Tonight was most interesting and it started yesterday. I'd noticed during a walk Gimme had the attention span of a gnat. It took most of 3 miles to get her able to focus. Later in the day she worked beautifully with me for two different training sessions, so at the time I didn't give it much thought.
Tonight in class - I swear, the lights were on and no one was home. Usually when she is so unfocused, I can do the Give Me A Break game (from Control Unleashed by Leslie McDevitt) and it works beautifully. However, it really didn't work for us this time. I finally had her attention for a bit, but it didn't last very long.
She is in season, but its far too early to be "the day" where she loses her brain. Of course, she's had odd seasons before and I notice she's already loosing her puffiness and showing almost no color, so perhaps this will be a shortie. I'll know soon enough.
I decided for our second turn to just work on basic stuff to help her get focused. I wanted to do something where I could reward a lot in a short period of time and I knew exactly what I'd try. (I told Blynn ahead of time)
Recently I discovered Gimme is very distracted when I train in the yard, despite being able to focus and train in other more distracting settings. I think its because she has no expectation of training in the yard. Thus Kathy and I have been talking about using a "set-up" to help Gimme know when I want to start training versus when I'm in the yard for other purposes. So for the last four days I've been working on it. I started in the house to make sure Gimme knew what was expected with no distraction. Then I did it during walks and then a brief session in the yard yesterday. It was one of the two beautiful training sessions we did.
Tonight when I brought Gimme in for her second turn, we just started off doing "set-up" a few times. Then I added a few steps of heeling. Then added a wait and release to a jump. Next thing you know I was able to do half the course with really great focus.
The difference was like night and day. I can't wait to show you the video's - I'll probably edit them together to highlight the difference.
Thursday, August 21, 2014
Wednesday, August 20, 2014
The New Toy
We heard about an inbound package from Gimme's Auntie Tana, a special giftie for getting her RATS. Gimme immediately thought we
should go check the mailbox before it got too dark. She appreciates any
gifties which come her way, insisting she is supposed to get one a day and
its my job to make sure she does. Mostly I give her a dab of peanut butter
and tell her its a "gift" and she seems to find this acceptable. Thank God
for peanut butter!
She never follows me to the mailbox, but did for a couple days, including the day the package arrived. You probably think I'm exaggerating, but I really think she knows much more english than anyone is willing to believe. I'll share two more stories below which demonstrate her comprehension.
When she saw I had a box, she was glued to me and watched avidly while I opened it. I got the toy out and set it aside to see if there was a note on the back of the piece of paper. Turned around just in time to see Gimme slinking out of the room with the toy.
She slinky walked back and forth from room to
room, then finally settled down to enjoy it once I stayed far
enough away. She carries it by the body and really seems to like the way the
head hangs down in a convincingly dead manner.
Of course a day later when Ted, the bathroom remodel guy, came over to bring me some refund money. Gimme had to see him - she adores him. Minutes later she went in the house and came out with her new toy to show him. Wouldn't let him or I touch it, but she did trot around with it doing its convincingly dead looking head/neck flop. Ted was appropriately congratulatory and this made her happy. She can be quite the silly one.
I am subjected to this kind of melodrama almost every day.
She often rings the bell on the front door for her own designs, not actually related to its intended purpose. She rings it, then comes to see if I've noticed and am on the way to serve her majesty's demands. She loves me, but recognizes I am severely limited in my skills related to the attentive-to-Gimme's-wants-and-needs department. I'm sure you can well imagine what a terribly inadequate life she is subjected to.
Sometimes I remove the bell for a time. I learned awhile back she often rings it as a ruse to get me to walk away from the computer. She dashes out the door, makes a 180 on the top step, then races back in to get a toy from one of her two toy baskets, insisting what she really needs is for me to play with her...
She never fails to amuse.
She never follows me to the mailbox, but did for a couple days, including the day the package arrived. You probably think I'm exaggerating, but I really think she knows much more english than anyone is willing to believe. I'll share two more stories below which demonstrate her comprehension.
