What's Your Wobble?

Come and spend the day with the wonderful Peta Clarke to learn how to pull apart and analyse your scent work training from your dog’s point of view!

 

This practical workshop is designed to help you understand where there may be some miscommunication between you and your dog during a search. And let's face it, when there are only two members on your team, unclear communication is a recipe for failure. But it is not that hard to see where our teamwork is slipping when we take time to video and analyse our searches. Scary, but don’t worry, Peta has our back, and there will be cake.

 

During the workshop, teams will run searches at the level they wish of either novice, advanced or excellent class in at least two of the competition elements. These searches will be videoed, and over a cuppa and the promised cake, we will set about watching them and learning why some things may be falling apart. With the information we gather, we will then work on each team's “wobble” or weakness with specific exercises.

 

Peta will also explain the various parts of the search behaviour chain, providing vital information for any scent work competitor. Scent work training should be all about focusing on exercises that strengthen the weak parts of our search, not just running entire searches and hoping for the best. This workshop will provide you with the tools you need to set up training sessions that are both fun and effective.

 

This workshop is ideal for anyone who occasionally feels out of sync with their dog and wants to regain seamless teamwork. It is suitable for all levels of scent work or nose work teams, with dogs needing value in the odours of birch and clove.

 

Handlers must be willing to have their searches recorded and analysed in front of the group.

 

All participants and dogs must be comfortable working in front of a group of people, comfortable waiting in the car or crate between sessions, and physically able to cope with working in a workshop situation. If you have a fearful or aggressive dog toward humans, we advise you to attend as an observer.

 

All working teams will receive the videos of their searches, and all attendees will receive a document based on the information shared in the workshop. The document will include several videos of Peta’s training sessions, along with voiceover analysis, as examples to guide you forward and make 2026 your best scent work year ever!!