SCENT TRAINING

[Kerrie Armstrong]

Does anyone have any suggestions on improving my 18mth old Golden's nose. I have been throwing small pieces of food with the 'find it" command and it is painful to watch. He eventually finds it after running over the area many times. He seems to be scenting with all his effort but lacks the ability to hone in on it efficiently and tends to miss even though his nose is only inches from it. We have bombed simple retrieves due to not "finding" with his nose and running around relying on his eyes.
Regards Kerrie.

[Kerry Webster]

Maybe, don't use the food Kerrie. I presume you are training your dog for hunting in the field. Try this. Get a pigeon and show it to your dog so it is aware of what smell he will be looking for. Then put your dog away, and go to an area where there is no other scent that might confuse him. Pluck some of the breast feathers from the pigeon and spread around on the ground in a smallish (3 - 4 metre diameter) circular area. Tuck the pigeon into your pocket or somewhere on you that the dog doesn't see it. Then bring the dog to the area of the feathers and encourage him to find it. You may have to point to the ground to encourage him. He should start sniffing around where you have spread the feathers. Stay nearby and when he has his back to you, try and drop the pigeon amongst the area of feathers (so he doesn't actually see you drop it). Hopefully he will continue sniffing the area and find the bird. Plenty of praise of course, from you. This is like a game to them and as a handler you are close by to encourage the dog to stay in the area and continue searching. Eventually this can be extended out, and you can bring in a "hunt up" signal if you wish to indicate to your dog he is in the area & to switch on his nose.

This exercise worked for all my dogs, so give it a go. Good luck.

[Kerrie Armstrong]

Thank you Kerrie,
I will certainly start doing this training with the pigeon. What puzzles me is that he is trying to scent the food but his nose isn't up to the task. I also have the same problem with him finding his dummies in RATG trials. I have done extensive training in long grass with very smelly dummies with same result. My last Golden wasn't great with the nose either.

[Jeff Griffiths]

Ray Temple suggested getting a Labrador

[Ray Temple]

When all else fails, clip the Golden

[Rachel Greaves]

On a more serious note - I have found that scenting ability depends not only on the individual gundog but also on the breed of gundog.
For example : spaniels ( the breed with which I am most familiar) rely mostly of ground scent (ie head low) but can, in certain cases, be excellent air scenters (I can think of a certain spaniel that was really good at air scenting and used that to great effect in field trials when the air scenting was good).
On the other hand, Goldens, as a breed, tend to rely more on air scenting and are not always really into ground scenting.
With this in mind, maybe you need to change the scene a bit and use some object that has a massive air scent (eg, freshly shot, warm, game or a newly cooked steak!) to encourage your dog to use its nose more effectively.

[Kerrie Armstrong]

Thanks Jeff,
I just may do that.

Ray, I'll clip mine when you do yours...

[Kerrie Armstrong]

Thanks Rachel,
I'm prepared to try all advice given. I don't think my boy even air scents - he waits until it taps him on the shoulder......