A dog’s sense of smell is as fascinating as it is powerful.
For example, did you know that some studies suggest that a dog can smell a teaspoon of sugar in a million gallons of water? Man has been utilising this sense of smell for thousands of years, as a hunting partner and more recently for drugs, bomb and even medical detection. But now we are starting to use this amazing power for sport.
We teach scent detection to pet dogs, following the
guidelines of ‘Scentwork UK’, the largest pet dog scentwork organisation in the country. We currently offer a two-hour
introduction where we discuss what you can expect from the organisation and introduce you and your dog to the concept of searching. We then follow this up with a 5-lesson course at the end of which you should both be happy to search the
four prescribe areas.
Once you’ve done this you can attend more classes to improve your skills, take your new skills home as a fun game to play or if you would like to test your abilities you could sign up for one of the dozens of trials that take place across the country every week.
Scent detection is great fun, but we understand it’s not
everyone’s cup of tea. That’s why we also teach the latest scent-based dog sport to sweep the country, Mantrailing.
This exciting new activity is all about teaching your dog to find a ‘missing’ person by following their scent and teaching you to read the signals your dog gives you. As a certified ‘Mantrailing UK’ instructor I’ll take you through the foundation skills step by step, building a solid understanding of the game for both you and your canine partner, until you are ready to progress from simple, fresh trails to older more complex ones.
Not only are our activities great fun but they come with a multitude of benefits for you and your dog. By focusing on the dogs sense of smell instead of speed or agility, we create a ‘mental workout’ which is deemed ‘low-impact’, in other words we don’t put any un-necessary pressure on joints or muscles, meaning these activities are great for puppies and older dogs alike (even those prone to injury).
Dogs are predators (yes, even your fluffy Pomeranian), our
activities give them an outlet for their hunting instincts, which might otherwise manifest in behaviour problems.
By working as a team, you create a stronger bond between you, which can lead to better obedience.
By focusing on the reward at the end of the task, nervous and reactive dogs can learn to deal with previously problematic scenarios. It’s a useful tool in breaking the cycle of habitual reactions.
Dogs love sniffing, its their primary way of interacting
with the world around them and it releases endorphins. Put simply, sniffing makes your dog happy and who doesn’t want a happy dog?