Course Details
All dog sports require a thoughtful approach on handling and Nosework is no different!
Even if the sport is more dog led, we still play a very important role. It's common to hear that most errors are due to our handling ... and it's true!
Many of us train alone and place our own hides. It’s easy to consciously or unconsciously influence our dogs to work in a certain area or prevent them from going into known unproductive areas. It's not wrong to influence our dogs and make a suggestion. It's when we are unaware of influencing them that it becomes a problem. It can also be a problem long term if we take over too much. Adding more responsibility on our end (the heavy lifting so to speak) is an exhausting cycle. We can turn it around and give our dogs more autonomy. They are naturals at this if we just let them!
Since dogs are masters at reading our body language, it’s critical we are handling with intention. If our handling is not consistent on what we are meaning to convey, we create uncertainty in our dogs on what is meaningful or important to respond to. Balancing when to follow their lead and when to interject is the art of handling. We should be focusing on building their autonomy, having patience as they solve these scent puzzles and not just trying to get them to a hide!
This webinar will cover 8 changes you can make TODAY to be a better handler for your Nosework dog! Problem solving will also be covered for dogs who have had a history of depending on the handler for many of their decisions and actions.
Join Julie as she shares her years of knowledge and thousands of hours watching dogs work odor!
Click here to Register Now
$19.95 - This pre-recorded presentation including lecture and Q&A will show in your Webinar Library after purchase.
About the Presenter:
Julie Symons (she/her) has been involved in dog sports for over 30 years. Starting with her mix, Dreyfus, in flyball, she went on to train and compete in conformation, agility, obedience, herding and tracking with her first Belgian tervuren, Rival. Rival was the first CH OTCH MACH Belgian Tervuren and they competed and placed in many regional and national events, winning Ultimate Dog (High Combined in Utility and Agility) and repeat 60 weave pole champs at the All Star tournament in 2002.
One of Julie’s favorite things is a versatile team! She truly believes that participating in multiple sports is enriching to both person and dog and builds on that mutual partnership and trust. Nosework is an ideal sport to compliment your other activities. It’s intrinsically motivating for the dog and it’s also pretty cool to have a pet detection dog! Julie has also gone HIT in 4 different sports with 3 dogs (Obedience, Agility, Nosework and Herding).
Julie currently shares her life with 4 dogs.
Savvy, Belgian Tervuren, who is now retired at 16.5, earned a CH, MACH2, UD, TDX, VCD3 and the following nose/scent work titles: ELT-CH, SWN, SIM, SCE, SEE, L2C, L1V, L2I. Earning their TDX and competing in nosework intensified Julie's love for scent sports! Savvy is my 3rd dog living to 16 years old!
Drac, an 8 yeard old Belgian Malinois, continues the versatility work having earned his TDX, HSAd, MX, MXJ, and his ELT-CH nosework title. He’s my loving boy with his favorite thing being with me!
Moxie, a 5 year old active little Belgian Tervuren! She is all that I wanted! Beautiful movement and a natural at Nosework and Agility. She finished in breed CH by 1 years old with two 5 point majors, earned her HSAsd herding titles with multiple HIT and reserve HITs. She recently earned her NW ELT-CH, Tracking Dog (TD) and Excellent Agility titles.
And the newest member Harper, an 8 week old Belgian Tervuren. All of Julie's dogs keep her very busy!
Julie is a consummate learner and energetic instructor, immersing herself in everything dog training! While teaching agility in the early 2000s, she found how rewarding it was to teach and help others. The simple truth? People just really love their dogs and enjoy doing activities with them. Knowing this helps set the tone for how she runs her classes: giving students ample working time, staying positive when things get challenging, and giving more than 100 percent of her efforts toward their development.
She is also a co-creator and judge for the FDSA virtual TEAM NW program and is a retired AKC licensed Scent Work judge
In her other life, she is married and raising a teenage son. It goes to show that you can “do it all” with just a little bit of planning and smart training. Julie is also owner of Savvy Dog Sports, a local dog school that focuses on sports foundation skills and competition nosework, rally and agility training! More information can be found at: www.SavvyDogSports.com
Pronouns: Julie goes by she/her.
