December Trial Catch-Up

December was a fun month for trialing. We started the month off with a bang at a cluster at the local expo. The girl dogs got to play AKC Scent Work, and Zorro got to play Rally Novice. It was exciting to be busy with so many fun activities for the dogs, even if it meant some stressful conflicts!

Perri was only entered in Novice Containers each day and she absolutely crushed it! Not literally box-crushing though! She earned first place with super fast times both days, no cataloguing and total confidence. It was wonderful. She will need one more Q for her SCN title. The video is her first Container search of the weekend.

Not to be outdone Molly did a fabulous job in Novice Interiors with first places on both days, fast times and earned her SIN (Scentwork Interior Novice) title. She also earned her SBN (Buried Novice) title with a lackluster performance. Our Container performance is still suffering. I changed the way I was handling Molly and tried a tight leash approach. She began alerting with a look back to me. In training this was going really well until it wasn't. In the same training night she had her finest container search of all time and the literal next search was a disaster of false alerting. Of course, this night was the Wednesday before the trial. She was very conflicted in Buried (they're truly "just another container") but got the job done, and abysmal in Advanced Containers. Her better day there was Sunday, she correctly alerted on one container before doing a false alert on a different one. Ah well. Back to the drawing board. I am trying to come up with a way for Molly and I to both enjoy Container searches, with her enjoying the search and not destroying the containers. She is currently on a Container training break although it will be time to start up in the New Year. This video is her lovely Interior search on Saturday.

Zorro was able to earn his Rally Novice trial since the cluster offered two rally trials per day. How fun! He certainly enjoys heeling! Some further training is needed on the Slow Pace, he kept trying to sit. Otherwise we sailed straight through with scores of 97, 99 and 99 for his RN title. Yay! The whole weekend inspired me to enter an Obedience match and perhaps continue to work on some foundation skills for the game as the winter goes along. Zorro loves heelwork and I believe I finally have a dog who will love to play Obedience with me.

The following weekend was our training club's USDAA trial. We weren't able to play much this year. Sunday is a Starter/Advanced trial and I had a family gathering for the holidays to attend later in the day. We barely had enough time to play in the first two classes of the day as it was!

Zorro had his first USDAA measurement at 18 and 1/4" (I believe, I know it was 18 and something!) which puts him solidly in the 20" height class. We will need two more measurements, and one of them needs to be a CMJ. 

We got to play Snooker and Jumpers and I was a total anchor for poor Zorro! In Snooker I sent him on a wrong course and in Jumpers I didn't support a jump with him coming out of a tunnel. I now know he needs a little more support on the reconnection when he comes out of tunnels. Hey, I had a headache and I my attention was divided with fretting over the time I needed to leave. Whatever! He went home feeling great about himself and that's all that matters. 

And today was our final trial of 2019 - Zorro's AKC Agility debut! I admit to having quite a few moments of gratitude washing over me. I am so excited and honored to have a sound agility dog who enjoys playing the game with me. That is such a simple thing, yet it has been elusive for us between Molly's health and soundness issues and Perri's stress.

Zorro had been measured at a trial back in the fall, so we did not have to worry about that. He is a 20" dog until his final measurement when he turns two years old. This trial's format was to have all of the Novice classes at the end of the day. Our first walk through was not until after 3 and since this trial center is nearly two hours away it was great news! Novice Standard was first. Beautiful contacts and table, pinch me! We earned one refusal and I honestly think he was magnetized by the weave poles, they have such a heavy reward history. He then fails his first time but weaves nicely and then I kind of crammed him in with a late front cross for the ending. Great run all around!

JWW was a little bit of a hot mess but we got it done! Z missed his weave entry both classes today but this is his first time ever weaving at a place other than our regular training center so imma chalk it up to baby dog stuff! He was quite happy to weave nicely and I think his entries will come with more mileage.

Today's trial wrapped up our 2019 trialing year. I am so excited for what 2020 will bring for us in adventures, both trialing...fun road trips and hiking outings!

Molly SCN and Washington Crossing State Park

Today Molly and I ventured out in the freezing cold to play some more AKC Scent work. Today was only our second trial and the hosting club was offering: Handler Discrimination, Buried and Containers, two trials per day. I have not trained Handler Discrimination with Molly but I did enter both rounds of Containers and both of Buried.

This trial was run a little differently, and the dog did back-to-back searches. So, Trial 1 was our first search and Trial 2 was several moments later and a different search. We started with Containers. Molly and I have been focusing all of our Nosework training on polite alerts and respectful searching. No smashing the box, please. It all went out the window today. She flew off the start line of Trial #1 so fast I could barely keep up, sniffing the boxes at lightning speed and came to the hot box with a paw smack and I called alert! I thought, "okay! that was good, she didn't smash it hard, just a little bit. something sunk in."

No.

