Nosework (2/23)

Too dang cold to be outside playing nosework, just sayin... 

Exterior search 1 video - The search area was about 40 feet of sidewalk and either side of it.  The other instructor just walked down the sidewalk and tossed two tins into the snow.  Gimme was the only dog to start her search going to the right, though she doesn't stay there; later you see her checking the pee-mail there.  Every dog checked the pipe coming out of the ground.  Even with the time she wasted reading pee-mail, Gimme still completed the search in equal or less time than her classmates.

Interior search 2 video - At the very beginning of this search, you'll see the red cart against the wall.  One dog paid attention to it and when they checked, they found there was a hide left on it from the Friday before - so five days old.  The dog that found it is the slowest in class and was also the first dog to search, so the door nearby hadn't been opened and closed multiple times.  The search was set up to try to duplicate an "impossible search" from Friday - which the instructors' practice group dogs had so much difficulty with it.  While the hides were set the same, there must've been some other variable that changed, because none of our dogs found it impossible.  The first hide Gimme found was the one her classmates found second.  She did an awesome job finding the second hide.  The one on the chair was oddly the most challenging for all the dogs - she checked it four times, sniffing quickly and then moving on.  When she tried to get me to pay her again for her first hide, I chose to put her on leash.  I thought it might help her slow down and focus on the chair.  She still checked the chair three more times; third time was the charm.  It took her 2 full minutes to find the third hide.  Although the room configuration is a mirror image of the old building and the fans are the same, we do think its somehow different, based on how the dogs act.

Interior search 3 video - For this search they moved the 5-day-old hide to the edge of the grooming table right inside the door and we were instructed to move our startline to the door.  You'll see she spends more time at that end of the room, but doesn't settle down to find it.  Of course, she was responding to my behavior, since I was staying toward that end of the room (just like I do for thresholds in trials), to draw her in that direction.  I didn't move with her to the other end of the room until she was clearly working a hide there.  She had to sort out source for the hide on the exposed beam - which I didn't expect to be such a big deal.  This time the chair wasn't nearly as hard, having been moved about 15 feet - location-location-location.  The hide on the shelf bottom was easy.  From there she spends 2½ minutes finding the 5-day-old threshold hide.  I supported her by hanging out in that area.  If you watch her, when she can't sort it out, she starts sniffing high, but finally gives that up.  Bless her persistent little heart, she never gives up.  She got a lot of goodies for that hard find.

One thing that is different about this training building is the exposed steel beams at each end.  I wonder if they do something to change the airflow.  I know I've learned a lot from Sil about how tiny changes can make a huge difference in the way air moves.  For instance chainlink fences do really bizarre things with scent.  So, its conceivable the beams could be making a big difference.  There is also the back door, which is opened and closed with every dog that leaves.  I'll see if Dorothy will bring her smoke toy to class some day.