Nosework class (1/42)

We had an interesting group of interior searches.

Interior 1 search video - For the first search we were restricted to 3 foot of leash, so naturally, Gimme got a strong correction at the very beginning as she dashed into the search area. We were to use the short leash to direct the dog up and down the lines of chairs/etc. I got a few choice "looks" from Gimme about my suddenly inept handling. Still she finds the first hide easily in 23 seconds. It takes her about half the search to get used to my over-controlling behavior - just in time for her to find the second hide. I even got a compliment on how I used a front cross to smoothly turn Gimme toward the chair we'd missed at the end of the prior row, which had the third hide on it. She was kind of funny on the fourth hide, since I wasn't ready with a reward, she tried to get her nose in my treat bag for a bit of self-serve.

There was a time in her life when Gimme would not have put up with this kind of handling without a lot of attitude. She accepted this better when I got a little bit ahead of her, which worked to create a loose leash.

Interior 2 search video - For the second search we were able to use as much leash as we wanted. All four hides were moved and Gimme found them almost 30 seconds faster. She does a LOT better without my interference.

Interior 3 search video - This is a good video to watch twice, once to watch wonderful Gimme and the other to listen to the background conversation (something I was unaware of at the time).

We searched on 6 foot of leash, following the dog's path, while the hides were repeatedly moved running-bunny style. Gimme found the first hide easily. Then at the table, my hovering increased her attempt to get paid for lingering odor. As soon as we moved away, Dorothy put a hide on the table. Gimme found a hide on a chair and shortly after on a beige cart. She found lingering odor on the wheelchair and then went back to now-lingering odor on the beige cart. She seemed to need me to look at it and when I said I didn't see anything, she moved over to the hide on the red cart. From there she got to the vicinity of the table hide, but was convinced it had to be on something else, since she'd already eliminated the table - "messing with her expectations". Once she let go of her expectations, she found it. Then when she comes by again, it's on the table again, but at the other end. She'd already checked the chair leaning against the wall multiple times, and then comes back to find a hide on it. When we go back up to the front, it takes her over a minute to suddenly figure out where the hide was on the grooming table. When she does, she goes straight to it. Hides on the grooming table always seem to be tricky for some unknown reason. She finds 8 hides in 7:15. She's always had a lot of resilience to search for long periods.

I was glad Gimme got a nice long search at the end, with less restrictions. She sure loves using her nose.