Find Your Fix- Sport Dog Scent Detection Podcast- Training Tips and More !

Jill Kovacevich
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K9 Scent Fix—Find YOUR Fix- Sport Dog Scent Detection Podcast JOIN THE FUN ! Canine Nose Work coaching tips and tricks to help fix your training and trial challenges with an open mindset. Offering methods and techniques that might be new to you or outside your "usual". Chatting with the experts, experienced nose work coaches and guest speakers exploring new ideas, how to use them and build solid training resources with Mountain Dogs and Release Canine. Join us for the LIVE podcast via Zoom - watch for each LIVE podcast announcment and interact with your Hosts Jill Kovacevich from Mountain Dogs and Aleks Woodroffe from Release Canine. Email us at mtnnosework@gmail.com OR aleks.woodroffe@gmail.com WITH your Topics or Comments. We love to hear from you our K9SF Handlers ! Recorded Podcast released within 24-48 hours or during the first week of each month. Look for the Podcast posting at k9scentfix.buzzsprout.com  

  1. APR 29

    Reading Odor Like A Trial Official: An Active Handler's Perspective

    We zoom out from our own leash and talk about what we learn by watching dozens of dogs run the same hide, then bring those lessons back into training. We focus on becoming an active handler who can read odor behavior early, support verification, and make better “stay or go” decisions under trial pressure.  • learning odor movement by observing many teams and reviewing video  • defining the active handler and taking responsibility for odor information  • recognizing odor importance vs chasing a fast dog  • supporting the verification phase without overhandling  • using leash length and pace to reduce pressure and improve observation  • staying present in complex searches and managing NW3 and Elite mental stamina  • telling working apart from distractions like crittering or sniffing spots  • training resiliency around non-target odor and trial-like distractions  • building start line focus so the dog releases into hunting  • supporting novel hides for novice dogs without “convincing”  • spotting handler focus patterns and resetting the search when needed  • using transition zones and walkthrough videos to predict airflow changes  Let us know if you have any questions and we can clarify those, hopefully.  Help her find a trial, an elite trial, between Missouri and Phoenix, Arizona.  Send us Fan Mail

    51 min

  2. APR 8

    The Wheel Of Odor- A Randomizer for Training Odor

    In this episode we reveal the  “Wheel Of Odor”, an easily crafted randomizer used to spur a fun discussion focused on ODOR training for the nosework and scentwork dog. We wanted to use some creativity to otherwise break out of training ruts and think OUTSIDE THE ODOR BOX for fresh ideas on how to set hides and build odor training objectives for our dogs and ourselves. The Wheel of Odor uses three categories to describe each odor puzzle or odor scenario in training or trial searches. We included a multitude of factors in each category from big odor, to muddy odor, to accessible hides, to back of search hides and odor in snow. By including  hide placement, odor behavior, and the environment, as our Three Wheels we gained random on the spot training objectives and descirbe how we might train the combination for our novice to advance dogs and elite to summit.  Our mission is to motivate more creativity in our training and in yours exposing our dogs to an opporutnity to learn a vast array of odor scenarios from simplistic to complex. We enourage all our listeners to build your own Wheel of Odor or use the URL app in the notes below to check out our SPIN on the Wheel of Odor. Enjoy and spin yourself a new odor training idea not yet in your odor training objectives.  Apps- Daily Decision- https://wheel.page.link/14DA OR  Wheel of Names https://wheelofnames.com/ Send us Fan Mail

    1h 7m

  3. MAR 4

    Two Wheels, One Blurt Alert and A Rogue Cheese Cube- Elite Trial Recap - Lessons from the Desert

    Dust, heat, and a whole lot of critter scent—this elite nose work weekend had it all. We headed to a Western movie set and came home with a sharper game plan: how to spot channeling odor, decide when to finish early, and build independence without frying your dog’s brain. Along the way, we faced a classic trap—two hides on one side of a truck—and turned that miss into a concrete progression using off-leash discovery, long-line refinement, and short-leash control. We lay out our exact drills with chairs and boxes, why we set sources deeper off the plane, and how we balance elevation work with ground hides that ride up walls and read “high.” You’ll hear how a six-foot leash can calm a fast dog’s acceleration, how structured pre-trial exercise trims arousal without killing drive, and why “benefit from a no” is the skill that separates steady teams from spirals at elite and summit. We share the timer habits that actually help—halftime alerts, risk thresholds, and knowing when a quick finish beats burning minutes on a hide nobody solved. There’s honest talk about handler errors too, including the cheese cube heard round the leaderboard and a timeout that cost placement, plus the mindset shift from “find them all” to “bank points and build skills.” If you’re prepping for NACSW Elite or eyeing Summit, this is a field-tested roadmap: converging odor realities, site-specific prep for schools vs desert sets, elevation progressions without guesswork, and low hides that teach patience. We’re candid, curious, and focused on decisions, not drama—so you can leave your next trial with clearer notes and a smarter plan. If this helped you think differently about your recap, subscribe, share with a teammate, and leave a quick review. Tell us: what’s your toughest call—stay and hunt or finish and bank? Send us Fan Mail

