Every Dog Smells
LIVE with Ann Waterbury
A KPA LIVE!™ Class featuring real-time training and coaching WITH ann
Boost Confidence and Build Resilience with Nose Work Games.
Join Ann and learn to use nose work and science to build confidence and resilience in any dog— including fearful or anxious dogs.This five-unit class is a deep dive into nose work and a dog’s incredible scenting abilities. The curriculum and practice exercises use your dog’s innate scent skill to boost confidence, build resilience, and have fun at the same time.
Where and When!
- Access to the curriculum videos and all other materials is available as soon as you enroll.
- The discussion board and teaching support begin July 1
- Zoom Classes will be held on Mondays: July 8, July 15, July 22, July 29, and August 5. Classes will start at 12:00 PM PT / 3:00 PM ET and are two hours long.
Can’t make the Live classes? No worries! The Zoom classes are recorded and made available shortly after each class concludes; you can access all of the recorded material for an entire year!
Nose work is an exciting activity for dogs and handlers. The incredible power of a dog’s primary sense in action is something to behold. Many dog handlers, guardians, and trainers are surprised by the confidence and focus shown by a dog honing in on a scent. They do not recognize the shy or anxious dogs they love and share their lives with.
Ann helps bridge the gap between these two versions of a dog, boosting confidence and resilience in any dog. Let’s face it: every dog smells, and it is up to us to embrace it.
This class is designed for dog behavior consultants, dog guardians, shelter staff, and dog behavior enthusiasts. You will learn how to unlock dog’s super smell powers to help them become more confident, resilient, and optimistic learners. Ann will teach you how to set the stage for growth through thoughtful consideration of your “hide” arrangement and how to evolve that arrangement from a simple game your family plays inside with your dog into a strategy for managing arousal, building the dog’s resiliency, and encouraging confidence out in the uncontrolled environment of the real world.
Each week of this 5-unit class introduces greater complexity in the nose work game; a structured program ensures that your dog grows throughout the course. Ann will explain how odor “works” through plumes, pooling, and other methods, how the environment affects the behavior of the scent, and how the dog’s olfactory system works to process it all. Most importantly, Ann will teach you how to harness the games and information to empower your dog. Over the five units, you and your dog will build fluency in the nose work task and associated behavior suite and begin generalizing those behaviors to real-world applications.
Ann will work with each Excel team via the groups.io discussion board and one-on-one during each Zoom session. Teams can submit videos of training and socialization progress for individualized feedback from Ann beginning on July 1, leading up to the first Zoom class, and between the remaining four classes.
Engage students can follow, train, or learn with the Excel teams, sharing their progress and experiences. During the weekly live Zoom classes, Ann will coach Excel teams one-on-one on each unit’s behaviors and socialization goals
Engage students can submit questions via Q&A during each of the real-time Zoom sessions, so come prepared!
LEARN, PRACTICE, SHARE
LEARN
Six weeks of training, a week-by-week curriculum integrated with four LIVE virtual classes with real-time coaching, interactive learning, and Q&A. Super educational, super fun.
PRACTICE
The LIVE week-by-week curriculum integrates with, and prepares you for, the weekly LIVE class. New levels of advancement each week!
SHARE
Ask questions and share insights, pics, and your training videos. Celebrate progress together!A week-by-week curriculum guides your learning every step of the way. Each week, join your classmates for one of five LIVE classes for real-time training and personalized interactive coaching, plus Q&A with your instructor. You will see other students practice the behaviors, hear your instructor’s feedback, make adjustments, and improve their training. Each of these Zoom-based classes is two hours long. All students get access to the full week-by-week curriculum and class forum. In each Zoom class:
- Engage students watch training and your instructor’s coaching and can ask questions through Zoom chat.
- Excel students get personalized real-time coaching and feedback on their training during the Zoom class PLUS on-screen Q&A.
Miss a class? No problem. LIVE classes are also recorded.
Let's Begin This Fabulous Journey, Together
- Unit 1 Lessons
- Live Class 1: July 8th
- Unit 2 Lessons
- Live Class 2: July 15th
- Unit 3 Lessons
- Live Class 3: July 22nd
- Unit 4 Lessons
- Live Class 4: July 29th
- Unit 5 Lessons
- Live Class 5: August 5th
LEARN WITH Ann Waterbury
Ann Waterbury, BS, CPDT-KA, UW-AAB, ACBS, CNWI, has over two decades of experience in dog training. As the proprietor of a thriving studio in Washington State, she provides personalized guidance to individual clients. Her expertise lies in addressing fear, anxiety, reactivity, and aggression in dogs, and she collaborates closely with veterinarians to help dogs live their best lives.
Ann’s approach revolves around leveraging positive reinforcement to transform a dog’s triggers into cues for functional behaviors. She specializes in utilizing nose work activities to bolster dogs’ confidence, cultivate resilience, and enrich their world. Notably, Ann authored a comprehensive nose work chapter for a detection textbook on behavior and has been a featured presenter at its associated conference.
Recently, Ann partnered with a rehabilitation veterinarian to establish WAGSniffAScent, an innovative online education platform aimed at empowering dog owners and enthusiasts alike.
Here's What You'll Be Learning UNIT by UNIT
1
What's that smell?