When she saw I had a box, she was glued to me and watched avidly while I opened it. I got the toy out and set it aside to see if there was a note on the back of the piece of paper. Turned around just in time to see Gimme slinking out of the room with the toy.
She slinky walked back and forth from room to
room, then finally settled down to enjoy it once I stayed far
enough away. She carries it by the body and really seems to like the way the
head hangs down in a convincingly dead manner.
When she discovered the growler in the body, she
played it up and down the body like corn on the cob, non-stop for about twenty
minutes... until she finally wore out the growler.
After killing the growler, she discovered the
squeaker in the head and proceeding to squeak it non-stop for half an hour.
Squeak, squeak, squeak, squeeeeeeak, squeak, squeak, squeak, squeak, squeak, squeak,
squeeeeeeak, squeak, squeak, squeak, squeak, squeak, squeak, squeeeeeeak, squeak, squeak,
squeak, squeak, squeak, squeak, squeak, squeak, squeak, squeak, squeak, squeeeeeeak,
squeak, squeak... you get the picture...
She finally laid down behind my chair
with it still in her mouth. If I turned to look at her, she thumped her tail and
tensed up, prepared to make a run for it if I tried to take it. She loves all her toys, but this is clearly her
favorite of all time. Of course if any of you want to send another toy and try to top this one - do feel free. I can always get a third toy basket if necessary.
Days later, she still guards it. Not to suggest she wouldn't give it to me if I asked, but she is making it clear she wants to keep this one for herself. Just sayin...
Of course a day later when Ted, the bathroom remodel guy, came over to bring me some refund money. Gimme had to see him - she adores him. Minutes later she went in the house and came out with her new toy to show him. Wouldn't let him or I touch it, but she did trot around with it doing its convincingly dead looking head/neck flop. Ted was appropriately congratulatory and this made her happy. She can be quite the silly one.
So, to demonstrate her command of English. Long ago she decided she didn't want to
go in her crate anymore during the day - I told her she could stay out as long
as she didn't make any messes. About a week later I came home to find a piece of
paper from the recycle bin shredded on the living room floor. So the next day I
made her go in her crate while I was at work. She hasn't done it since, at
least not while I'm gone. Now if I'm home and she's really bored, she'll get a
piece of paper out of the recycle bin and shred it in front of me to show me how
bored she is. We've both agreed this is different and hence okay. When I'm not
home shredding paper is mess-making, but when I am home, its communication. She
understands this entirely...
Another example - the other night I saw her heading for the bell for the umpteenth time of the evening, so I said, "don't even think about it". She stopped just short of the bell and waited. At least I assume this, since there's a piece of furniture in the way, so I couldn't actually see her. About a minute later she backed into the room, looked to be sure I was paying attention, then very purposefully trotted over to the bell and resumed waiting. She repeated this maneuver four more times, each time becoming more and more theatrical. Then finally, she came back over, heaved a huge sigh of exasperation, rolled her eyes, hopped up on the couch and slumped into a down. After a few more theatrical sighs, she finally went to
sleep.
I am subjected to this kind of melodrama almost every day.
She often rings the bell on the front door for her own designs, not actually related to its intended purpose. She rings it, then comes to see if I've noticed and am on the way to serve her majesty's demands. She loves me, but recognizes I am severely limited in my skills related to the attentive-to-Gimme's-wants-and-needs department. I'm sure you can well imagine what a terribly inadequate life she is subjected to.
Sometimes I remove the bell for a time. I learned awhile back she often rings it as a ruse to get me to walk away from the computer. She dashes out the door, makes a 180 on the top step, then races back in to get a toy from one of her two toy baskets, insisting what she really needs is for me to play with her...
She never fails to amuse.
Monday, August 18, 2014
Nosework (6/4)
Gimme got to do nosework wearing the dreaded panties. As always, Dorothy had some great exercises for us. The class was about inaccessible hides... in each case the odor was underneath the "thing" in a place where the dog couldn't get to it.
