Pinnacle Dog Training

10/22/2026

10/21/2026

We qualified in Detective at Camp Tracy! In Detective, there are between 5-10 hides spread accross interior and exterior areas (7-15 minute search). To qualify, all hides must be found with no false alerts. Only four out of twenty teams qualified.

Judge Cathy Hyatt set some neat puzzles. There were six hides and only two of them were outside even though the outside area was the biggest part of the search area. There were two small cabins which held converging odor puzzles. My favorite part of the search was when Gracie found the threshold hide in the second cabin. Then she did a 180 degree turn along the wall to leave the cabin and work the converging hide on the picnic table just outside the door of the cabin!

The Detective class requires stamina for the dog and the handler. It’s important to train with the end goal in mind and the skills needed for the higher levels influence our training progression - from the beginning stages to more advanced classes! We build a reliable foundation and help teams meet their goals!

10/15/2026

Trialing Tip: Pay attention to what your dog shows you at the start line. Watch how Gracie’s head goes side to side as she brackets the plume coming from the first toolbox on the right. This was from a Master Container search with AKC (1-3 hides).

09/15/2026

What story is your dog telling you? Their path to source shows a picture of where the odor has traveled.

Why did Gracie change her path to search outside instead of going through the open door? She realized she was moving away from higher concentrations of odor as she was going in.

Why did she circle away from the drinking fountain? Her circle showed the edges of where she was catching odor. She determined there was more odor closer to the drinking fountain after doing her circle. Notice how she sped up to go back to the drinking fountain.

Why did she keep checking up when the hide was low? The odor traveled up with the warm rising air.

Watch Gracie’s head / nose for clues to understand her behavior. For example, notice how her head swept to the left at the start line. She was gathering odor information before we even passed the cones!

Take time to observe. Take time to ask questions. Be curious about what your dog is showing you!

06/30/2026

What changes of behavior did you notice? I pulled out some of them from the video.

The key is to watch for changes!

These behaviors by themselves may not mean a dog is working an odor puzzle. But as you observe your dog, you can notice what they typically do as they are working a puzzle.

Breathing Changes: With the first hide on the pole, you can hear Gracie's breathing get louder. Then she suddenly stops when she realizes she is at the source.

Bracketing: Gracie moves back and forth along the table to determine the direction of the source.

Mouth Close: Gracie closes her mouth to solely focus on gathering information through her nose at the bench.

Part of the magic of scent work is learning to see what your dog is showing about the odor through their changes of behavior!

Watch the full video here:
https://youtu.be/2BeFIubNe1M?si=LZRF8qyWWGGTIIVe

04/24/2026

Training Challenge: Can you read the signs that Gracie is solving an odor puzzle? Here is a Master Exterior search with three hides. Watch the video and let me know what changes of behavior you see. I created a video that notes some of the changes of behavior and you can find that on YouTube. I'll also post it here after a few weeks to give people time to do the challenge. The video notes 15 changes and it doesn't include all of them!

Noticing changes of behavior in our dogs when they are solving odor puzzles helps with recognizing how many hides there are in an area. This is a great strength when doing searches with an unknown number of hides.

Here are some common changes of behavior that you can watch for:
-Bracketing (moving from side to side or up and down to test odor concentration)
-Breathing changes
-Direction changes
-Circling (going out to test the edges of the odor plume)
-Mouth closing
-Nose lifts
-Pace changes

Sometimes it helps to just focus on one of them at a time when watching videos.

After doing this challenge, what changes of behavior do you often notice with your dog when you practice?

04/12/2026

Training Tip: Observe your dog’s behavior with each hide they solve! Videoing your practices and rewatching your videos can be so helpful with this. By observing your dog's behavior, you can learn to read your dog and understand when they are working an odor plume or hunting for odor. Questions that come up from observing lead to more learning as well!

Here is a video that notes the changes of behavior that Gracie showed as she solved a hide that was greater than 6 feet high! This was from a detective search.

The video notes when Gracie was bracketing. Bracketing is when a dog moves back and forth to gather information about the concentration of the odor in order to narrow down the location of the source. You can also see how Gracie went in a wide circle to check the edges and how her nose was held high when she was bracketing the high hide.

As a note, when starting out with scent work, it’s best to set accessible hides (where your dog can get to the highest concentration of odor). So wait to set really high hides until your dog is ready.

Do you see a change of direction or bracketing when you search with your dog this week? Let me know what you observe!

04/08/2026

We had a great time at the Bristle Nose trial in March! The judges set some challenging hides and the search areas were interesting! Competing has been such a fun way to make memories and see where our training has been going well and what can be improved.

Some highlights:
-Gracie qualified in Detective under Judge Deanna Bunn.
-Gracie solved a high inaccessible hide (about six feet high) in a Detective run.
-Gracie placed second in Master Containers.
-Judge Patrice Dodd paid us a compliment. She said we had good leash handling in a tight space in one of her searches.

There were also some funny moments - like when I hit my head on a metal bar during a detective search and my hat flew off (including my camera which was attached to my hat). I had to laugh about that!

02/27/2026

Learning to read your dog when they are working an odor plume is an essential skill. It's especially helpful to be able to read your dog when doing searches with an unknown number of hides. This video shows some of the behavior you may see when your dog is working a plume.

There are so many signs that show when a dog is working an odor plume. Watch Gracies head throughout the video. Right before the change of direction, Gracie’...

02/11/2026

A local trial is coming up in March! The Bristle Nose Scent Work club will be hosting a trial at Utah State Fairpark. There are some really fun search areas at this location!

Dates: March 27 - 29
Location: Utah State Fairpark

Elements: Containers, Buried, Exterior, and Handler Discrimination
Classes: Novice through Master and Detective

Time Period to Enter: Opens February 24 at 7:00 AM Mountain Time (MT) and closes on March 16 at 5:00 PM Mountain Time (MT)

The Premium can be found on the AKC website using the event search.