We went to the next search which was on the dirt footing of the agility ring. Let that sink in. Ugh!! Insane doesn't even begin to cover it. The next search was an embarrassing bowling alley. Boxes flying, a false alert, a box put up on its side, spinning and springing and then finally annihilating the hot box faster than I could even think. We got a fault for all of the destruction but we did pass and that was her Novice Container title.

Next up was Buried. Same thing, back-to-back. The first search was pretty quick! She alerted on the first box on the right and I hesitated a moment but did call it. Sadly the screen/grate on the container of sand was crushed through from her "alert" of perching on it with her front paws. She has never done this when we practice Buried, and my screens are even flimsier. Anyway, the judge said if I had called it faster it would have been a two second search. Ha!

We went to Trial 2, on the dirt footing again.... And she did the exact same thing. Alerted on the first box on the right. Now, I was really nervous. What were the odds the hide was the same place in both trials? What were the odds shenanigans were happening out on the exciting dirt footing and scene of earlier debauchery?? I....asked her to search the rest. And she false alerted on the sixth container of sand, right before returning to the actual hot box. The one she had told me about in the first place. I really did feel terrible, like I let Molly down. On the other hand, I was so absolutely fried doing so many container-type searches in a row with Molly and I guess I just wasn't reading her fact vs. fiction as sharply as I usually can. Sigh.

I feel embarrassed with how destructive Molly is with containers. Doubly so when a judge seems completely disgusted by the whole thing. I know that they have to replace the hot box and reset the search area and I truly do feel bad and Molly and I work on this. I don't just carelessly enter trials and ignore her behavior. The first judge today seemed to truly enjoy Molly's enthusiastic spirit and antics. The second, not so much. All I can say is that Proper Perri balances out the universe when it comes to Containers, she is so dainty and respectful! And now that Molly is out of Novice, Perri will get a turn soon. Well, at least the containers in Advanced will be a little more sturdy than cardboard....

We shifted gears after the trial and visited a new PA State Park! Washington Crossing State Park was nearish, and I have not visited it before. It is another one that is rather close to me, but it was added after I made my goal to visit all then-120 PA State parks. The number is now 121 State parks and Washington Crossing makes #103/121.

The dogs and I walked along the canal trail, we explored some hiking trails on the NJ side and then Perri and I did a nine-step Virtual cache through the historic area back on the PA side to end our day there.

Delaware River

NACSW Elements Trials

Today was a NACSW Elements trial day for the girls! Perri got into a Level 1 Container trial, and Molly got into a Level 1 Exterior trial. Time to redeem yourself, Molly!

The container trial was first and I was glad of that. Perri especially does not do well in the heat and I kept wondering what I was thinking entering her in a trial in the summer. Blech!

But before any trials, we arrived at the trial site...there was a long driveway and alllll the cars were lined up with nowhere to go. Turns out, the field where every body had parked the day before had received 4 inches of rain the night before and was now a wet and muddy mess. The trial got started a little late as cars were juggled and parking was found. Long story short, nearly everybody just parked each other in along the driveway and that was that. I got lucky, depending on your definition, by being parked on the next property over's driveway. I was within walking distance of the search areas and trial site, under the shade, and not parked in.

The trial site was on a farm, there was a creek running through and there were woods to be enjoyed. We were so far away from the main trial area that before and after searches, my dogs got to enjoy the creek or going for short walks in the woods. Heaven, really.

Perri was the first dog in the run order in the Container trial. The first search was on the grass and it was plastic shoebox type containers with tissue paper inside. It was also right near a barn door entrance. Perri was obsessed with the barn. She wanted to get inside of there so badly. She was only half searching and kept disengaging from the search to try to get into the barn. I kept my head and kept her on the search and she did alert and I called it and we passed that search. Then we had to go...into the barn. 6 ORT style boxes, with only one minute to search. The stuff of nightmares! And Perri was even worse in there. There was a goat paddocked outside of the barn, there were creature smells inside of the barn (the property owner even stated, "rats only run through the barn every now and then.") Perri wanted to hunt and not for birch! It was hair raising and I will be surprised if our time was anything below 59.59 seconds! I really thought we were sunk but I kept asking Perri to check each individual box and she alerted. Whew!

We took a break in the creek and back to the car, and waited for the run order to finish and then we had two more searches. I felt a little more secure in these searches. One was in a foyer of a house. Like, inside of a building with no rats or livestock smell. And the next was on a wooden deck. Perri was her normal self, mildly worried about ghosts or whatever it is she sees when she stares all over the place but she finished both searches and earned her L1C (Level 1 Container) title. Wow, Perri! Today was kind of cool for P-dog because she titled under the judge that was so dismissive of lower drive dogs at her first NACSW trial and she got to title in the element that she failed in her second NW1. So, kind of a vindication day for the poodle.