Our first run was beset with wardrobe malfunctions. I tried repeatedly to figure out what was bothering Gimme, since she usually pays no attention, but this time there clearly was an issue. When we finally got back to the car and I took them off, THEN I could see what the issue was. The pad was set too high, too close to the tail hole, so it was tickling-poking-rubbing-or-something in her delicate area. We fixed it for subsequent runs and then she was back to her usual self. To her credit, Gimme was still trying to search even with that very distracting situation.
Clearly better searching with her wardrobe functioning correctly. The voice you hear in the background is my instructor, Dorothy. She describes right off Gimme catching odor and then looking to see if I was getting the go toob out to reward her and since I wasn't, she moved on. You have to be ready for it or you'll miss the very quick head turn. I got the toob out and held it behind my back after that. You'll note how much time she spends licking her leg after each reward. I try to give her only a little bit so it doesn't take so long, but its so hot out, so a bunch comes out at once.
They moved the big box out into the parking lot, just to change up the search. I was going to edit off the beginning of this short movie, but decided to leave it intact because I wanted you to see just how far away Gimme was when she first caught odor. One moment she's trotting along with me, the next her head snaps forward and she's pulling me. So neat to see.
This last search is three quick easily accessible hides. It is very easy to "break" your dog's determination to get to source by doing too many inaccessible hides. Remember when we did the inaccessible hides seminar? Gimme didn't push to source for a good 9 months afterward. So on the rare occasions when we do inaccessible hides Dorothy always makes sure we end with a series of readily accessible and fun hides.
Our first run was beset with wardrobe malfunctions. I tried repeatedly to figure out what was bothering Gimme, since she usually pays no attention, but this time there clearly was an issue. When we finally got back to the car and I took them off, THEN I could see what the issue was. The pad was set too high, too close to the tail hole, so it was tickling-poking-rubbing-or-something in her delicate area. We fixed it for subsequent runs and then she was back to her usual self. To her credit, Gimme was still trying to search even with that very distracting situation.
Clearly better searching with her wardrobe functioning correctly. The voice you hear in the background is my instructor, Dorothy. She describes right off Gimme catching odor and then looking to see if I was getting the go toob out to reward her and since I wasn't, she moved on. You have to be ready for it or you'll miss the very quick head turn. I got the toob out and held it behind my back after that. You'll note how much time she spends licking her leg after each reward. I try to give her only a little bit so it doesn't take so long, but its so hot out, so a bunch comes out at once.
They moved the big box out into the parking lot, just to change up the search. I was going to edit off the beginning of this short movie, but decided to leave it intact because I wanted you to see just how far away Gimme was when she first caught odor. One moment she's trotting along with me, the next her head snaps forward and she's pulling me. So neat to see.
This last search is three quick easily accessible hides. It is very easy to "break" your dog's determination to get to source by doing too many inaccessible hides. Remember when we did the inaccessible hides seminar? Gimme didn't push to source for a good 9 months afterward. So on the rare occasions when we do inaccessible hides Dorothy always makes sure we end with a series of readily accessible and fun hides.
Sunday, August 17, 2014
Agility (1/5 & 2/5)
Gimme has done well in both of her last two agility classes. She was in season and wearing the dreaded panties this last week. I can remember for her first couple of seasons how she was so distracted in classes. Now she has plenty of focus, Blynn even commented this week about how focused she was and right away from the first run. Methinks we are making progress.
I have just gotten home from the Enumclaw barn hunt grounds. I discovered I was VERY lucky to have missed the cut-off for mail-in entry. We went at the crack of dawn today in hopes of getting in with a day-of entry. I hadn't realized the trial was in conjunction with one of the biggest local area all-breed shows. This one also sported agility and lure coursing. If I'd known about the lure coursing, it might have been an option for us - I've been wanting to try it and it was in adjacent fields.
