Nosework (1/25)

We had two searches of a huge exterior area. We were told there was an unknown number of hides. We were also told we would have 3:00 minutes to complete the search, wouldn't get a 30 second warning, couldn't go over time and must be prepared to say how long we'd been in the search area at the end.

Exterior 1 video - Gimme dives into the search area, clearly heading for the other end, so I was certain she'd gotten no hint of anything at the start end. Of course right after I thought this, she curls back along the building toward the start. I'd forgotten entirely about her crossing the start end of the search area and checking down the other side on her way to go to the far end. I remember, after she spends some time on the small rocks pile, thinking I needed to make sure she got into the side away from the building. I was pleased with myself for not getting sucked into a false alert when she spent time sniffing at the small rocks pile. Gimme is so good about not peeing in the search area, I really think she thought... "There's nothing here, maybe we are really just taking a walk, so I can pee now." There were no hides.

When asked how long I thought we'd been in the search area, I said 2:15 seconds. Honestly I have such a skewed sense of time, so I always say 2:15 and some day I'll be right. But not this day, since we ran to 3:20, well over time.

Exterior 2 video - The wind died down right before our search which probably accounts for why Gimme was the only dog who didn't immediately turn to the building. Right after she gets to the far end, a little breeze kicks up. She comes up the side away from the building catching the rock hide at 40 seconds. While it's almost a minute to find the next hide, 15 seconds of it was spent on rewards. So she was actually pretty direct.

When asked how long I thought we'd been spent on this search, I again said 2:15 and I was still wrong. It was more like 1:40. Its interesting how Gimme finds two hides in half the time she spent finding no hides.

They'd only planned for the two searches. While Gimme was substantially faster the second time around, the other dogs weren't so fast, so we were really close to the end of class time when we finished all the dogs. It just so happened we also had a very full class.

I no longer have quilting on Tuesday nights, so Gimme enjoys having me stay at home with her and spending part of the evening stroking her tummy. As Empress of the Cosmos, she deserves special treatment.