There was a break in the afternoon, and exodus and re-shuffling of cars as well as new arrivals for the Exteriors trial. Then it was Molly's turn.

We started off by blowing the trial on the first search. Dammitall! Kind of embarrassing to fail a second L1E trial! The search was on a front porch. There was a walkway, stone steps and then a porch full of little ornaments. But there was an ornament at the base of the steps. Molly had run past it. And then she was swirling all over the porch, searching for odor but mostly looking at herself in the glass reflections of the windows alongside of the door. I remember getting her off the porch and resetting her direction. I swear I gave her time to try to catch odor down off of the porch but back up she went. I will be purchasing the video of this search. I mainly remember a lot of focusing on the windows and looking inside and then false alerting at the door. Or, pawing at the door. Whatever you want to call it! Either way, another L1E blown. Looking back, I wish I had taken Molly back to the start line, paused and did a little reboot. 

Molly went on to do a lovely job on the second search. It was in the barn that had so distracted Perri. Molly was not distracted, she found odor and while she did blast past another threshold hide, she was beautiful working odor and following it back to source. 

A short break and then we returned for the day's final two searches. We searched a back deck, table and chairs. Molly did not find odor right away and got a little silly but got back into the search and did a great job working back to source on one of the chairs. No attempts to jump on the table. The last search was alongside the barn, on a step stool and Molly walked right to it and indicated. Super quick.

We finished strong and now Molly has a "leg" towards her L1E title. If she passes 3/4 searches at our next L1E trial she will title. My goal would be to still pass 4/4 searches but hey, at least we improved from the last L1E. I'm frustrated that I let myself get flustered by Molly in the first search and did not handle her well when things got sketchy but I will learn from it!

It was still a great day out with both girls and we had a fun time at a perfect for us trial site.

AKC Scent Work, Coursing and Tricks!

Intermission from road trip posts (there is one more to come on that subject!) to write about our great weekend of various AKC events and fun!

Molly and I had our first try at AKC Scent Work on Saturday. I entered her in Novice B Interiors, Containers and Buried. I also volunteered for the entire afternoon trial (volunteers were given priority entry and I thought that if I gave my time for an entire trial, I might be more likely to get in!)

Interiors was a small search space with a lot of clutter. Tough on the leash handling. Molly flirted with the judge and then wasted no time shoving a small cooler two feet across the search area. Alert! I am glad we did not get a fault for that.

Containers was next. We have done agility in this barn, quite a bit of open training and some trials. Molly always gets a little environmentally overaroused there. Today was no different. As we walked across the platform and made a right to the next search area she was squeaking and getting "buzzy". i don't know how else to phrase that. By the time we got to Containers I knew I was in for some trouble. I tried to do "zen hand" at the start line. It did not help. Molly did not even wait for my search command before blasting into the container search and flattening the first box she got to. I thought, "Well, was that an alert??" And now I was embarrassed she ruined a box, worried I was ignoring an alert... I asked her to continue searching. If it was the hot box, she would alert on it again. She godzilla'd down the boxes and then completely annihilated one, smashing and clawing it. I called alert on that one and apologized over and over. She was really on a roll! Ugh! We did the pass the search though. Whew!

Buried was last. Now I was super nervous Molly would tip the container of sand over. Buried is a whole new search element for us and we had only practiced it twice. With soil. There were 6 identical plastic totes full of play sand and in one box the hide was buried two inches deep. Molly searched every box but looked at me after each box she sniffed. That is new behavior for her, she wasn't entirely confident in the search. There was one box I noticed her lingering on more and I made a note of it. When I brought her around the second time she again lingered there and as soon as I saw a paw coming up I sort of body slammed her off the hide and called alert and fed her. I also fed her the whole way back to the car. Molly is confident enough to handle being pushed away like that, but no way was I going to let her topple a huge box of sand and ruin the search area and hold the trial up!

Today, Perri got her day and we spent it doing CAT and Fast CAT! We started the day with her third CA leg and earned her Coursing Ability title. And then Perri returned to Fast CAT, this time with my friend releasing her. No scary people in the catch pen! She ran 24mph for the first run and 23mph for the second run. Perri's personal best is 25.65MPH so, no beating that today but I was very pleased that she followed the lure all the way down. No bailing! I believe that brings us to 93/150 points for Perri's BCAT title.

While my friend and I were finishing lunch and waiting for the afternoon FCAT to begin, I saw the huntmaster from the CAT out of the ring and with a handler and her rottweiler puppy. She was doing a trick dog test! When she was done I asked her if she would be willing to do a Novice Trick Dog test for Zorro and she said absolutely! Zorro did: Jump through hoop, go through tunnel, sit with hand signal, kennel up, nose touch, spin in a circle, go into a box, climb on top of a box, two paws up, jump into my arms from the ground. It was super fun and a nice little unexpected "cherry on top" of a very fun weekend!

