll also be having the time of her life.
Dogs, like children, need games that allow them to burn off energy and cut loose. Your dog may not enjoy basic dog training because it involves activities he doesn’t necessarily want to do – like hold still, or wait for his food.
Every dog in the world wants to use his nose. He loves it. It’s most enjoyable game in the world to him, and he gets excited when he learns to do it better and better than the day before.
Nose work has a practical angle as well: many dogs who are shy, have trust issues, or rebel against training enjoy nose work because it’s pure fun for them. Excelling at this game teaches them that it can be fun to play by the rules, and that getting better at any activity is innately enjoyable.
This creates a fantastic precedent when you want to train them in more practical behaviors.
Dogs need to play. They need games. Often, though, the games you’ve been taught to play with dogs might be enjoyable for them, but boring for you. Fetch is a great example. Dogs like chasing things, but you get tired of throwing that darn ball over and over and over.
Nose work is one of the best games around because not only dogs love it. You’ll find it’s a game both you and your dog can happily play for hours on end – and you’ll both be having a blast the entire time.
How so? Well, check out some of our nose work training videos to see how much fun nose training is for both dogs and owners.
The Logistics
Nose work training is for dogs of all ages, breeds, sizes, and physical conditions. Even dogs who have displayed aggressive behavior can participate – since nose work training is just between one dog and handler, your dog won’t have to interact with others, and can benefit from nose work training because it helps build focus and confidence.
This six-week course introduces you and your dog to nose work training, beginning with searching for food in boxes and progressing to searching in and around buildings and vehicles for distinct odors like birch, anise and clove. You’ll learn how to keep challenging your dog even after the course is finished, too.
Our nose work training classes in Maywood, NJ are held at:
Maywood Veterinary Clinic
125 E. Passaic St.
Maywood, NJ 07607
Our Maywood, NJ nose work training classes meet once a week for 6 weeks. Each session is one hour long.
Our Guarantee
Nose work training classes are difficult to guarantee, since it requires an almost equal degree of participation from you, your dog, and the trainer (that’s me). Since I can only control my own devotion to the training process, I can’t guarantee that your dog’s behavior problems will be completely eliminated.
Here’s what I can – and do – guarantee:
I consider your satisfaction to be my measure of progress. If you’re happy, we made great progress. If you’re not satisfied, then even if I brought all my skills, my dedication, and my commitment to the process, we still haven’t made the progress I hoped for.
If that happens, then I will either take new steps to fix the problem to your satisfaction, or offer you a full refund.
Come Join the Fun
Nose work training isn’t really training. It’s a game – one at which your dog naturally excels.
It’s more than that, though: it’s a way of bonding with your dog, of participating in an activity that both of you are equally enthusiastic about and enjoy doing together.
You’ll find your dog is much more inclined to trust you, listen to you, and behave around you because she knows you want her to be happy too – and she wants to return the favor.
Dogs and owners who come to our nose work training class in Maywood, NJ go home exhausted, exhilarated, and – most importantly – completely happy. Come bond with your dog in our next class series.
