Ana Cilursu | Seeing Searches the Way Your Dog Does

Many competitors know Ana Cilursu from her popular AKC trial debrief videos, where she breaks down hide placement, odor movement, and what teams were actually experiencing in the search area. In this episode, the judge, trainer, and competitor joins me to talk about the lessons she has learned from years of watching teams search.

Before scent work, Ana had a career in medicine and medical education, and she brings that same teaching mindset to the sport. We talk about her philosophy on judging, how she thinks about distractors, and why competitors should shift their perspective from how humans see a room to how dogs experience odor within it.