There were many things which made this trial unworkable for us. First the parking was a substantial hike from the actual location of the barn hunts. There is no way I could have left Gimme in parking there - way too hot and no shade. With all the chaos, the hike to the barn hunt would probably have fried her little brain. The other option would have been to crate her right at the barn hunt, which also would have been too much.
I do have to say, after nearly 4 years of being so enmeshed in meeting her needs, part of me is just amazed at what we ask of dogs for all breed shows. Watching so many walk along with such composure, completely nonchalant, unaffected by the chaos - it was just an eye-opener.
The trial site itself was nice for most dogs, but would not have worked for us. There was no place for a separate "private" blind and Gimme could not have handled being in an enclosed 10x10 canopy space with four other dogs. I also learned they didn't finish until 10pm last night, so clearly they've got bugs to work out.
Its a shame really, its the only barn hunt site close to home - just a one hour drive. All the others have a minimum of 2 hours driving, and many closer to 3 hours. Ah well.
I'll be looking over the calendar of events to see if there are any other barn hunts coming up. The last weekend of September there's a trial in Brownsville, OR, just over three hours. We have an element trial in mid-September. I may bypass Brownsville, since there are two trials closer in October, St. Helens again and Newberg, both in Oregon, but much closer than Brownsville.
So for now, start crossing your fingers for the nosework element trial September 21st.
I have just gotten home from the Enumclaw barn hunt grounds. I discovered I was VERY lucky to have missed the cut-off for mail-in entry. We went at the crack of dawn today in hopes of getting in with a day-of entry. I hadn't realized the trial was in conjunction with one of the biggest local area all-breed shows. This one also sported agility and lure coursing. If I'd known about the lure coursing, it might have been an option for us - I've been wanting to try it and it was in adjacent fields.
There were many things which made this trial unworkable for us. First the parking was a substantial hike from the actual location of the barn hunts. There is no way I could have left Gimme in parking there - way too hot and no shade. With all the chaos, the hike to the barn hunt would probably have fried her little brain. The other option would have been to crate her right at the barn hunt, which also would have been too much.
I do have to say, after nearly 4 years of being so enmeshed in meeting her needs, part of me is just amazed at what we ask of dogs for all breed shows. Watching so many walk along with such composure, completely nonchalant, unaffected by the chaos - it was just an eye-opener.
The trial site itself was nice for most dogs, but would not have worked for us. There was no place for a separate "private" blind and Gimme could not have handled being in an enclosed 10x10 canopy space with four other dogs. I also learned they didn't finish until 10pm last night, so clearly they've got bugs to work out.
Its a shame really, its the only barn hunt site close to home - just a one hour drive. All the others have a minimum of 2 hours driving, and many closer to 3 hours. Ah well.
I'll be looking over the calendar of events to see if there are any other barn hunts coming up. The last weekend of September there's a trial in Brownsville, OR, just over three hours. We have an element trial in mid-September. I may bypass Brownsville, since there are two trials closer in October, St. Helens again and Newberg, both in Oregon, but much closer than Brownsville.
So for now, start crossing your fingers for the nosework element trial September 21st.
Friday, August 15, 2014
Monday, August 11, 2014
Gimme RATS
We went to St. Helens, OR, for 4 Barn Hunt trials. I came home with a new title and a tired dog.
I went down the night before after arranging a private lesson with the trial host to work through any issue Gimme might have after her injury in the tunnel at the last trial. It was a very good thing I did. My fee ended up being a "ring fee" more than a "private lesson", which was fine since I didn't really need any help. It was a good thing I decided to do this, since Gimme started out unwilling to pass under a single bale of straw across two bales! By the time we finished, she was happily doing a very tight tunnel with 6 turns. She will never have more than three turns in Barn Hunt and will always have at least 18 inches, which is ample for her.
After this session, Gimme was fine with tunnels all weekend. Saturday afternoon she started in, then stopped and looked to make sure I was watching before continuing. I guess she wanted to be sure I was ready to show my appreciation for her efforts. I gave her loud and ample praise for every tunnel throughout the weekend.