Hot TaMolly NW1!

The more behind I get in blogging, the more I want to procrastinate! However, Molly had her first NW1 trial in NACSW Nosework on Memorial Day and it was such a special day.

This trial is officially the farthest I have driven for Nosework at nearly 2 1/2 hours away, and it was also the most costly due to the fees put upon the hosting club by the selected trial site. No pressure, Molly! Due to heavy rains in our area, the area they wanted to use for parking was too muddy to be safe, so parking was very close quarters. I actually waited in my vehicle for 15 minutes in a line while the volunteers slowly found spaces and directed each car in. 

The weather was not windy, it was not hot. It was very overcast and a bit drizzly but barely so. When everybody was parked we had our morning briefing and walked around to all of the search areas. This trial was different than the NW1s I have gone to with Perri in that they split the run order and ran two teams at one time. One half searched Interiors and one half searched Containers. I was very excited to be #26 with Molly, but with the group split in half, that meant Molly was searching nearly last in both searches. She was last in Containers. 

Molly's group ran the Interior search. And Molly wasted no time! She was whining at the door, of the little bunk house we were searching. She knew why we were there. They opened the door and I held her on the start line and let her sniff the air a bit and then turned her loose. 12.38 seconds and 6th place! The judge said "that's a fast paced dog!" and even complimented my handling of "a fast paced dog" on our score sheet.

Next was another wait until the ennnnnnd of the run order for Containers. I was trying not to be nervous but I was. Shenanigans can happen in Containers with Molly and I was determined not to make a silly alert call out of nerves if Molly started acting up. The search ended up being absolutely charming, adorable and comical. The videographer even used it as her sample video! 25.77 and 7th place!

Game Face! Entering the search area.

"Alert!"

The hides were set for Exterior and Vehicle elements and then a 45 minute lunch break. I finished a book I had been reading for a while (Dog Man by Martha Sherrill), ate my lunch and tried not to boil over with that "all or nothing" NACSW stress. We had a great morning, but in NACSW your dog must pass all four searches in order to title. If you fail one, at your next trial you start all over again. Part of the challenge! I consoled myself with, if we fail an element it's better to do it in the afternoon! Hope is a wonderful thing!

In the afternoon, things were run the way I have experienced in the past. Molly was #26 in the run order and all competitors ran in order. So, Molly did her Exterior search and then her Vehicle search one after another. I was so grateful for this, a lot less waiting!

Exteriors was first and it was her longest search of the day. You can see on the video, Molly really works odor and I'm proud of myself for staying out of her way and not over managing her or rushing her. She was working hard! The judge wrote "great pattern and bracket on odor". 54.65 and 23rd place on that one.

"The telltale paw!"

Gettin' in there!

I just love us. ♥

We got to head straight to Vehicles! They were organized in a way I had never had Molly search Vehicles before. I confess, Molly doesn't get to practice much with Vehicles. We do not go to a class and I have only my Vehicles and Vince's truck and landscaping trailers and equipment. Sometimes we can practice on a friends car or when I am daring I go to the post office on a Sunday. But Molly has this beast mode birch = food raw talent and so ... we do the best we can. Regardless, 16.20 seconds and 6th place. One of the volunteers told me great job even with a distraction and it wasn't until I got my trial video this past week that I understood what she meant by distraction. Somebody yelled "loose dog!" during our video. It was a neighbor dog. I literally did not even hear this while I was doing the search with Molly. My skills of focusing on my dog must be improving!

Molly NW1! I was high as a kite, so freaking excited and proud of Molly and I had so much fun! After two no-pass NW1s with Perri it was exhilarating for Molly to pass on her first try! This is no bust on Perri, she's a hard little worker and has a lot more stacked against her mentally than Molly does. Molly's talent and drive is very exciting and I really want to do right by her and let her soar to her potential. (As it is, I have done a big fat zero Nosework training since the trial. Boo!)

The award ceremony was a great feeling knowing Molly had titled and done a smooth job of it! Molly not only titled but she earned the Pronounced designation on all four searches and that is Kind of a Big Deal! "The judges may ‘Pronounce’ handler/dog teams demonstrating exceptional technique and/or teamwork"

And it did NOT STOP THERE. At every NW1 trial, a special award called the Harry Award is given out to a rescue dog. From the NACSW rule book, "A long time nose work dog, Harry, passed away just days before the Inaugural nose work trial in August of 2008. The Harry Award was established in loving memory and honor of Harry, the Beauceron, one of our earliest nose work dogs that showed tremendous enthusiasm and promise. The first Harry Award was presented at the Inaugural Nose Work Competition, August 9, 2008. The Harry Award is given to the most outstanding rescue dog that demonstrates extraordinary ability and spirit in nose work."

