Vehicle search video - Gimme went right to the first hide, sniffed with interest and then left it. As she got to the back bumper, she went back and forth between the two truck bumpers. Then went back up to the step at the front door and alerted. Then she went around to the far side of the white vehicle, until she got to the front bumper and alerted at the license plate. From there I gave her far too much time to investigate the back half of the white boom truck. She gave me some looks, as if to see if I would pay her, but it wasn't "the look". I don't know why she was interested in the back end of the boom truck, but at least she didn't give me a false alert.
Interior 1 search video - The first interior search (on leash) was of three carts in the little foyer - set up to be purposely crowded. It took Gimme a bit to find the first hide on the beige cart, because she was inhibited at first by where I was standing. When I moved on a little bit, then she got right in and indicated. She went around a bit but wasn't settling anywhere, so I called "finished" and was wrong. When I gave her more time, she alerted on the red cart. She had shown a little interest there, but not an alert. Handling in such a crowded area is hard because the line snags on stuff. Also it's very challenging to strike the right balance between staying far enough away to allow the dog room to work and being close enough to be supportive.
Interior 2 search video - This search was in the tiny bathroom, with a large tub and wheelchair added to make it crowded. Gimme quickly got the hide on the tub. I tried to get her in the space between the tub/wheelchair and the sink and it was challenging. She did finally get in there and then immediately left. She's not normally inhibited by crowded spaces, so I think she knew there was nothing else to find there.
Interior 3 search video - The last search was the whole big room. We were instructed to not tell the dog what to do. Case in point being all the times I tell Gimme, "Thank you, find another one". Gimme rushed in and found the first hide on the green tub in 13 seconds. She finds the second hide on a chair in 5 seconds. She finds the third hide on the red tub in 9 seconds. Hide four on another chair took just 5 seconds. The fifth hide on another chair took 14 seconds. The sixth hide took 18 seconds. Finding the seventh hide took 30 seconds.
When Gimme went back to hides I knew she'd done, Dorothy encouraged me to ask her "are there any more?" It was interesting to see how easily Gimme moved on when asked. This probably makes great sense to her because it's so similar to when I ask "Is this the good track?" in tracking. We also saw her start checking hides she'd already indicated and then moving on by herself. It was cool.
This was a great class and interesting. Unfortunately this week (11/19) Gimme had to miss class. I've wrenched my back and can't do much of anything. I can drive and such, but if Gimme pulled on the line (as she so often does in nosework) it would be very painful for me, which might negatively affect her confidence. We also skipped tracking today (11/21), for the same reason, plus Nadine sprained her ankle.
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