Nosework (4/17)

Nosework last week was interesting.  I miss Dorothy and her insights when she isn't there.  Someone in her family had the audacity to get married over the weekend and she wasn't back yet.  I forgot to take my camera, so you don't get videos.


We revisited the canopy searches, using a canopy framework, but no canvas cover.  The hide was suspended from the center of the framework, at about 4 feet off the ground.  

Gimme did well with this.  She spent a fair amount of time checking nearby curbs and such - it seemed an inordinate amount of time at the moment.  None of the other dogs used those surfaces, they just went round and round checking legs and this and that.  Once Gimme was done checking the other surfaces and the nearby drain (which suck odor), she went to the canopy and indicated the hide in about 30 seconds, after checking two legs.  I think she and August did it in about the same amount of time. 

After the first canopy hide we went to find a single hide on a Caterpillar excavator.  The breeze was blowing the scent of the hide right toward the startline.  Gimme went around the back end and had the hide in no time.  Usually this kind of setup induces dogs to check the near side, but this time only the two most novice dogs did so.  Gimme and August went so directly to the hide it was as if they shared a map with "X marks the spot".

Our third search was on a big worksite office trailer, with a big hitch on the end nearest the start line and two sets of stairs on the near side.  Gimme quickly went to the hitch end and I saw her head tilt toward the hide, then she turned and went down the side.  Once she located the hide on the steps, she went directly to the one on the hitch.  It would be more efficient if she indicated the first hide the moment she found it, but she's always been inclined toward cataloging.  Since she is still among the faster dogs, I don't mess with how she wants to do things. 

From these two searches we went back to the canopy searches - revisiting the effect of chairs under the canopy, but in a more incremental way than last week.

First we added just one chair.  Many of the dogs spent a lot of time on the new chair.  Gimme spent some time on it, but less than the others.  She checked the curb and drain again, then went quickly to the canopy legs.  From there she right to the hide.  She loves a good high hide, eh.


When we came back after the second chair was added, Gimme completely ignored the first chair, gave a cursory sniff to the curb and then lightly scanned the new chair.  From there she went straight up to show where the hide was. 

Gimme spent less time on the chairs than any of the other dogs, but she spent more time on the curbs and drain.  She was faster than the others.  Gimme and August were about equal speed.  If we didn't have August in class, I'd be totally conceited.

BTW I've gotten word we have moved up to Waitlist #7.  So its possible we could get into the Lebanon Oregon NW3 trial in June.  Cross your fingers.