What is not in the rule book, and this story has been told at every NW1 I have been at, is that Harry died while out hiking with his owner. He was bitten by a venomous snake, after getting in between the snake and his beloved owner. You cannot help but choke up with tears every time.  

I knew about the Harry Award. I wanted it. And I thought Molly really had a shot at earning it. She is fast, talented and a real blast to watch. Turns out, the judges thought so too and so they chose Molly to earn the Harry Award. And when your dog wins the Harry Award, you have to tell everybody about your dog.

So I did. I told them how she is a pitbull, she was a stray, she was returned to the shelter by her first adopters for being "too much", she is my first agility dog, she has titled in many different sports, she has gusto and spirit for any endeavor I desire, she is an incredible partner and game for anything. And she also has cancer and her days are numbered but we live them all to the fullest and I asked everyone to appreciate every single day with their dog. You truly never know when it is your last. 

It was hard not to cry. I love that dog with every cell in my body and I was honored to be on the other end of the leash with her, smashing her NW1. Molly's agility days are truly coming to a close, but it is so exciting to see her passion for this new to her sport. I look forwards to our continued journey in Nose Work together!

Perri's 2nd try at NW1!

Somewhere between last year and this one, my "I'm never doing NACSW again!" turned into ... entering Perri in an NW1. That's what I do! Perri has been successful in Performance Scent Dog trials and there was a part of me that wanted to see if we could conquer what defeated us last year.

Spoiler alert: we did not title! But we had a very nice experience. The trial was well almost three weeks ago, but I wanted to wait for our videos and photos to be available before I wrote about our day.

The weather gods were smiling on us, sort of. The day was in the low 50s and it was downright cold due to...wind chill. Cold is good, Perri likes to search in the cold! It was very windy most of the day, so that made me feel a little bit nervous since Perri would be working against some added challenge in her two weakest elements.

And we had to start with Exteriors.

At least it wasn't Vehicles! The search was on gravel, some tables, chairs, shovels, etc to be searched. Perri had a moment of vacancy but quickly reengaged with the search and sourced, earning her a Pronounced and passing Exteriors in 36 seconds. I was thrilled! In comparison with last year's trial, with a 2.47 minute Exterior search....talk about improved!

We went straight to Containers. I felt invincible. Containers is Perri's best element and she is the best poodle ever and never ever false alerts and this was going to be our "gimme" search for the trial...........

And then she false alerted in Containers and we failed our NW1 because of Containers. I was absolutely astonished. I could have fallen over when I heard the judge say "No". I couldn't believe it. Even Perri looks like she couldn't believe the judge saying "No" in the video! I still can't believe it, nearly three weeks later! I don't understand what happened, I still don't. I have watched my video. I have thought about it. I have been honest and if I could blame my handling I would. I see that Perri never checked the hot box. Her search pattern is disorganized. None of those things are out of her ordinary. She did not seem overly stressed, but maybe she was stressed and due to her disorganized searching and not finding odor she falsed. None of those things is really like Perri to do. I have had friends who are far more experienced than me say maybe she alerted on drool or maybe she was fringing. Maybe? Nothing is impossible? But I do not actually know what happened in that room. Before that search if you said "Bet your life that Perri is correct about this box" I would have done so because Perri is so meticulous and careful and Always Right about Containers. I just don't know! Even when I showed Perri the correct box, she did not seem impressed by it. 

The "all or nothing" of NACSW trials is a very challenging factor indeed and it can be demotivating. 

We had a very long wait until our afternoon searches. Searches that would "count for nothing". I had a nice easy crime novel read on my Kindle and I passed the time away with that. I really did not feel like doing the afternoon searches, especially since one of them was Vehicles. Perri does not enjoy searching Vehicles. 

But, we persisted! We started with Vehicles. The wind was blowing toward us. Perri sources in about 14 seconds but does not alert. And then it was up and down the vehicles. The odor was in the wheel spokes of the middle vehicle. It was blowing all over the red vehicle. Perri knew it too, she checked it out. Eventually she finally was adamant about where the odor was and I called alert. I kept relaxed and reminded myself we had 3 minutes. Our time was 2.14 minutes. We passed Vehicles for our first time! How unbelievable to pass Exteriors and Vehicles and not Containers. Crazy!

We finished our day with Interiors. No videos or photos since that is not permitted in the Interior element by NACSW (eye roll. Haha.)
The search was in an industrial kitchen type area. There were pantry type items and food prep items available to be sniffed. Counter tops and a table top. The search area was wide open with access to the rest of the fire hall. I chose to do my search off leash. Perri was mostly focused for her search, her normal meticulous self. She did exit the boundaries of the search and go off toward the rest of the firehall, but she came back promptly when I called her. On her second pass over the search area she was really evaluating the pantry shelves and then went and alerted on an area that she had checked before (and that I had made a note of.) It was a large metal rack for food trays and the hide was in the little wheel on the bottom.