Our first run was Saturday morning. Gimme did a great job, finishing in 1:45. She got First Place and I later learned she earned High in Trial Senior. Yeah Gimme.
Our second run was in the afternoon. Gimme finished in 2:40, for another First Place and her Senior (RATS) title. I filled out the form to move up to Master for Sunday.
Neither of our Master runs on Sunday was successful. In Masters, you will have between 1 and 5 rats (determined by secret random draw) and have 4:30 to find them all, do a tunnel and climb and then call your finish or clear. The ring is bigger, as are the piles of straw bales. Of course the big challenge is to know when your dog has finished searching.
For our morning run, it turned out we had three rats. Gimme found the first one very quickly and then a bit later found another. She didn't seem to be having any luck finding any more, though she never quit looking. I am completely clueless on how much time I have left, so I called finish and learned there was one more. The judge showed me where it was, so I could let Gimme find it and tease her with it a bit. It was in a spot near the entrance, 2 bales high and Gimme really needed to work hard to get to it. I remember she sniffed up there once soon after we entered the ring and then moved on. I mentally dismissed it and never took her back to the area. My mistake.
In the afternoon, we had two rats. Unfortunately someone with two dogs followed right behind us as we came in the building to enter the ring. I really should have told her to back off, since she was clearly violating the twenty foot rule, but I was focused on getting in the ring. Gimme was focused on her dogs. After I released her I repeatedly had to encourage Gimme to return to searching as she would see movements outside the ring and go to ringside to check them out. We found the first rat, but it took what seemed like a very long time with having to redirect her. Since we didn't find any more for awhile, I called finish and learned there was one more. It was in a spot where she had been sniffing and then saw movement outside the ring (people), so she left it see if it was those dogs.
There is a strong chance we could have Q'd this time, but for the careless attitude of another exhibitor. I confess I really resent losing the Q, though of course, there is no guarantee we would have gotten it. Maybe I'm spoiled by how careful everyone is at a nosework trial, still I find too many people at barn hunt are either clueless or inconsiderate or both. It is annoying to have the same challenges in the sport as everyone else, plus an additional challenge -- avoiding or mitigating the stupidity of others.
Of course, at the end of the day, I still get to go home with the best dog there. And just so you know... this was Gimme's 6th title this year. Yeah for the Hottie Spottie...
I went down the night before after arranging a private lesson with the trial host to work through any issue Gimme might have after her injury in the tunnel at the last trial. It was a very good thing I did. My fee ended up being a "ring fee" more than a "private lesson", which was fine since I didn't really need any help. It was a good thing I decided to do this, since Gimme started out unwilling to pass under a single bale of straw across two bales! By the time we finished, she was happily doing a very tight tunnel with 6 turns. She will never have more than three turns in Barn Hunt and will always have at least 18 inches, which is ample for her.
After this session, Gimme was fine with tunnels all weekend. Saturday afternoon she started in, then stopped and looked to make sure I was watching before continuing. I guess she wanted to be sure I was ready to show my appreciation for her efforts. I gave her loud and ample praise for every tunnel throughout the weekend.
Our first run was Saturday morning. Gimme did a great job, finishing in 1:45. She got First Place and I later learned she earned High in Trial Senior. Yeah Gimme.
Our second run was in the afternoon. Gimme finished in 2:40, for another First Place and her Senior (RATS) title. I filled out the form to move up to Master for Sunday.
Neither of our Master runs on Sunday was successful. In Masters, you will have between 1 and 5 rats (determined by secret random draw) and have 4:30 to find them all, do a tunnel and climb and then call your finish or clear. The ring is bigger, as are the piles of straw bales. Of course the big challenge is to know when your dog has finished searching.