Skills/Behaviors Covered:
- Home Set-Up for Basic Nose Work Games
- Nose Work Game Parameters
- Independent Searches
Unit 1 Curriculum: Dive “nose first” into boxes and food searches and learn the basics of sniffing fun. Unit 1 introduces you and your dog to nose work and independent searching. You will learn how to start off your dog (or any dog) with search games. This unit will build fluency and boost your dog’s confidence. You will learn basic hide set-ups and how to read your dog’s calm, engaged body language inside your home so that you have a model for when you take the behaviors outside.
Unit 1 Discussion Board: Jump onto the discussion board to share your progress before the first Zoom class, post your training videos, and offer your classmates kudos. Watch for Excel students’ videos of their nose work set-ups and progress as well as for feedback from Ann in preparation for the first Zoom session on July 8.
Unit 1 Real-Time Virtual Class: Get to know the Excel dog-handler Excel teams in the first week’s real-time Zoom class. Excel students will practice and demonstrate the skills and exercises developed during this Unit, receiving coaching from Ann. While Excel students demonstrate progress with the Unit material, Ann will coach them on overcoming roadblocks, training refinements, and progressing through the next steps. Engage students are encouraged to bring questions from Unit 1 to the Zoom class; Ann will answer each question and guide the transition to Unit 2.
2
Nose in the books
Skills/Behaviors Covered
- Generalizing Nose Work Games
- Advanced Canine Body Language and Communication
- Next-Level Nose Work games
Unit 2 Curriculum: In Unit 2, Ann introduces the research on dog olfactory systems. You will learn the structure of a dog’s nose and how the olfactory sense can be an important motivating factor in dog behavior. You will be challenged to find ways to take advantage of this motivation to help build your dog's confidence and resilience by introducing more complexity into your games.
Unit 2 Discussion Board: Share your training progress and exchange ideas on the groups.io forum as you work through the Unit 2 material. On groups.io, Ann will answer questions from Excel teams and provide coaching on the teams’ latest training progress videos.
Unit 2 Real-Time Virtual Class: In the second virtual Zoom class, learn as Excel students demonstrate their progress with both the Unit 2 and the Unit 1 behaviors. Ann will coach each of these teams individually and help them troubleshoot their training so that everyone can learn from them. Bring your training questions to the class for Ann to address in real-time during the Zoom call.
3
follow your nose
Skills/Behaviors Covered:
- More Games to Play with Dogs in New Contexts
- Exploring and Changing the Odor Picture
Unit 3 Curriculum: In Unit 3, you will explore the common complexities of odor and how that complexity can increase the fun and reinforcement of scent work. This week, your dog will build fluency both finding the odor source and trailing the scent picture through the environment. You will learn how to expand your dog’s search repertoire proactively as well as the dog’s resiliency to stay in the game by varying the packaging and placement of the odor source. This unit builds greater independence and confidence for many anxious or shy dogs.
Unit 3 Discussion Board: Post video links of your training progress and cheer on your classmates with comments on the class forum! Ann will offer feedback on Excel students’ videos so that everyone can learn from them. Engage students, follow along and prepare questions for the Unit 3 real-time virtual class.
Unit 3 Real-Time Virtual Class: Excel students will demonstrate their successes and receive more coaching from Ann on the Unit 3 exercises. Preparation for the transition into Unit 4 and nose work outside the home will occur. Ann will also answer any questions from Excel and Engage students.
4
Nose games irl (in real life)
Skills/Behaviors Covered:
- Generalization
- Independent Search in New Contexts
Unit 4 Curriculum: In Unit 4, you will begin to work outside the home! Outside, both the variety of sensory experiences and the elevation impact search behavior. As part of the generalization process, you will learn to reduce/adjust your criteria appropriately to help your dog build fluency as a “smelly dog” - in your everyday life.
Unit 4 Discussion Board: Post video links of your training progress and cheer on your classmates with comments on the class forum! Prepare your questions for the real-time virtual class as you transition your behavior modification plan from the safety of your home to outside, IRL. Ann will offer feedback on Excel students’ videos and questions so that everyone can learn from them.
Unit 4 Real-Time Virtual Class: Excel students will demonstrate their successes and address any challenges as their dogs move into more challenging, complex odor pictures. They will show off their skills in applying the “science of smell” and receive more coaching from Ann on the Unit 4 exercises and the transition to Unit 5. Ann will also answer any questions from Excel and Engage students.
5
knows, nos, and nose
Skills/Behaviors Covered:
- Applying Nose Work for Behavior Modification
Unit 5 Curriculum: In Unit 5, you will learn how to use nose work skills to address behavior issues. You will build nose work games into your behavior plans and will use the “rules of behavior” appropriately to set up your dog (and yourself) for success after class. From control and agency to Premack and contra freeloading, you will learn how and when each of these factors is at play and how to best utilize behavior science to help your dog remain calm, cool, and collected in safe but sometimes scary situations.
Unit 5 Discussion Board: Post video links of your training progress and cheer on your classmates with comments on the class forum! Ann provides feedback on Excel students’ videos and questions so that everyone can learn from them.
Unit 5 Real-Time Virtual Class: Excel students will demonstrate their successes as they fold nose work games into their behavior modification and enrichment plans. Ann will work with each team to ensure that they have the tools they need to both move forward long after class ends and continue to help their dogs, or other dogs they may work with, build confidence and resilience through nose work games! Remember, the learning doesn’t stop after Units 1-5. You can access all of the course material for a full year, including the Zoom session recordings and archived discussion forum.