Another 3/4 day for Perri in NW1 but the day felt much better to me! I was really bummed that we had not titled, especially since we kicked butt in all the tougher elements!

Now the moment of truth - the Award Ceremony. At our trial last year I was disgusted by the poor attitude of one particular judge and by the trial experience in general. This year's experience was the exact opposite. We were allowed to leave the trial site, nobody was patrolling and making sure we followed All!The!Rules! At the award ceremony we were given advice on leash handling and other helpful pointers, all with an indulgent kind tone that made me feel like the judges knew we were at the NW1 level. That means a lot because while there were likely handlers there who are very experienced and have dogs up in the Elite level, I am still a true Level 1 handler. One of the judges in particular handles dogs professionally and he took the time to say that he loves to judge and watch K9 Nosework because he can see the love we all have for our dogs in handling and training them. A stark contrast to a different judge from last year who also handles dogs professionally and uses that platform to look down on competitors.

I know. I sure can hold a grudge.

People deserve to be respected and so do our dogs. That's what I think is important. And I felt respected and honored to be at that Nosework trial. We failed NW1 a second time but I was so happy that we did our last two searches and that my dog was working stronger than she was last year. I have learned to handle a leash! I have learned not to panic because of the clock. And after this year's trial, I feel nothing but anticipation for the next time Perri and I try NW1. Bring it on.

April Performance Scent Dogs Trial

Last Saturday I took the girls to another PSD trial. The trial location was kind of exciting, as it was not at a formal training center but at a new to us 4-H property, so. Lots of unexpected new areas to search. Exteriors was also being offered. None of the trials we have gone to this year has offered Exteriors. I have devoted a lot of Perri's training time to building start line confidence with Exterior (and Vehicle) searches so I was looking forwards to seeing how she would handle an Exterior search with the pressure of a trial. 

Molly actually had her Exterior search first (most PSD trials offer "split" Novice level classes, so that handlers may run two dogs in one day.) Molly has had no need of start line confidence, she is brimming with it although her issue we are working on overarousal and staying focused on the search. This search actually shows the issue creeping in a little bit but a really nice return to searching. Proud of her.

Perri was next with another qualifying search and some very good work for all of the challenges we deal with. No shutting down. Perri was a little nervous about the metal rake handle, it isn't too apparent in the video but she does slightly cringe away from it at :24. She does leave source for a little bit and offers some displacement posing on the tire for me, but returns. I am very proud of Perri since we have worked extensively on some of her strange object aversions and fears and it's a big deal to me that there was not huge avoidance and fear display. I know she was not comfortable with the broom but I don't think anybody who wasn't familiar with Perri intimately would be aware of that. She would have been the same way if the hide was on the metal shovel behind her. Anyway, good stuff! 

Backing up a little bit, Perri had actually done the game "Speed" before either of the girls' Exterior searches. She did not pass, as she ran over time. The boxes were in a barn setting, that was interesting. Lots of smells! Perri also did her habit of "cataloging" the hides on her first pass over the boxes (knowing where the hides are but not alerting until she has fully checked all of the boxes.) Between those two factors, Perri ran over time - and it did not help that I called a false alert when I heard "time" called. I knew better! This game is challenging for Perri, she is not a fast working dog and while she does have two passes in Novice Speed, both of them were above 40 seconds so...we always cut it close! (In Speed you only have 45 seconds.)

Perri's last search of the day was a Container search and she was extremely distracted and not very confident. This was good for me mentally, and I am really proud of how I did not crumble when Perri was having A Moment. I feel that I supported her, watched her body language, reset her when necessary and called alert quickly on her body language alone when she visited source a second time. I also reminded myself internally "You have two minutes." That is a big deal. We had 40 seconds to spare, an eternity! It is a skill for me to not panic under the pressure of the clock ticking away.

Molly needed one more Buildings pass for her title so I was hoping today would be it. The search area was extremely cluttered and small and I will not work Molly off leash. The hide was under the trash can and Molly certainly pays it plenty of attention before alerting quite confidently on the handle. I am told other dogs did this as well. I feel weird about this search and I don't understand why it happened. I see a refrigerator/freezer in the back of the search areas and I know that those can really pull odor around so, who knows. Next time!

It was overall a nice day with lots of searches for the girls and some homework take away for me! Perri earned her Novice Containers title and is looking very smug about it thankyouverymuch.

March Performance Scent Dogs trial

I am loving all of the opportunities we are getting to play nosework with Performance Scent Dogs! We did a repeat of last month's trial: Molly in Buildings only (no container potential.) and Perri in Buildings, Speed, Distance and Containers.