For our morning run, it turned out we had three rats. Gimme found the first one very quickly and then a bit later found another. She didn't seem to be having any luck finding any more, though she never quit looking. I am completely clueless on how much time I have left, so I called finish and learned there was one more. The judge showed me where it was, so I could let Gimme find it and tease her with it a bit. It was in a spot near the entrance, 2 bales high and Gimme really needed to work hard to get to it. I remember she sniffed up there once soon after we entered the ring and then moved on. I mentally dismissed it and never took her back to the area. My mistake.
In the afternoon, we had two rats. Unfortunately someone with two dogs followed right behind us as we came in the building to enter the ring. I really should have told her to back off, since she was clearly violating the twenty foot rule, but I was focused on getting in the ring. Gimme was focused on her dogs. After I released her I repeatedly had to encourage Gimme to return to searching as she would see movements outside the ring and go to ringside to check them out. We found the first rat, but it took what seemed like a very long time with having to redirect her. Since we didn't find any more for awhile, I called finish and learned there was one more. It was in a spot where she had been sniffing and then saw movement outside the ring (people), so she left it see if it was those dogs.
There is a strong chance we could have Q'd this time, but for the careless attitude of another exhibitor. I confess I really resent losing the Q, though of course, there is no guarantee we would have gotten it. Maybe I'm spoiled by how careful everyone is at a nosework trial, still I find too many people at barn hunt are either clueless or inconsiderate or both. It is annoying to have the same challenges in the sport as everyone else, plus an additional challenge -- avoiding or mitigating the stupidity of others.
Of course, at the end of the day, I still get to go home with the best dog there. And just so you know... this was Gimme's 6th title this year. Yeah for the Hottie Spottie...
Friday, August 8, 2014
Nosework (4/4) & (5/4)
Just a quick note about recent nosework classes.
Last week we arrived and Dorothy had set up a ten large tables with chairs. They hosted a seminar over the weekend and these had not yet been returned to the rental company. Two tables were flat on the ground, one on its side in the corner and one on its side near the threshold. Plus all the students were sitting in among the tables. It made for a very busy search area. We did three searches.
Twice we had one hide very near the threshold under the edge of a floor mat, with a fan blowing directly across it. There was a table aligned with the fan about ten feet away. This set up was used for two of the three hides. With the table in the corner, odor was placed on legs for the first search and then behind in the tight corner space on a cart. Other hides were moved around to various places in the room. Gimme did great with all these searches. She blasted by the threshold the first time and then came back to find it. The second time I remembered to just stand there for ten seconds and she came right back to find it. The table in the corner didn't present her with any difficulty - she's never been concerned about tight spaces.
Our task was to remain quiet until after/as we rewarded to get rid of any unintended marker words. NACSW is marker phobic when it comes to their training - I've never gotten a satisfactory explanation for their concern. The concern here was not about markers per se, but rather from unintended marker behaviors from the handler when they know where the hide is (such as reaching for treats) or from the observers. These can be a problem if the dog learns to rely on them and then doesn't get them at a trial.
This week the search was along the front of the building in the shade. Dorothy had set up five full water bowls and odor was submerged in one of them. Other hides were in various places, including a good channel hide. We did two searches along there, including one very high inaccessible hide.
Gimme did a double-take at the odor in water, but then left it to search elsewhere. She later came back, checked again and then gave me a puzzled look which said, "I know what I smell, but it just can't be". The second time she was quicker to indicate it. All of the dogs seemed to mistrust their noses when it came to the submerged hide. They all came back to find it, but Gimme was the only one who didn't need the help of being rewarded for getting close. She really seems to prefer to figure out things on her own and certainly has the confidence to do so without getting deflated.
For the last search, we each defined a small search area and set a hide. The most challenging hide turned out to be mine, buried under a pile of leaves next to a curb. The breeze kind of skips up the curb and takes the odor onto the grass. Gimme has done this type hide many times in practice, so it wasn't hard for her. The other dogs struggled.
Gimme and I are leaving for a Barn Hunt weekend, as soon as I get the car packed. Because of what happened last time with her head smacking in the straw bale tunnel, I got her treated earlier this week. Tonya said Gimme's neck was very badly stuck - it took her a lot of effort to get it moving again and it was rather painful, so Gimme was not what you would call "cooperative".
