Nosework Classes (Auditing)

So we are in class 4 of nose work.   I think what I enjoy most about the class is:

• How much my dogs enjoy using their nose (homework for me  as I am not in class with my dogs).  Not new info, as I do a lot of hide and seek games with them, but something fun to do that can be used to compete in trials now instead of just a game.
• Watching other dogs of differing temperaments work it out, though it's not new info to me, it's always something I enjoy.
• This is something that old dogs, young dogs, and dogs who are not physical perfection can do.  Also by the way, the same is true with the human owners.
• An excellent winter activity to do with your dogs, for people like me and my dogs, who only like winter when we are on a ski vacation.

One dog (Crook), who looks like an Australian Cattle Dog, is fascinating to watch.  He fairly vibrates with drive and energy, and I think he is one of the fastest worker's in class.  Out of six or eight runs, he may have had two slower runs where he did not locate the find immediately.  

There are two blond Labrador Retrievers in class, one male and one female, with different owners.   Both are very enthusiastic about locating the find.   They provide a lot of comedy in class when they locate.   Jake used to start off like a rocket bent on destruction of everything in his path, and he is a lot more focused now on the task.   Bella, the female, is very enthusiastic on her finds too.   If this was going to end up a food finding mission, they would need to be trained not to find and destroy LOL.   Since it's going to end up being non food finds (at least not in the container, these will be oil scents), they probably won't need to be taught to alert only when finding foods.   It's very amusing to watch these two, especially when they find the food.   The look on their faces before they actually go get the food, is priceless.   It's totally obvious when they actually find the food.

Pilot (probably a Collie breed that I often have a hard time identifying) and Boom Boom (a male Greyhound) are very consistent in locating their finds.   They are similar to Crook but not vibrating with excess energy.  

There is Mindy who looks like she might be a mix of a couple of hound types.  She is a very cute and shy female dog.   During week four, a bunch of metal chairs were set up in two rows with a narrow column down the middle.   The chairs rotated so the backs of the chairs were either facing in or out.   Containers were put on the metal chair seats and under the chairs.   Unlike the Labrador Retrievers and the Australian Cattle Dog (pretty sure that is what Crook is), Mindy was a bit concerned about the chairs.   Manipulation was done with the placing of the containers, and by the time the find location was changed (about six or so runs), Mindy wanted to search the chair area LOL.  This is a really good example how leadership and letting Mindy solve the problem, albeit with a bit of help by manipulating where the containers were, helped increase her confidence.

Annie, a female German Shepherd, has a timid personality too regarding getting to something where the chair back was facing her.   She would need to put her head underneath that to get at the container OR go into the row.   By about the sixth run, she also was getting over her fears of going in after it.

I am planning on continuing on with this class, and working my dogs towards a title in this.  One thing I will say, the work is short lived as are (I have heard) the trials.   So it is not a high action or high excitement type of sport.

It is something my dogs enjoy, and an easy enough thing to work into our lives and routine.  So that is a seller for me.   Plus, I remember how much Leon enjoyed tracking, and I may again build that into our training (it's a different way of scenting).  Tracking is not a sport that is done in winter conditions, so this sort of nose work class works well for this time of year. 

My Leon is a dog that I won't compete in obedience due to his knees.   The sits in particular are a problem for him.   He can take the sits in a trial, but not the practice to get to that trial, and I have modified the auto sit while heeling into an auto stand for our purposes.  He is a dog that loves to show off and work.   In fact in class we are going to need to be sure that he is quiet while the others work.   That will be the greatest difficulty with him LOL.  Well, at least, we will make some of the other owners feel better about their dogs vocalizations while not working .  The first class should be the worst of it.

That is if we get a working spot.  I don't think anyone working in the first session would not continue onto the second session, but you never know:)

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