Molly's Novice group ran first for her Building search, and since I volunteered to steward the ring, we got to be the first dog in our group to go. Molly made pretty quick work of it! She sources within seconds but doesn't stick, though she quickly returns to the hide and insists a bit better. I'm proud of her keeping her brain and launching into the search right off the start line. No antics, no staring at me and way better obedience to odor. Good Moo!

When it was Perri's group's turn, the first search area was divided into the Container search first and then the Distance search to follow. Containers was a bunch of St Patrick's Day themed leprechaun hats on the ground. Perri had a moment of being lost in hypervigilance at the start line and I gave her a few seconds and interrupted her and asked if she was "ready?". I always let Perri make the choice to re-engage with me but we were at a trial. Her behavior did not surprise me as she has had beyond-her-normal stress issues at this trial site in the past - that was for agility trials, I was unsure how she would feel if it was nosework. She responded very well to my gentle reminder and went off the start line quite happily and indicated on a container within 12 seconds. Very good for Perri! And then she actually pulled me to the start line for Distance after that. Great!

Distance was nearly the same situation as we saw last month. Some containers on the ground and some hanging off the wall. Perri sourced pretty quickly on a paper lantern hanging on the wall but would not indicate. I felt pretty certain that she was at source based on her body language, but Perri is very meticulous in her inspection of containers and I could not be sure that she wasn't giving the odd hanging lantern some extra attention. Perri left the lantern and followed the wall to the ground and out of the search area, but then quickly doubled back and nosed around a container on the ground. Hmmmm. Not this time Perri. I knew she was conflicted. The hot container was hanging but she has a stronger reward history for ground containers and also she does not care for hanging containers. I waited her out and she left the ground container and gave a lot more attention to the hanging lantern and this time I called Alert and we got it!

Perri got a short break of about 15 minutes before we returned to do our other two runs. We started with Buildings. It was an area with a table some other furniture/objects that I can't remember. Perri spent some time at the bottom of an I-Beam support on the wall. She did one more sweep of the search area and then indicated at the base of the I-Beam. Perri earned her first nose work title with this search, Novice Buildings (SD-NB)!

We went straight to Speed after that. Perri was not as confident as she was last month. She searched all of the sets of boxes and did not indicate, but was happy to do so on the second pass. The judge wrote "You are so patient" on our score sheet. Ha ha ha! She also gave me some pointers for helping Perri's confidence to indicate as soon as she gets to source instead of just "cataloging" where the hide is and telling me later. Perri Q'd in Speed though, with one second and some change to spare. Whew!

Perri also earned PSD's Iron Nose award, awarded to teams who are entered in and qualify in every class of the day. Wow! It was an honor to get that with Perri. And of course, she had to be posed with some perfectly foolish decorations from the St Patrick's Day themed trial to celebrate!

February Performance Scent Dogs Trial

A little while ago I was shocked to see a PSD trial pop up local to me and pounced on the chance to play! I again did minimal entry for Molly as I feel she is still preparing for prime time, and I entered Perri in Distance, Speed and Buildings. I later decided to give Molly's Containers entry to Perri, as I felt I had worked hanging containers to a confident level with Perri, and Molly was still dealing with a lot of overarousal issues with All Things Containers, especially hanging.

Perri's first run was in Distance class. We entered the search area and I saw a bunch of little cardboard valentine's day boxes on the ground and felt a "whew", and then I saw some valentine's socks hanging behind the boxes and thought "Hmmmm." Perri worked down the row of boxes closest to the Distance line and caught odor and she followed it to the cone that marked the side edge of the distance challenge. She sniffed one of the hanging socks and did not care for it thank you very much, not a fear response but a "weeeeeeeeeeeeird I better just not deal with that.) She stressed a little and returned and looked at me, but continued searching when I asked her to. She went to a container on the ground near the sock she had searched and gave it a nose push and knocked it over, so I called Alert. And we got a "No". I feel Perri was stressed by the combination of hanging (though not suspended in air.) and ground containers and either was fringing or alerting on something she felt was more accessible, or she was just false alerting so that we could leave the search area. No matter, we have a new thing to work on: combination of hanging and ground containers. Okay!

Next Perri did "Speed" and this was our first time playing it. It is guaranteed to be a box search, awesome! In Novice, there are three groups of three boxes and in each group there will be a birch hide. (So, three total hides.) You have 45 seconds...GO. Perri did it in 41 seconds and was a very honest careful worker.

At this time I enjoyed my ability and permission to leave the trial site and go get coffee and a fabulous donut from the nearby Best Donut Shop Ever...it's nice to have relaxed rules!

After a break for Ribbons and Lunch Perri had her Container search. It turned out to be large cardboard and plastic Valentine's boxes arranged on the floor in a heart shape. Perri made quick and adorable work of locating the container and in the time I called alert and confirmed with the judge it was correct she gently slapped a second paw on the container, sassy!

