Elliot Connor and Dr Kathy Murphy SPECTATOR

Scent & Science with Dr. Kathy Murphy and Elliot Connor

10-4pm

Dogs must be on odour but any level is welcome. This is predominantly a practical day of scentwork/detection but with neuroscience theory woven in, so that people get to understand the science behind what their dogs are doing.

Kathy will give a talk at the beginning of the day on the neuroscience of olfaction and then observe the dogs and handlers working with Elliot. Each handler gets bespoke feedback at the end of the day from Elliot about what’s working well and what to continue to develop.  Kathy will then add neuroscience to that by explaining the principles behind what we’ve seen that day eg the way that dog works, or the scientific principles behind the advice that Elliot has given. Handlers receive a follow up email with the feedback provided.

ELLIOTS BIO Elliot trained in scent specific mantrailing with Search & Rescue for 4 years and gained his instructors certificate with Scent Imprint For Dogs in Holland.  Scent Imprint has trained and worked dogs all over the world in detection and tracking from explosives and narcotics to wildlife conservation. Additionally, he is an accredited detection/scentwork instructor for K9 Brain Training and a Detection Dog Trials judge and trainer.

KATHY’S BIO Kathy is a veterinary surgeon with a long-standing interest in dog behaviour and training.  She gained her PhD in behavioural neuroscience from the University of Oxford and subsequently worked in New York as Assistant Professor of Neuroscience. She is Director of Barking Brains which provides educational neuroscientific content for the animal training and behaviour community. She has a passion for scent work and for the science associated with all aspects of it