Introducing the Detector Dog Awards!

The sun has finally started to make an appearance, Spring is well and truly in the air, and what better way to spend your summer days than by training your dog in a new skill?

Last year, we published Detector Dog, a step-by-step guide to teaching your dog how to become a pro at scentwork in no time. With nothing but positive feedback for the book, it was time to take scentwork to the next level ... 

Talking Dogs Scentwork® has launched a new way for dogs and their people to get involved with scentwork. Author of Detector Dog, Pam Mackinnon, wanted to bring all the Talking Dogs Scentwork® resources together to form a new way for teams to achieve success when working from home or unable to attend regular workshops. This idea then became the Detector Dog Online Awards. 

By submitting film clips for assessment, teams can work through modules to earn certificates and awards, learning as they go. These Online Awards are suitable for every dog, no matter the breed, age, physical ability or skills – teams can start at various levels depending on their experience, from complete beginner to seasoned sniffer. 

So, how do the online modules work?

There are three levels: Foundation, Intermediate, and Advanced. Within those levels are: Key Skills, such as introducing scent, safety checks and handling skills; Level Searches, which increase in complexity as the modules progress; and Specialist Searches, including baggage, vehicle, and postal. 

Each module sets out what equipment teams will need, a list of resources, such as the Detector Dog manual, and what the films must show. And to help teams to stay focused, Pam has set out some learning goals for both handler and dog. When they are ready, handlers send in their video for submission; these will then be assessed. Modules follow on from each, building skills in a logical and practical progression. 

The first team to gain a certificate was Hazel Kemble, and her Vizla, Swift. They already had some scentwork skills, and so were able to begin at the Intermediate Level after successfully submitting some lovely searches. Check out Swift giving the certificate a good old sniff!

For more information on the Detector Dog Online Awards, and how to register, click here. Help turn your dog's favourite pastime, into your favourite hobby!

A ban on shock collars

By now you'll be familiar with our ethos here at Hubble & Hattie: to publish books that are of real benefit to the species they cover, whilst also promoting compassion, understanding and respect between all animals. For us, the wellbeing of animals is paramount, so when animal welfare makes the news, it always piques our interest ... 

There has been a lot of talk lately of the government introducing a ban on electric shock collars. The devices, which are used to aid training or to discipline pets, are often remotely controlled, and send an electric shock to the animal at the touch of a button. Wales already has in place a ban on such collars, with Scotland following suit imminently. 

Other so-called training collars squirt noxious sprays, which campaigners warn can disrupt a dog's acute sense of smell, whereas others can emit a sound painful to a dog's hearing. 

A recent survey carried out by The Kennel Club found that three quarters of those questioned would support a ban on the use of these collars. The same survey revealed that a third of dogs let out a cry of pain at the first use of a shock collar. What's more, animal behaviourist and veterinary surgeon Kendal Shepherd reports that she has seen evidence of animals with burns and scars, due to these horrific collars being used on pets. 

Speaking to The Guardian, The Kennel Club secretary Caroline Kisko said: "Training a dog with an electric shock collar causes physical and psychological harm and is never acceptable, especially given the vast array of positive training methods available. We hope that a ban on their use is imposed swiftly."

To help illustrate the point that shock collars should be banned in England, Dogs Trust teamed up with the Channel 5 show Do The Right Thing with Eamon and Ruth at the end of last month. One of the panellists, Roman Kemp, wore a shock collar on his arm for the duration of the segment. Presenter Eamon Holmes was in control of the button, and when pressed, the shock made Kemp jump out of his seat. "You kind of feel the shock throughout your whole body. It's vicious, it's a weapon," said Kemp of his experience. If these collars spark this reaction in a human, how can their use on animals be allowed?

You have until the 27th of April if you would like to share your views and support the ban on electric shock collars. To do so, please contact the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, and do something good for animals! 

How to talk to your dog …

We all talk to our dogs … but do they understand us?

Even though we tell our dogs stuff, ask them questions, and speak to them like a human, they don't really know what we're saying … do they?

Dogs are pretty unique in the animal kingdom, in that their association with humans goes waaaay back … so far, in fact, that their behaviour and cognition has developed in remarkable ways just by being around us for so long (let's face it, it must be pretty frustrating for them!). Whilst they've yet to learn to speak to us in our language, it appears that they have a better comprehension of us than we may have thought.

This fascinating article from The Conversation reveals some interesting stuff about how the way we talk to our dogs affects their cognition, and how dogs may have evolved communications skills akin to those of human children.

We all know our dogs understand every word we say (*ahem*) … but do we understand them? We've plenty of books that help us understand our dogs better: Dog Speak by Christiane Blenski is a great place to start. This pocket-sized, jargon-free guide to the language of dogs is useful in all life situations. In fact, it's so good, it's part of the Kennel Club Accredited Instructors' Course Reading List!

Turn your dog’s favourite pastime into your favourite hobby

Detector dog – A Talking Dogs Scentwork® Manual

Next spring sees the release of a great new book that just might turn your pooch into a genuine sniffer hound …

Dogs love to sniff and smell their way through the day, and Detector dog – A Talking Dogs Scentwork® Manual will guide you through the steps that will help you teach your dog how to detect a particular scent, no matter where it's located. Hidden in a bag, under a sofa, on a car, or up a tree, searching for this scent will turn your dog's favourite pastime into your favourite hobby. 

Author Pam Mackinnon has been a professional dog trainer for almost 30 years. An ex-dog handler for HM Customs, a trainer for Hearing Dogs for Deaf People, and now the behaviourist for Wood Green Animal Shelters (not to mention puppy trainer for Dr Ian Dunbar), Pam now focusses exclusively on scentwork.

Combining her practical and behavioural skills, Pam founded Talking Dogs Scentwork®, the UK's most successful scentwork training programme that teaches all dogs to become detector dogs.


In Detector dog, Pam takes you through each stage of scentwork, beginning with introducing your dog to a specific scent, starter searches, and on to advanced work, both indoors and out.

Brain training beats boring walks every time, and aided by illustrations and full-colour photographs of many different breeds at work, Detector dog opens up a whole new world of activities for you and your dog to enjoy together … an endlessly rewarding process for dog and owner: positively addictive!

Detector dog is due in April 2017, and features …

• Training techniques suitable for all dogs – not just working dogs 
• An emphasis on working in co-operation with your dog: true teamwork!
• Clear, coherent and comprehensive breakdown of how to teach scentwork
• Dedicated to searching for specific scents, rather than confusing a dog with tracking
• Scent teams are taken on a journey, from starter to advanced searches
• Addresses handling skills front and centre as keys to success
• Includes a great variety of ideas for searches, indoors and out
• Technical and practical explanations for searching in specific ways 
• Reveals how safe searching is integral to good scentwork practice
• Based on operational skills combined with training and behavioural knowledge

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Detector dog – A Talking Dogs Scentwork® Manual

Detector dog guides you through the steps that will help you teach your dog how to detect a particular scent, no matter where it's found. Hidden in a bag, under a sofa, on a car, or up a tree,  searching for this scent will turn your dog's favourite pastime into your favourite hobby. 

HH4963 • Paperback • 22x17cm • £12.99 • 112 pages • 79 colour and b&w pictures • ISBN: 978-1-845849-63-4 • UPC: 6-36847-04963-8

Visit the Hubble & Hattie website for further details