36 Saber Tails Winter 2016
Petit Basset Griffon Vendéen Club of America
W
hen our PBGV puppy Pinot (GCH CH Lacey’s Ain’t No
Sour Grapes, NW1, NW2) was 3 1/2 months old, he
would track my scent during his walks after I left for work
in the morning. We knew then and there that we had
to put this scent hound to work. After looking around,
we discovered that our local club offered K9 Nose Work
classes. Referred to as “the best smelling sport ever!” by
its parent organization - the National Association of Ca-
nine Scent Work (NACSW) - this seemed to be the way to
go. Unlike Tracking, Nose Work can be done year-round,
indoors and out, day or night. The Association held its
first official trial in 2009 and since then has grown nation-
wide and has an international presence. The founders of
NACSW all have backgrounds in K9 Nose Work with Police
K9 detection and most of the early adopters had a back-
ground in drug, explosive, human detection and military
K9 scent work roles.
W
e signed up and for our first class and started to
learn the rules of this new game. The sport of K9
Nose Work has several levels, like any other canine sport,
and starts with the basics of the game: “find the a treat.”
In the beginning, Pinot, being food driven, would search
for cookies in boxes and other objects. With toy/ball driv-
en dogs, the instructors would hide the dog’s favorite toy.
And the fun continued with hiding the treats in ever more
complicated places or objects.
T
he next phase of K9 Nose Work was to learn the first
odor, Birch. Three odors are used in the sport: Birch,
K9 Nose Work
The Game of “Find the Odor” Will Make Any PBGV Happy
By David Eisenbacher and Olga Kornienko