Nosework (4/25)

The layout was exactly the same as two weeks ago, containers inside a circle of containers, times three. This time the boxes were on chairs. I didn't see the circles this time, I think because the chairs were facing every which way, so it had a more chaotic look.

Container 1 video - Gimme has seen containers on chairs before, both in class and in element trials. She actually sniffs the second hide she comes to, but then moves on. Dorothy makes the point about how elevating the containers changes the scent picture for the dog, so they may not recognize it right away. Overall she did a lovely job, finding all three in 1 minute.

Container 2 video - Dorothy moved the hides and Gimme was even faster. She seems to think this is a lot of fun.

Interior 1 video - This time Dorothy removed all the boxes, putting the hides on the chairs. Gimme finds the first hide pretty fast and the second hide shortly thereafter. Then she gets a little stuck and has to check out the rest of the room... and even the boxes on the shelving unit, as if she thought it might be in a box. Then again, as Dorothy mentions, odor hadn't been sitting very long. Gimme was the first dog for every search in this class, so the hides didn't have very long to cook which adds to the challenge. I don't know why the one hide was so much more challenging than the others, but she's seriously working the problem (i.e. not goofing off) so I'm sure there was something different she needed to work through.

Mixed search 1 video - This time there were 2 box hides and 1chair hide, so I think of it as a mixed search, though I suppose it's really an interior search, since there could be boxes in an interior and it's possible a hide could be slipped in one. Gimme found the two box hides quickly, but it took her a little longer on the chair hide. It was a respectable time of 1:25.

It was an interesting class, as always. I love the clever ideas Dorothy has for searches. Even though we never go on field trips, she manages to expose our dogs to a huge variety of search experiences, which is key to success.