Course Details
Nosework can be a fantastic activity for dogs, but some can struggle with environmental challenges. Whether your dog is worried about people, distracted by their surroundings, concerned about unfamiliar flooring, or hesitant to work in tight spaces, these sensitivities can impact their searching and overall performance.
In this webinar, we’ll share techniques like pattern games and problem-solving tasks to help your dog build resilience and confidently tackle challenges. By starting outside of Nosework, we’ll focus on strengthening their ability to navigate new puzzles and situations in a way that feels safe and rewarding for them.
We’ll also cover strategies for handling unexpected situations during a search. While the primary goal is to prepare your dog’s readiness and resilience before stepping up to the line, we know novel environments can throw curveballs—especially for sensitive dogs. Having a plan in place will help you both feel more at ease.
This is a great opportunity to learn actionable strategies for training through challenges and supporting your dog in meaningful ways. By building confidence outside of Nosework, we can empower our dogs to succeed in new locations and feel prepared to handle whatever comes their way.
About the Instructor:
Julie Symons (she/her) has been involved in dog sports for over 30 years. Starting with her mix, Dreyfus, in flyball, she went on to train and compete in conformation, agility, obedience, herding and tracking with her first Belgian tervuren, Rival. Rival was the first CH OTCH MACH Belgian Tervuren and they competed and placed in many regional and national events, winning Ultimate Dog (High Combined in Utility and Agility) and repeat 60 weave pole champs at the All Star tournament in 2002.
One of Julie’s favorite things is a versatile team! She truly believes that participating in multiple sports is enriching to both person and dog and builds on that mutual partnership and trust. Nosework is an ideal sport to compliment your other activities. It’s intrinsically motivating for the dog and it’s also pretty cool to have a pet detection dog! Julie has also gone HIT 11 times with 4 different dogs across 4 different sports (Obedience, Agility, Nosework and Herding). Julie currently shares her life with 3 dogs:
Drac, a 9 years old Belgian Malinois showing his versatility with a MACH, NW ELT-CH, TDX, and HSAsd. He’s my loving boy where his favorite thing is being with me!
Moxie, a 6 year old Belgian Tervuren is a natural at Nosework and Agility. She finished her breed CH by 1 year of age with two 5 point majors, and has earned the following titles: breed CH, NW ELT-CH, HSAsd, Tracking Dog (TD) and Excellent Agility titles.
And the newest member to her pack, Katniss Harperdeen, a 6 month old Belgian Tervuren. She is bold, beautiful, smart and naughty!
Julie is a consummate learner and energetic instructor, immersing herself in everything dog training! While teaching agility in the early 2000s, she found how rewarding it was to teach and help others. The simple truth? People just really love their dogs and enjoy doing activities with them. Knowing this helps set the tone for how she runs her classes: giving students ample working time, staying positive when things get challenging, and giving more than 100 percent of her efforts toward their development.
She is also a co-creator and judge for the FDSA virtual TEAM NW program and is a retired AKC licensed Scent Work judge.
Julie is also owner of Savvy Dog Sports, a local dog training school in near Rochester, NY. More information can be found at: www.SavvyDogSports.com
Click here to view full FDSA instructor bio and upcoming classes with this instructor