I'm so glad I thought to do this. I learned a long time ago Gimme does not show pain until after it becomes a deep seated issue, which was what happened with the loin issue, caused by her jumping off a 12' cement pylon. She didn't show anything from her escapade until almost 9 months later, by which time it took 4 treatments to get it corrected and its still likely to need attention now and then.
So we are heading down tonight and I've made arrangements to have a private training session at the trial site. I want to work through some simple tunnels and gradually transition to more challenging ones. Gimme needs to know to go slower with these advanced tunnels and their multiple turns; which also make it darker inside. Plus I want to restore her confidence in tunnels, so she doesn't think they are all broken.
Cross your fingers for us. I'd like to come home with a new title.
Last week we arrived and Dorothy had set up a ten large tables with chairs. They hosted a seminar over the weekend and these had not yet been returned to the rental company. Two tables were flat on the ground, one on its side in the corner and one on its side near the threshold. Plus all the students were sitting in among the tables. It made for a very busy search area. We did three searches.
Twice we had one hide very near the threshold under the edge of a floor mat, with a fan blowing directly across it. There was a table aligned with the fan about ten feet away. This set up was used for two of the three hides. With the table in the corner, odor was placed on legs for the first search and then behind in the tight corner space on a cart. Other hides were moved around to various places in the room. Gimme did great with all these searches. She blasted by the threshold the first time and then came back to find it. The second time I remembered to just stand there for ten seconds and she came right back to find it. The table in the corner didn't present her with any difficulty - she's never been concerned about tight spaces.
Our task was to remain quiet until after/as we rewarded to get rid of any unintended marker words. NACSW is marker phobic when it comes to their training - I've never gotten a satisfactory explanation for their concern. The concern here was not about markers per se, but rather from unintended marker behaviors from the handler when they know where the hide is (such as reaching for treats) or from the observers. These can be a problem if the dog learns to rely on them and then doesn't get them at a trial.
This week the search was along the front of the building in the shade. Dorothy had set up five full water bowls and odor was submerged in one of them. Other hides were in various places, including a good channel hide. We did two searches along there, including one very high inaccessible hide.
Gimme did a double-take at the odor in water, but then left it to search elsewhere. She later came back, checked again and then gave me a puzzled look which said, "I know what I smell, but it just can't be". The second time she was quicker to indicate it. All of the dogs seemed to mistrust their noses when it came to the submerged hide. They all came back to find it, but Gimme was the only one who didn't need the help of being rewarded for getting close. She really seems to prefer to figure out things on her own and certainly has the confidence to do so without getting deflated.
For the last search, we each defined a small search area and set a hide. The most challenging hide turned out to be mine, buried under a pile of leaves next to a curb. The breeze kind of skips up the curb and takes the odor onto the grass. Gimme has done this type hide many times in practice, so it wasn't hard for her. The other dogs struggled.
Gimme and I are leaving for a Barn Hunt weekend, as soon as I get the car packed. Because of what happened last time with her head smacking in the straw bale tunnel, I got her treated earlier this week. Tonya said Gimme's neck was very badly stuck - it took her a lot of effort to get it moving again and it was rather painful, so Gimme was not what you would call "cooperative".
I'm so glad I thought to do this. I learned a long time ago Gimme does not show pain until after it becomes a deep seated issue, which was what happened with the loin issue, caused by her jumping off a 12' cement pylon. She didn't show anything from her escapade until almost 9 months later, by which time it took 4 treatments to get it corrected and its still likely to need attention now and then.
So we are heading down tonight and I've made arrangements to have a private training session at the trial site. I want to work through some simple tunnels and gradually transition to more challenging ones. Gimme needs to know to go slower with these advanced tunnels and their multiple turns; which also make it darker inside. Plus I want to restore her confidence in tunnels, so she doesn't think they are all broken.
Cross your fingers for us. I'd like to come home with a new title.
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