Last week we had a very interesting search for Nosework. I can't decide whether to call it interiors or containers - I guess a mix, which may make it technically interiors. There were four search areas. For each mini-search we were to keep the dog on leash and stay inside the hoola
hoop - which we could only leave to reward the dog at odor. Area1 was right inside the door with two small tables and four chairs. The first time we did this search from the yellow hoop and then as the last search from the purple hoop. For Area2 we had the bathroom, staying in the yellow hoop actually outside door. For Area3 we had the purple hoop with the five buckets and mop bucket. Then Area4 was the four chairs and four low stools. While we did the search at Area4, the instructors moved the hides in Area2 and Area3, to the locations indicated by the green dots and we repeated those searches before doing the purple hoop search of the tables by the door. This was effectively 7 one-hide searches. Gimme really did a very nice job. I managed to totally throw her off at the start with Area1. She expected to do as we always do and blast off the start line, so she very quickly hit the end of the line. I called her back to me and cued her "wherezit" again and she started off, again hitting the end of the line, but not as hard. This she found very annoying, but as I called her back toward me, she caught the odor on the chair, a threshold hide. In hindsight, I should have kept a LOT of tension on the line as I released her from the start, then she wouldn't have hit the end of the line, which must've seemed like a correction.
From there we moved to the bathroom Area2. She wasn't sure what to make of my odd behavior, but once in the bathroom she caught odor and went to work finding the hide in the little shelf between the toilet and sink. After this we went to Area3 and it was clear she was getting it. It took her almost no time to find the hide. On to Area4 and she had the hide before I had both feet in the hoop. She was almost as fast hitting all the hides (including the two which had been moved) on the way out.
Our second time in was to just using Area4 with three hides; the chair from Area1 and bucket from Area2 had been added. Gimme thought this was easy peasy. In fact she did it so quickly the person following us hadn't gotten her dog out before we were headed out of the building.
I was complimented on my line handling, when we did the bucket. The others had trouble with their line snagging on the chair as the dog tried to work the bucket. I think it was easy because I have such a good line to begin with. Its Biothane and I think its just the right weight. I can flip it up over things and it doesn't catch on stuff, just floats over edges of things (like the chair). It almost never knots, doesn't kink ever. It can be wiped clean, with detergent if needed. The only drawback is how slippery it gets when wet. But its only between Biothane and hands. If you wear leather gloves it isn't slippery at all and its not slippery against itself. Whenever its the least bit wet out, I'm used to working it with a loop of it against itself, so I've never had a problem. My four Biothane lines will likely outlive me.
Our last search was off leash. It was the entire search area and all five tins of odor had been put in one bucket and placed in the far corner. Dorothy referred to it as an "odor bomb". Gimme found it very quickly She headed toward the corner, making a brief check of the search area we'd just done as she passed by it on her way to the bucket. The trouble was she just wasn't sure what to make of so much odor. She found it within 10 seconds, but spent at least that long deciding to indicate it. It was like she couldn't believe it was real.She was certainly glad to be back at class after the break the week before. I know she's going to be very happy to have life back to normal now.
BTW I asked her why she didn't pay any attention to the other dogs at the kennel when she was there the week before. She said it was because "they were in cages where they belong." She insists her run was "a special place" and "up front where everyone could admire her when they came." Besides Janice spoke to her first every time she came and went. I wonder where she gets these notions... ☺
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