Fall 2018  Saber Tails 17    

Petit Basset Griffon Vendéen Club of America

You will want to discourage your dog from damaging boxes, as this will be faulted in trials.  If your dog has a tendency 

to smash or damage the boxes, continue to practice with something very sturdy until your dog has built up more desire 

for the odor.  In most cases, dogs stop playing with boxes when they realize that finding the target odor will result in a 

payout for them.

At this stage, begin to drag out the reward process.  Instead of a single treat at the correct box, feeding several tiny treats, 

one after the other, to extend the time your dog spends near the target odor.

As you begin to see consistent behavior changes, you may start to delay the reward very slightly, to encourage a stron-

ger alert behavior.  Often the behavior change that a PBGV will display “in odor” is similar to what they may do when they 

pick up a faint scent on the hunt field- such as sustained interest, tail wag, or whining.  If you are training alone, you may 

want to video your training sessions because it can sometimes be easier to see subtle behavior changes after that fact 

in the beginning.  You are allowed to reward your dog at source during Scent Work competition, so don’t worry about 

weaning off of rewards.  

Stage 4:  Interiors and Exteriors

It will be best to begin in a space with minimal clutter or distraction.  Do not use a normal dog potty area to train exte-

riors, as your dog will need to learn not to eliminate while searching.  

• Place a hot plastic container in the interior or exterior environment.   Allow the dog to find the container and reward 

as usual.

• Remove the container and place the odor in an easy spot on the environment.  In novice, the hide will be no higher 

than 24 inches, but it is easiest to start with a nose height hide.  Allow the dog to find the hide and reward gener-

ously.

• Gradually increase the difficulty of the hide.  In a trial, you will not be able to see the hide, but the dog will be able 

to place her nose on it.

Stage 5:  Buried

Buried hides are a challenge for many dogs.  In novice, the hide will be buried in sand or commercial topsoil in a con-

tainer that may or may not have a lid.  Buried will not be offered at the PBGVCA trial, but to begin training, start with the 

hide on top of the soil and very slowly increase the depth of the hide until you reach the required depth for your level.

Stage 6:  Handler Discrimination

Handler discrimination is more challenging for many dogs because human scent is not as strong as essential oil scents.   

You can use the procedure above to train handler discrimination, but here are some hints specific to this element:

• It’s generally a good idea to train Handler Discrimination before working other odors in a training session or in sepa-

rate sessions from other odors.

• For novice, handler discrimination will be a search of 10 boxes, much like a container search.  While a box used for 

birch or other odor can never be used as a cold box again, you can air out your used handler discrimination boxes 

and re-use them as cold boxes.  

• You may want to consider using a different cue and/or different equipment for Handler Discrimination searches.  I 

use “seek” rather than search for Handler Discrimination and have my dogs wear buckle collars instead of harnesses 

for this element.

• In addition to your glove, there will be a distractor glove scented by the judge.  As you advance in training, you will 

Cont’d from p 10