I lost count of how many ORTs we did yesterday, all of them blind to me. On each test Perri was working strong and confident. There were a few times where she would pass the hot box by but I could tell in her body language that that was the correct box. Sure enough on the second pass by, Perri would indicate. Not in any of these videos, Perri's first time working clove, she passed the hot box by two times until she finally indicated (though on each occasion, she was really checking it out and giving it a lot of thought - Perri is very thoughtful and honest). Our friend Denise said that sometimes "somebody else's" clove can smell just a bit different to them, so it is good to work them on someone else's odors! I brought my birch odor for the other dogs to search on, so that they could also work on another person's odor. Interestingly, I know Denise and I get our oils from the same supplier - so it's interesting to see the dog's reactions!
Perri also got a chance to work Non-Box containers. We have never done this before, but Perri took to it rather well! I rewarded very early, and Denise told me where the hides were. Even so, I could have rewarded sooner!
The fun continued! Perri got to do a little Easter Egg hunt! There was anise scent in one of the eggs. Perri is not as confident with "Exterior" searches and you can see she is in and out of this search mentally. When two of the plastic eggs blow onto the pavement with the wind, she stresses down and starts displacement nibbling her foot. I love how I scratch her foot for her, give her a quick peck on the snoot, and tell her to get back to searching. And she does! She gets into odor and gives the sidewalk a slight nibble which made me think we were at the correct egg. D tells me it is the purple one and it isn't long before Perri does that "AHA!" head turn towards the egg and gets paid big. I was so proud of her!
I so wish I had our next two exterior searches on video! They were elsewhere in the parking garage. One Perri walked up this wall that had a channel in it at her chest level and she was sort of in and out of it, like in the egg video. But when I turned her around and worked that wall from the opposite direction, she was a girl on a mission! I called alert confidently when she hit source. Her next search she really was working with the drive I know she is capable of when she is comfortable - so exciting!
And no worries - Perri actually got ample resting time in between a lot of these searches while the other teams worked. It was really fun to watch other teams work the stations and before I knew it, two hours had gone by! I was really pleased with Perri for her stamina for all of the work we did, for her focus and resilience in the parking garage with the distractions of cars going by and with people. Perri seems a lot more at ease - I did double her dose of Composure in the morning.
It makes my heart so happy to see Perri be relaxed and successful.
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