Scent Detection in Real Life

The latest sport for dogs is K9 Nosework or Scent Detection work and dogs can earn titles at different levels by finding specific scented articles that are hidden from view.

However, in real life, dogs trained for this purpose, do this kind of thing for a living. Here is a video of Koda, Karelian Beardog working in the Wildlife Management Program in Alberta, Canada. At four months of age, she is detecting and finding fish hidden in a plastic bag along a river bank…. similar to a situation involving a poacher.

As you can see, she has no trouble detecting the odor and locating it and remaining at the scene until her handler arrives to reward her efforts.

Professonal Profile

Dogs are my business.  

Professional dog training produces proven performance. 

I believe that there is no such thing as “One-size-fits-all education” and that “Differentiated Instruction” & “continued Professional Development are keys to successful dog training. The accomplishments of my own dogs and my students’ dogs are proof that a varied approach to training works. 

I am the trainer / consultant for the AB Karelian Beardog Wildlife Management Teams, a lifetime member of the CKC, & a Rally Obedience and Draft Dog judge.

Whether it's basic manners or a competitive edge you want, you can find it at Shadowbar Shepherds.

Why Train at Shadowbar Shepherds?

This video shows what can be accomplished when a dog/handler team decides to work with a professional trainer.  Justice is a year old German shepherd dog who has been shown successfully in the 'Breed' ring.  He has had no formal obedience training to this point.
This is Justice's second lesson of focused heeling for Rally obedience.  His handler is using a toy as motivation and reward for continued attention.
Private lessons far surpass lessons learned in a class situation.  Dog and handler have little or no distractions with which to deal and they can build a solid, positive relationship under the guidance of a professional coach.
At Shadowbar, we endeavor to give dog/handler teams options for training………but the results speak for themselves.

Ta Da!!!

Had to share.   Castle will be the newest member of the Due South Scent Hurdle Team!!!
We are ready to add another lane of racing dogs so that we can proof 'the boy' but, truly,
I think he is ready.  He knows the game.  Jump, jump, jump, jump, find it, jump, jump, jump. jump.
And go fast.  We are pretty excited about this.  
Drummer and Castle are also working at a K9 sport called Nosework and both are doing a great job.  We are ready to add another scent to Drummer's repertoire and Castle is very precise about his finds as well.
 I have been teaching a class in Nosework and it's been great fun to see the dogs in charge rather than the people.  The big thing is to get the dogs to find the Wintergreen scented article and for the handlers to be able to 'read' the dog's body language and know when the dog in actually 'on scent'.
Just loving it.
Tomorrow we do our first ever exterior vehicle search.  Yes!!!!!

Very excited to announce that I will be traveling to Red Deer in March to give Part Two of the Rally Obedience 101 seminar.  This seminar will focus on body language and cues becoming subtle.
We are fine-tuning teams for the Red Deer Dog Show.

Also happy to announce that we are going to be hosting a series of  Mini-camps related to types of training available to people in their search for that one method that will work for them.
Keep watching our blog for information and plan a visit.

Train at Shadowbar.  You will love it.

                                                              NOSEWORK SCENTS

SHADOWBAR SHEPHERDS 

CROWSNEST PASS 15 MINUTES WEST.

Smoking Hot!

Those of you who have been following our blog know that our dogs are involved in the sport of Scent Hurdle Racing.  This is a relay race involving a team of four dogs, each of which has to race down a line of hurdles to a box containing four segments, and return with its own scented dumbbell to the start line.  Once the dog crosses the line with his correct dumbbell, the next dog is released.

The dumbbells are numbered and these numbers match those on the dog's racing jacket.  The races are timed and points are earned for clean runs and fast runs.  Two teams race at a time, with 
at least 12 feet between them.  So you virtually have two lanes with two boxes and two box loaders, whose job it is to keep four dumbbells in the box at all times for each dog to choose from.

Last weekend, at the Alberta Kennel Club Dog Show at Spruce Meadows in Calgary, we had nine teams racing, which gave us 36 races…. each team got to race 8 times.  Our Due South team won 6/8 races and tied for first place overall.  Very exciting for us as we had a very new dog (his second race ever) on our team.  It took five hours to complete the racing!  I am proud to say that Drummer never once lost energy or drive and he gained another 65 points towards his next SH title.  

I know that this is due to his handler maintaining and sharing her own energy, which motivated Drummer to keep going, no matter what.  At the end of the evening, when he should have been resting and thankful of that rest, the silly dog was still dancing around and playing with his leash.

Gotta love Drummer.

Boarding at Shadowbar

     We are a small kennel that truly only takes good dogs as boarders.  And it's wonderful, because these good dogs come with great owners!!!  We have the best clients in the world. Their dogs come to us happy and healthy with very few, if any, quirks to their natures.
    How do we manage it?  Very simply.  We do NOT take drop-ins.  Dogs must be pre-approved in order to stay here at Shadowbar.  And this means a visit to the kennel well in advance of boarding to see if the dog is a good fit for our kennel setting. It also allows the owner to get a peek at the facility and to meet the people who will be caring for their dog/s while they are away.
    Very few dogs that pass the pre-board test end up having a bad stay and are generally welcomed back as regular boarders.
    Thanks to the good dogs……….and their families.

