Even though a dog’s sense of smell is a dog’s main sense, very few dog training methods utilize a dog’s natural behaviors, including sniffing, to improve behavior. So , I developed a unique method of doing just this called “Nose-Centric™ Dog Training and Rehabilitation.”  This method takes the dog’s sense of smell from overlooked to the forefront of training and rehabilitation.  After watching, studying, rehabilitating, and training dogs for 15 years, I have learned that utilizing a dog’s sense of smell can improve confidence, attentiveness, and positive behavior while reducing reactivity. We can also form deeper, trusting connections with our dogs by speaking their language of sniffing.

Nose-Centric™ Dog Training and Rehabilitation is all about using a dog’s natural sniffing behavior as a reward.  In humans, inhaling through the nose calms the vagus nervous system, helping to maintain a state of calm and prevent the activation of the fight-or-flight response, which is associated with stress hormones[i]. For dogs, sniffing can increase optimism and enhance their quality of life.[ii]  In mice, sniffing stimulates the release of dopamine, a key neurotransmitter in the brain's reward system, linked to motivation and exploration[iii]  Oddly, the olfactory system of a dog has not been studied much.  But in 2022, it was found the olfactory pathways in dogs extend to various regions of their brains, way more extensively than human’s olfactory system, though scientists do not fully understand the significance of this connectivity.