Nosework (2/27)

Earlier this day I learned Gimme had a mass, so I was kind of in a tizzy. I told the instructors and said Gimme could do anything she wanted. Fortunately she wanted to search for odor. 

Exterior 1 video - There were three known hides. I knew Gimme was going to run to the toy before we ever left the startline. It was a spotted puppy toy. I prefer Gimme to leave toys on her own, but will use a little social pressure to help her, when needed. While it seemed an eternity at the time, it was really only 20 seconds. In this search all the dogs had trouble finding the hide in the pen, except Gimme. She does get back to the toy despite me trying to keep her from it - which was next to impossible given the location of the last hide. She leaves it pretty easily and finds the hide on the stool immediately after. Great timing since the reward for the hide was close enough in time for also leaving the toy. Gotta love it. 

Exterior 2 video - Same search area with three hides, moved around. Gimme still went immediately to the toy, but I chose to use my move from containers, where I continue moving around her when she's on a container and I find she leaves it if it's not the right one. Apparently it works with toys too, since she left the toy right away. Good girl. On the second hide, I thought I was doing too much of the search keeping her in the area of the pen, but on video it's clear she wanted to stay there anyway, which Dorothy noted. Overall her time was 30 seconds faster, 20 seconds of which was not taking time with the toy. A nice search. 

Vehicle 1 video - There is only one hide. Because the light is low, the video isn't the greatest, but good enough. What can I say about this search, Gimme did an awesome job. What is interesting (and what Dorothy commented on) is the way the angled back section of the running board just shoots the dogs out as they are following the scent. Gimme was the fastest to get back to this... indeed only 3 seconds. The other dogs spent a little more time on the bush and/or curb. Gimme often uses the technique of following the scent out to find the edge, so she's likely more efficient with it.

Given our scary news, I was glad to see Gimme so focused and enthusiastic about searching.