When teaching nose holds, gradually build duration of the nose hold by waiting at first a split second then mark and reward, then a second and mark/reward, then two seconds and mark/reward, then three seconds and mark/reward; upward to the point that the dog nose holds for several seconds.
Once Jackie understands a reliable several-second nose hold, begin proofing so she holds her nose at source while the handler calls "Alert!"
In scent work class this week Jackie played the 1-2, 1-3, 1-4 Game: a container search that teaches the dog to check each container without skipping any containers. We played different interior searches for multiple hides.
Video clip of Jackie playing interior searches and the 1-2, 1-3, 1-4 game:
