Ford K9 Odor Pays Step 2 – Odor Discrimination

Step 2: Odor Discrimination

Ford K9 – Odor Pays System

Step 2: Odor Discrimination is a comprehensive online class designed to build clarity, precision, and decision-making in detection dogs. This course focuses on teaching the dog not just what odor pays, but what does not. Step 2 is where exclusion becomes intentional and where many teams either gain clarity or unintentionally create conflict. This course is built to prevent the latter.

The Odor Pays system is structured, progressive, and evidence-based. Step 2 is not about shortcuts or assumptions. It is about giving the dog a clear framework so discrimination is understood rather than guessed.

This class is applicable to all types of detection dogs, including sport, law enforcement, military, SAR, explosives, narcotics, firearms, and specialty detection disciplines.

What This Class Covers

Lesson 1: What You Need and How to Use It
A clear breakdown of the required equipment and how each component is used within the Step 2 framework. Emphasis is placed on purpose, not gear for gear’s sake.

Lesson 2: Containers and Vessels for Odor
An in-depth look at how different containers and vessels influence odor availability, clarity, and decision-making. You will learn how improper container choice can unintentionally mask training issues or create false confidence.

Lesson 3: Odor Hygiene
A critical lesson often overlooked. This module addresses contamination, cross-transfer, handler error, and environmental factors that directly affect discrimination outcomes. Poor odor hygiene undermines even the best training plans.

Lesson 4: Odor Movement (Lecture)
A focused lecture on how odor behaves, moves, pools, and dissipates, and how this directly impacts discrimination exercises. Understanding odor movement is essential to interpreting dog behavior accurately during Step 2 work.

Lesson 5: The Step 2 Process and How to Train It (Lecture)
A step-by-step explanation of the Step 2 training process. This lesson ties the system together and explains progression, criteria, reinforcement timing, and common pitfalls that derail discrimination training.

Lesson 6: Practicals
This lesson contains three practical sections featuring real-time video of students and trainers working dogs through the Step 2 system. These sessions are unedited and honest. You will see:

• Correct executions
• Mistakes and handler errors
• Confusion and conflict
• Real-world problem solving as it happens

Nothing is sanitized. You see the good, the bad, and the ugly, along with how issues are identified and corrected in the moment.

Who This Class Is For

• Handlers struggling with unclear alerts or indecision
• Trainers wanting a repeatable system for teaching discrimination
• Teams preparing for higher-level detection work
• Anyone who wants to stop guessing and start training with intention

Outcome

By the end of this class, you will have a clear, systematic approach to teaching odor discrimination that improves decision-making, reduces confusion, and strengthens reliability across environments and disciplines.  This is also where we introduce blanks and Variable Reward Systems.

Step 2 is where clarity is built.

Price for all 6 lessons Is $450

Each Lesson by itself is $80 *Lesson 6 is all 3 parts

Find our previous courses in this series too!
Step 0 – Detection Dog Preparation and Skill Development
Step 1 – Odor Imprinting