Nosework (3/6)

The weather was superb, so we did three exterior searches. 

Our first search was in the grass by the building, there was a hide in the grass (in a tin) and then when we found it and while rewarding the dog, Joyce tossed the other tin into an area nearby.  Gimme had no problem finding the hides, but she marked between finding the first and second tins.  Since I had already walked her and she had peed then (just minutes before), this is definitely marking.

I've ever known a female who marks as often as Gimme does.  When we are walking with Grafton, she marks over most of his.  She also sometimes marks three-legged, lifting the right rear leg to pee.  This could be a real problem for us, especially since she is sooooo dang fast and it'll be hard to stop her.  Nosework, like most sports, penalizes eliminating while competing with elimination.  And with nosework you must pass all four elements on the same day to get a title - so this is not something I want to see get established as a habit (especially at $85 a pop).  For the moment, I'm going to try two things: 1) do her potty walks before each search on a regular leash attached to collar and then switch to her line attached to the harness at the startline, and 2) work more on putting peeing on cue.  Hopefully that will be enough to get through to her that peeing isn't allowed when she is working.  If it persists, then I may remove her from the course and return her to the car if she marks - hopefully it won't come to that.

Our second session was four hides on the side of the building next door, three of which were in difficult to access spots.  They weren't actually hard for the dogs to get to, but hard because of where they caught the scent versus the easiest way to get to the tin.  One was a industrial building water meter, one under a cone and the other wedged in a water spigot insulation cover.  For the meter they caught the scent from the front, but the easiest access was from the side - Gimme didn't go around, just stretched her neck up and reached over and then knocked the tin and treat to the ground.  The paint was so thick the magnet wouldn't hold the tin in place, so once she knocked it to the ground she wasn't inspired to go around.  The hide under the cone was on the far side of an open metal grate staircase and we were approaching from under the stairs, so the dogs tended to stick their heads through the stairs first and then have to figure out to go around.  Gimme figured that out very quickly.  The hide at the spigot cover was behind a bunch of supports, so needed to be approached from the side.  Since Gimme caught the odor from the cone first, by the time she came back up, she was already coming from the side, giving her a direct line. 

Our last session was two hides in the grass again, but only a couple feet from the asphalt.  The idea being that the dogs are less inclined to mark when they spend most of their time on asphalt.  Gimme found those so quickly it never occurred to her to do anything else.  That inspired Joyce to say, "Hard to believe this little brat girl has such a great nose and took four tries to pass an ORT."

Hmmmmm someone besides me calling her a brat girl...