    1h 2m

  4. JAN 29

    Invisible Odor, Visible Skills- Training the Inaccessible Hide

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    1h 12m

  5. 12/31/2025

    READY SET GO- FIRST SEARCH SUCCESS

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    1h 5m

  6. 12/31/2025

    HOST SUPPORT - Hosting Smarter: Facilities, Flow, And Flexibility

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    1h 17m

  7. 11/26/2025

    The Pathway to Source- Training and Trial Tips and Tricks

    We explore how dogs navigate changing odor pictures and what handlers must do to support their dog's odor pathway to source. From haunted houses to school gyms, we share Handler, CO and judging insights, trial lessons, and practical training setups that build dog and handler odor recognition of the multitude of odor puzzles we encounter in nosework and scent work trials. • defining pathway to source and odor availability • why heaters, humidity and doors reshape odor pictures • balancing handler support with canine independence • single-hide training to build handler literacy • vessel choice and orientation changing scent flow • natural versus object hides and containment effects • staying patient on edges versus rushing coverage • reframing no calls as odor picture feedback • practical resets, leash use and area support • upcoming trials, seminars and community updates Thankful you’re all listening and learning with us Send us Fan Mail

    56 min

  8. 10/28/2025

    The GOOD CALL - Calling The Hide: Training Vs Trial

    THE GOOD CALL- or is it ? AI offered various titles to our October podcast- MY ALL TIME FAVORITE: My Dog Said Trash Can : The Judge Said No !  If you’ve ever called “alert” on a hot object only to hear “no,” this conversation is your map back to clarity. We unpack the gap between a fair training call and a fair trial call, and show how to build a dog that presses all the way to source—even when the environment throws pooling, trapping, and convergence into the mix. We start at the foundation: imprinting, odor importance, and the nose-on-source "good habits" that help keep our reward standards tight at ORT and NW1 on up to Summit. From there, we layer timing and reward strategy—when to mark effort, when to wait for more, when to expect contact, and how to use remote rewards without teaching self-release. You’ll hear practical frameworks for accessible versus inaccessible hides, two-step reinforcement that opens the door and still pays at source, and why revisiting “easy” anchor hides is essential insurance against fringing. Then we climb into advanced odor problems. Elevated hides get a stepwise progression that favors safety and intellect over flashy stretching dogs, using channeling surfaces so dogs can solve "source is up"  cleanly. We dissect Summit-style puzzles where odor pools on trash cans and chair racks, and explain how judges decide consistency and when stretch calls make sense. Along the way, we focus on handler craft: reading behavior instead of forcing a final response, trusting the dog after a no, and managing the clock so you search effectively instead of bailing early. If you want sharper calls, steadier performance, and a dog that knows the difference between hot air and true source, this episode gives you the blueprint—tight training standards, smart setups, and resilient trial habits. Subscribe, share with your training group, and leave a review with your biggest “aha” from today’s search talk. Send us Fan Mail

    1h 12m
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Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
10 Ratings

About

K9 Scent Fix—Find YOUR Fix- Sport Dog Scent Detection Podcast JOIN THE FUN ! Canine Nose Work coaching tips and tricks to help fix your training and trial challenges with an open mindset. Offering methods and techniques that might be new to you or outside your "usual". Chatting with the experts, experienced nose work coaches and guest speakers exploring new ideas, how to use them and build solid training resources with Mountain Dogs and Release Canine. Join us for the LIVE podcast via Zoom - watch for each LIVE podcast announcment and interact with your Hosts Jill Kovacevich from Mountain Dogs and Aleks Woodroffe from Release Canine. Email us at mtnnosework@gmail.com OR aleks.woodroffe@gmail.com WITH your Topics or Comments. We love to hear from you our K9SF Handlers ! Recorded Podcast released within 24-48 hours or during the first week of each month. Look for the Podcast posting at k9scentfix.buzzsprout.com  

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