Have you ever been in a situation where your dog is working SO hard to source a hide that you finally out of desperation call alert only to find out that you are standing in front of the hide? It happens to every nosework handler at least once in their career with their dog. In addition to always considering the space behind you, you can use what your dog is telling you to help handle them out of an odor pool more effectively.

MYTH #1: Your dog needs to dismiss the odor pool on their own.

FALSE!! As a nosework handler, you are half of the team. And because we generally work with our dogs in view, we can observe their odor behavior and encourage them to move out. In fact, by letting a dog stew in an odor pool without encouraging them out, the dog can get frustrated which can cause demotivation in many dogs.

MYTH #2: The dog will figure it out on their own.

Although, many dogs will eventually leave an odor pool without alerting. Some of these leave the odor pool out of frustration (and may or may not find the hide). There are others though that will actually alert out of frustration.. YIKES!! If the dog is doing either of these things, that is a weak spot in the teamwork between dog and handler.

Ok…. so now that we have established that you CAN handle your dog out of an odor pool, HOW do you do it? HINT: This is ONE component of Intentional Handling.

STEP 1: Recognize the Odor Pool

This is the first step in what I call the Observe and Respond Loop. As a handler, it is my job to observe my dog’s odor behavior so that I can evaluate how the odor is presenting. I can then make inferences about the potential source of odor. When recognizing an odor pool, I am looking for diffuse odor behavior.

Picture an odor pool as a small patch of fog. If you visualize it as something that is stagnant, you can start to realize how a dog can get a little lost in it and can work extensively without making progress. When I see my dog work an odor pool, I see concentrated odor behavior in an area without progress in narrowing down the location.

I recently did a search on a converged odor pair with my retired dog, Why, and he demonstrated what an odor pool looks like. In this video, I am narrating my search to the handler who is videoing me. This search was not specifically meant for a blog post, but once I saw it, I knew I HAD to write about it! This is the first part of the video where you can see the odor pool behavior.

Watch how Why is bracketing the corner of the garage, heavily in odor. He is not slowing his momentum in any portion of the corner even though he is working the area thoroughly. This tells me that he is not making progress. If we can visualize the pool as a patch of fog, it can help to make sense of his behavior.

STEP #2: Be Aware of Your Surroundings

When you see the odor pool behavior, you need to look around because the odor pool is being generated from somewhere else. This type of observation as a handler is called Situational Awareness. We as handlers need to not only watch the dog, but we also need to be aware of our surroundings.

In the case of Why’s search (yes that IS his name!), the hide was actually on the hitch of the trailer that the videographer is standing on. This is a known hide to me, however this is the same observation that I would be making if this hide was blind.

Because there is a small gap between the hitch and the area that my dog is working, it’s a natural spot for the handler to block!

STEP #3: Expand Your Search Space

Interestingly, I was attempting to maneuver Why a little before I actually did, but it took a moment! I generally try the least amount of direction needed and then increase influence as necessary. Honestly I was tickled to see how dedicated he was to odor considered he is almost 15 years old!

I recognized the odor pool, was aware of the spaces behind me, and “traded places” with my dog in order to move him out of that area. This positioned him slightly out of the odor pool and into an area where he could solve the hide and be successful.

Putting it All Together

Putting it all together… to maximize your teamwork with your dog, you can be more effective if you observe their behavior, be situationally aware, and respond in a way that sets your dog up for success.

This is a component of what Robin Greubel and I call “Intentional Handling” and it applies to all manner of detection work. Intentional Handling is how I personally handle a dog, whether I am working my Birch Bullet, Powder, at Summit, or my retired nearly 15 year old Mini Aussie, Why.

In fact, Robin and I are so passionate about Intentional Handling that we teach a week long camp on the topic! This year we added a second session because the camp is so popular. That means that we now have a couple of spots available!

If you are interested, check out: https://www.k9detectioncollaborative.com/events. We teach the camp at K9Sensus Foundation located on 800 picturesque acres in Lucas, Iowa. The camp is open to handlers on all odors, not just nosework odors. Join us for a deep dive on handling and hide setting.

Oh! And if you want to see the whole search, take a look!