No her nose isn't crummy, but it sure was last night.
During the seminar weekend, Gimme picked up a truly impressive flea infestation. By Tuesday evening, she was constantly scratching and biting and really miserable. Once I realized what was going on, I gave her a dose of Advantage and started picking the nasty buggers off her. Thus far I have picked off 34 and flushed 3 more down the drain, for a total of 37!
Yesterday I wanted to give her some Benedryl to help her with the itching. An hour later I saw no change in her itchiness, so I went to check the package before going on line to see if I needed to increase the dose. That was when I discovered I hadn't given her Benedryl at all, but rather a dose of sudephedrine, a nasal decongestant. I quickly checked the safety of it and there is no problem. I don't know how that stuff even got near where I keep the dog medicines, but since I live alone I have no one to blame but myself.
Two hours after giving it to her we joined our nosework class. The exercises were all things that Miss Gimme should be able to do with ease. Instead she was only slightly interested in searching and constantly looking to me for help. That is not the Gimme I work with and everyone commented how changed she was. I basically had to wander by the hides within a couple of feet before she would go for them - though she was enthusiastic at that point.
It was while doing the third search that I realized what the problem was. Sudephedrine is a nasal decongestant and as such it dries up mucous membranes. I know I've mentioned several times in this blog how important it is that the dog's nose and nasal passages be moist and well hydrated. By medicinally drying out her nasal passages, we had reduced her normally awesome scenting ability to the bare minimum.
Poor baby was so frustrated, as was I. She couldn't understand why I wanted her to search where there was no odor. I learned that I wouldn't want to do nosework with a dog without talent or interest. We ended by giving her the easiest possible search (three boxes, 2 clear, one wide open with an abundance of odor) and I gave her the jackpot of all jackpots for finding it. I definitely wanted to end on a positive note.
We came home and I gave her a bath to wash off any remaining buggers. Gimme thinks I intended to drown her. She denies felling better afterward, but I noticed less scratching. There is even less this morning. I probably could have given her Benedryl late last night, but just to be safe, I waited. So I'm going to give her some now and then we are going out to meet Frank and Tor for a walk.
Also you may notice I never reported on the NW class from last week. That is because it was so frustrating that I just couldn't get interested in writing about it. Joyce was being absurd about calling "fault" every time Gimme's paws touched anything. Even though Gimme found every hide quickly and with great enthusiasm, I left class frustrated and demoralized. I felt like all our effort to moderate her pawing and the improvement I'm already seeing was all for naught. Based on Joyce's interpretation of what constitutes a fault, I was considering teaching Gimme to back up to hides and point them out with her tail!
Fortunately during the seminar weekend, I was able to ask all the questions that have been bugging me about Joyce's instructions. I was able to fit each question neatly into what was going on. Hopefully Joyce was taking notes. Whether she was or not, I at least have the confidence in knowing my positions on our different approaches agree with a nosework founder's point of view.
And now, the trail beckons...
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