Today’s episode is “Making Sense of Smell” with our guest, Jessica Schulte. It’s a fascinating conversation about how this superhuman ability informs the ways in which our dogs perceive, navigate, and understand the world around them. It also provides insight into the value of adding structured or competitive nosework into your dog’s routine.
Our Guest:
Jessica is a certified dog behavior consultant and a certified professional dog trainer and is one of the first Nose Work instructors certified on the East Coast and has been teaching Nose Work classes for over a decade. She has been the Odor Recognition Test National Coordinator for the NACSW, as well as the editor for the NACSW newsletter.
She is also a Certifying Official, and also a licensed AKC Scent Work judge, approved to judge all levels and classes for AKC Scent Work trials.
Jessica competes with her own dog, Trix, in K9 Nose Work where they compete at the elite level. They also compete in Rally, Rally Free, and Freestyle. Jessica works with Instinct Dog Training and Behavior in NYC teaching manners, obedience, and solving behavioral issues for dogs and their people.
Episode References:
J.E. Hayes, P.D. McGreevy, S.L. Forbes, G. Laing, R.M. Stuetz, Critical review of dog detection and the influences of physiology, training, and analytical methodologies, Talanta, Volume 185, 2018, Pages 499-512, ISSN 0039-9140,
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.talanta.2018.04.010.
A. Kerepesi, G.K. Jonsson, A. Miklosi, J. Topal, V. Csanyi, M.S. Magnusson, Detection of temporal patterns in dog-human interaction, Behav. Process. 70 (1) (2005) 69–79.
C. Mariti, E. Ricci, B. Carlone, J.L. Moore, C. Sighieri, A. Gazzano, Dog attachment
to man: a comparison between pet and working dogs, J. Vet. Behav. 8 (3) (2013) 135–145.(http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0039914018303552)
Horowitz, A., Hecht, J., & Dedrick, A. (2013). Smelling more or less: Investigating the olfactory experience of the domestic dog. Learning And Motivation, 44(4), 207-217. doi:10.1016/j.lmot.2013.02.002
I. Gazit, A. Goldblatt, J. Terkel, The role of context specificity in learning: the
effects of training context on explosives detection in dogs, Anim. Cogn. 8 (3)
(2005) 143–150. [108] G. Lupfer-Johnson,
L. Lit, J.B. Schweitzer, A.M. Oberbauer, Handler beliefs affect scent detection dog outcomes, Anim. Cogn. 14 (3) (2011) 387–394.
D. Lefebvre, C. Diederich, M. Delcourt, J.-M. Giffroy, The quality of the relation between handler and military dogs influences efficiency and welfare of dogs, Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci. 104 (1–2) (2007) 49–60.
Dr. Alexandra Horowitz Ted Talk: https://www.ted.com/talks/alexandra_horowitz_how_do_dogs_see_with_their_noses?language=en
PBS Nova: https://www.ted.com/talks/alexandra_horowitz_how_do_dogs_see_with_their_noses?language=en
Dog Field Study (The Art of the Walk): http://www.dogfieldstudy.com/en/pulse-study/at-the-heart-of-the-walk
Instinct Dog Behavior & Training (To Sniff or Not to Sniff): https://www.instinctdogtraining.com/sniff-not-sniff-dog-follow-nose/
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