Scentwork is mental enrichment for dogs affecting their behaviour in positive ways through play says Harry Matthews, the founder of Origin Dog Training.
‘Scentwork affects behaviour. Science says so,’ he explained. ‘It calms a boisterous dog. It’s mental enrichment. It boosts confidence in a nervous dog. It works the brain of an old dog. Or an injured dog. It helps with reactivity. And, most importantly, it is enjoyable for you and your dog.’
Harry is a former police dog handler and a qualified dog trainer who is running mantrailing, scent detection and gundog training courses this spring.
‘All three of these activities use a dog’s incredible sense of smell. They are all taught using play,’ said Harry.
Mantrailing involves a person running away and the dog following the route to find them. Scent detection encourages dogs to find a target odour hidden by yourself or someone else. Gundog training teaches a dog how to find and retrieve a hidden, scented dummy.
‘The most important thing for me is that after any of these sessions or workshops you know how to do it with your dog so you don’t have to keep coming back to us. You have the ability and skill to do these with your dog. Forever,’ said Harry.
Mantrailing 101 is being held on Saturday 17th February, a two-part gundog workshop is being held on Sunday 31st March and Sunday 7th April and a four-week online scent and games course starts on Friday 1st March.
For more information send a WhatsApp message to 07700 712025.
