How I Start Dogs In Nosework
I start dogs in nosework in a very well thought out method based on my experience starting hundreds of dogs in the sport of nosework. This is a brief summary of how I start dogs in nosework but this is not everything I do and doesn’t contain specific steps. I reserve that information for my in person classes, workshops and online classes (coming soon).
Both of these games I do simultaneously BUT in different training sessions. These two games are building two different things I will mesh together later on to help grow a nosework dog with wonderful hunting but also knowing odor is valuable and what to do when they find it.
Hunting For Toys/Treats: I first start dogs by having two people. One to hold the dog and one to hold the treats or toy. The helper teases the dog and hides the treats or toy to allow the dog to start hunting to find their reward. Once the helper is done hiding the reward the handler allows their dog to search for the hidden reward. We start doing this while allowing the dog to watch the items be hidden and the helper also fake hides so the dog doesn’t know where their reward is hidden. Over time the helper teases the dog and goes into a different room out of sight of the waiting dog and hides the reward for the dog to find. The reward shouldn’t be visible to the dog when hidden if possible to encourage them to use their nose. The goal of this is to teach the dog the basics of hunting for something valuable and building the skills to know how to locate something they want using their nose.
Imprinting With A Lightswitch Box: I formally imprint the dogs utilizing a metal light switch box with a cover with a small hole on the top (available at most hardware stores like Lowe’s, Menard’s and Home Depot) that is like the photo at the top of this blog. I put the hide with target odor (essential oil) into the hole at the top so the dog can’t bite it. I then use a clicker and free shape the dog showing interest in the box. Then eventually they must stick their nose to the hole in the light switch box. Over time we start to hesitate with our clicks/marking to build duration. The goal being to get the dog to offer a freeze indication with their nose on the hole in the light switch box and be able to hold it for ten seconds. Then we incorporate blank (no odor) light switch boxes so the dog learns to distinguish it’s the odor that pays them vs just the box. The dog then learns they have to find the box with target odor to obtain their reward.
When imprinting dogs I utilize the “intermixed exposure” method of teaching odors which means dogs are trained on odors concurrently (odors are separate, but dogs are exposed to them throughout the training process). Meaning I do one session with an odor (birch for example), then the next session I use a different odor (anise for example), and continue to do this rotating through all the odors I plan to teach the dogs. All the odors are trained SEPERATELY and are not put into a cocktail for clarification. This method of starting odor is based on latest research and studies from 2025 showing that teaching odors concurrently (intermixed exposure) increases the rate that dogs generalize odors and increases performance and leads to fewer misses when tested for generalization. I’ve attached a link to the study below.
The Impact on Training Method On Odor Learning and Generalization in dogs)
Combining The Two Games: After the dogs are proficient I incorporate the two games into one game where the dog searches for their target odor, indicates with the freeze indication we taught them then we mark and reward it.
This is how I start dogs in the sport/activity of nosework. If you are interested in getting started in nosework contact us about our various offerings for nosework training. We are working to make nosework more accessible to all.