Nosework (2/20)

Woohoo - I've finally got a good working solution to editing videos from the new camera.  If I'd pursued the suggestion by my awesome friend Stella right away - I could have solved the issue a week ago.  ☺

We got 6 searches on the August 30th class.  The first search of each pair was in a super cluttered area, and was on leash.  Gimme is the fastest moving dog in class, so leash handling was very challenging.  The second search of the pair was off leash in a more open area, with the dreaded toys on the floor, which Gimme completely remembered from the week before.

Truth be told, as I was editing these videos, every time the toy was squeaked in the video Gimme came rushing over and was trying to figure out where I was hiding the toy.  This afternoon after editing 3 videos, I laid down for a nap before taking off to Parkour class and Gimme kept looking around the table for the hidden toy for another 20 minutes.  She can be very persistent.

Interior 1 video - 1 Hide - This was the first of the crowded area searches and Gimme immediately pulled the leash out of my hand as she rushed over to the gate to look and see if the great toys from last week were still there.  It was a challenge to get her mind on odor, since she's never met a toy that shouldn't be hers.  Once she did get to work, she actually found the hide very quickly.  (0:48)

Interior 2 video - 2 Hides - Gimme reeeeeeally struggled to focus when she was in the part of the room with the toys.  It didn't help when I intentionally squeaked the toy I was holding.  She finally got the hide and then we played with the toy as part of her reward - which Dorothy didn't include in the video.  (2:27)

Interior 3 video - 1 Hide - I didn't notice it at the time, but you can see she's a bit stressed from the set of her mouth.  Dorothy actually mentions this in the last search.  This gives you an idea of how much she wanted those toys and what very hard work it was to resist them.  The thing I found very interesting was how her demeanor changed, away from the stressed look, when she got close to the hide and really got into sourcing it.  To me this says nosework is very high value too - just not quite as high as toys during a false pregnancy.  BTW I had a toy stuck in my fanny pack, to reward her at the end of the next search.  (1:47)

Interior 4 video - 2 Hides - This is a search in with the toys.  Please note I'm not pulling her away, just touching her to get her attention and encourage her to come away.  She gets repeatedly drawn back, but is trying.  It took several reminders/helps to get her on task, but she was able to find both hides.  Honestly, she's so fast, even with the time wasted on toy distraction she still had better time than most of the other dogs in class.  Dorothy cuts off the video right away, so you didn't get to see the maniac toy-tugging we did with the one I was carrying.  (1:49)

Interior 5 video - 3 Hides - Still going to look at toys in the other section, but moved on to search on her own.  Woo hoo.  She did a great job getting all three hides without getting distracted again.  (1:36)

Interior 6 video - 2 Hides - She worked really hard here, and I sure appreciate Dorothy noticing and commenting on her efforts.  She still needed some reminders, but did get back on task and worked quickly. (1:27)

So, a bit of analysis.

In the crowded area, with no toys and with toy distraction across the divider: Note the second round here was worse than the first, but the third was quite a bit better.
Interior 1 - 1 Hide - 0:48 (48 sec/hide)
Interior 3 - 1 Hide - 1:47 (53 sec/hide)
Interior 5 - 3 Hides - 1:36 (32 sec/hide)

In the open area with toys: Nice steady improvement.
Interior 2 - 2 Hides - 2:27 (74 sec/hide)
Interior 4 - 2 Hides - 1:49 (55 sec/hide)
Interior 6 - 2 Hides - 1:27 (44 sec/hide)

I love how she tries so hard, even when hormones are messing with her mind.  There was no class last week (9/6), but wait'll you see the progress from this week.