 Welcome to Shadowbar!!!

Top pasture fully fenced for exercising larger dogs.

 

Small Steps to the Big Picture

Had a great practice last night doing scent hurdle work with Castle and Drummer.  Here is Castle, proving that he knows how to find his own bell over the other bells scented by Sharlet.

Our team, Due South, is scent hurdle racing this weekend, at the Alberta Kennel Club Winter Show at Spruce Meadows, Calgary. on Saturday night.

Come out and watch.

The Prez 

The Nose Knows

CANINE NOSEWORK CLASSES

with Judith Snowdon

What: Canine Nose Work is a hot new sport that utilizes the dog’s keen sense of smell. Much like drug detection dogs, Canine Nose Work dogs are taught to find specific scents (Wintergreen) hidden in the environment and to alert their owners to the hiding spot. This is a very safe and very fun sport for dogs of all ages!!!

For more info about Canine Nosework, check out https://www.nacsw.net.

These three sessions are geared towards introducing new handlers and dogs to this very exciting sport. We will be covering the basics of the sport and giving you the foundations and practice needed in order for you and your dog to be successful at Nosework!

When: Tuesday, 21st, and 28th 7:30 p.m.

Where: Cowley Community Hall

Cost: $100.00 payable by cheque or cash upon registration.

Questions?  Email Judi at shadowbar.shepherds@me.com or phone 403 628 2175





CANINE NOSEWORK CLASSES
with Judith Snowdon

What: Canine Nose Work is a hot new sport that utilizes the dog’s keen sense of smell. Much like drug detection dogs, Canine Nose Work dogs are taught to find specific scents (Wintergreen) hidden in the environment and to alert their owners to the hiding spot. This is a very safe and very fun sport for dogs of all ages!!!
For more info about Canine Nosework, check out https://www.nacsw.net.
These classes are geared towards introducing new handlers and dogs to this very exciting sport. We will be covering the basics of the sport and giving you the foundations and practice needed in order for you and your dog to be successful at Nosework!

When: Tuesday, January 14th, 7:30 p.m. 

Where: Cowley Community Hall

Cost: $140.00 payable by cheque or cash upon registration.

Questions? Email Judi at shadowbar.shepherds@me.com or phone 403 628 2175 

Happy New Year

Happy New Year and the best of the best in all your endeavors in 2014!  We, at Shadowbar,
have had a wonderful year with our own competition dogs, and our client/student dogs, adding new titles with High in Class and High in Trial achievements among them.

We are ever thankful for the sponsorship and endorsement of our training facility and methods by Pets Go Raw Dog Food.  The diet gives our dogs the opportunity of a variety of foods selected for them in accordance with the work they do and their stage of life.  

Looking back over the year, it seems as though things simply fell into place and we achieved most of the goals we set in January of 2013.

Castle, pictured above, ended his year as the #1 Rally Obedience Shiba Inu in Canada and he also completed his Rally Excellent, his Companion Dog, and CGN titles!  He picked up a second place in WCR, Level R-1 class at Sit Happens! trial in Calgary, and he also got a qualifying score towards his Nadac Xtreme Gaters title. After a bit of a break, he is ready to start some Nosework and Scent work and, in the spring, some more NADAC agility this year.

Drummer, Darryl's sheltie, was the big winner this year and I cannot say enough about this dog.

He has stolen my heart.  A more willing, happy to please dog simply can't be found.  

This year Drummer picked up his Started Stockdog Title with a tie for first place at the herding trials in Hope, BC, in May.

He gained his Herding Started Title with a High in Trial win at the CCCC Herding Trials in Utopia, Ontario in July which earned him the right to compete in the Herding Showcase in Cobble Hill in September where he did a great job and picked up a fifth place. He was a super flier and never missed a beat no matter where we trialed.

As well as herding, Drummer worked at Open A obedience and came away with 2/3 legs towards his Open title, both with High in Class wins.

He gained his Scent Hurdle Masters title and in his first attempt at WCR Rally obedience at the Sit Happens! trial in Calgary he took first place and High Scoring Team in Trial!!! He also received a qualifying score towards his Nadac Xtreme Gaters title this summer.

Our goal for Drummer is to see if he can get a start on his Herding Intermediate title. In obedience, we would like to finish his Open title and go on to Utility. He has started Nosework and we hope to gain a title in the beginning level of that sport and we have entered some Nadac agility games this winter despite the fact that we have no venue in which to train for this event. And, of course, we will continue to add points to his Scent Hurdle title.

I have Xtreme faith in this wonderful dog.