Perri's day ended with Buildings. She made a "bee line" to a tire laying on the ground and took a long time sniffing and sniffing it. She left it to search some other things, returned to the tire and alerted. The judge liked my handling and wrote that Perri "just had to make sure!" Yep, that is Perri! She often makes sure to search a whole area even when she knows right where a hide is, just to be sure.

Really great day out with Perri and so much gratitude at being able to play in a venue we love so close to home! After our trial in November I was imagining we would have to be waiting much longer, or taking trips to New England to play. We got double-lucky because another area dog training club also added a trial, so in a month we get to play again.

But! Molly did get to play in Buildings. Since the search area was fenced in we were allowed to work on or off leash. I have been starting some off leash work with Molly in practice (and Perri is always off leash if permitted.) so I thought...why not. WELL I WILL TELL YOU WHY! Molly went straight to the hide, again in a (different) tire - and I thought, "Well. That has to be residual, it can't be the hide." We were later told that they would never place the same item in another search with residual odor on it. I have to wonder if I had not had the split Novice classes and already run Perri in Novice Buildings, if I would not have listened to Molly's extreme interest in the tire rather than thinking she was just searching on residual odor. Nonetheless, there was no alert which Molly is usually very regular with. The antics began! Leaping on top of a table at least five times, almost knocking a stool over several times and knocking a floor cleaner over in the search area! She was crazed! We timed out with Molly getting higher and higher and the judge suggested the leash back on. As soon as I put it on, the judge said "Now where did she spend a lot of time?" and I turned toward the tire and as I was saying, "That t-...." Molly ran over to the tire and pawed it -_- Another learning experience! I am working on a lot of overarousal and brain blowing issues with Molly and nosework so I think the leash being off was an added !!!!!!!!!! to our day that we did not need! One cool thing is that this trial, off the start line Molly was a lot more focused on searching instead of turning and staring at me immediately. That's a good thing!

Molly's next Nosework related event will be her NACSW Birch and Anise ORTs so I will turn our training focus onto keeping our brain with containers. 

Performance Scent Dogs Nosework Trial!

This past weekend we finally got to have a try at a Performance Scent Dogs nosework trial. We of course have not trialed in Nosework since our NW1 attempt in the spring, and it was our first time entering a PSD trial.

Since I have been training Molly on birch, with very enthusiastic results, I decided to enter her in a "Target Odor Test" for Birch. In the Target Odor Test, or 'TOT', the dog searches 12 identical chairs for odor. Only one chair has odor. A dog be entered in their TOT as well as other classes all on the same day. If the dog does not pass the TOT, they are still permitted to search in their entered classes on the same day, but they will be searching "For Exhibit Only" (FEO) and the scores would not count towards titles. Pretty cool!

Knowing that, I entered Molly in Buildings (indoor search.) and Containers. She is trained on both of those elements and I wanted a chance to get her "out there" and see how she looked! I love that I could enter just an element or two, even on a dog who has not done their odor test yet. I was not sure how Molly would behave! We are still getting past some issues of not driving directly into the search. Molly has an issue with looking to me for direction and getting pushy and heading into overarousal when I fail to tell her what to do. I expect this issue to fade away rather quickly as we do more and more training. Molly has been an agility dog for five years, I feel this is a symptom of transitioning to the independence of scent work.

Molly's TOT went rather well! She visits source more than a few times but doesn't particularly alert on it, she does some watching me and looking to me for direction. After observing her behavior one one particular chair I felt confident to call alert on that chair. Pass!

A nice ribbon for a TOT pass!

Molly was next up in the run order for her Buildings search! More of the same behavior of looking at me and acting like she isn't quite sure why we were there. It clicks into place before long and she got super interested in the mop bucket sitting against the wall. She finally does a little pawing alert, which I was happy to see from her! I'm kind of proud she worked out this scent puzzle, as she was working inside of the bucket initially but then went down underneath by the wheel where source was. She has never seen anything like that. Has never done an Interior search away from home (I said she was super green after all!)

Molly needs a lot more generalization and practice, but I was overall super happy with her ability to work in a trial atmosphere. She got a "Great Enthusiasm!" comment from the judge.

Perri got to go next in the Distance Element. She got to do a container search, with blue lines taped on the ground that I was not to cross. At the Novice level the distance was not too great. I have been working both girls on "funny" non-box containers so Perri approached the little Thanksgiving-themed pilgrims and pumpkins like it was just another search. This was probably the fastest Perri has ever worked away from home, 22 seconds even with a weird little poodle detour to sniff the black post that marked the start line. And in the ribbons with a fourth place! 

We took a break for pinning the mornings ribbons, lunch and then some classes that I did not have the girls entered in. I chose to avoid Exteriors for this trial for Perri, and Molly has not started Exterior work yet. I love that I could choose how much or how little elements I want to play! We also took a short hike at the neighboring hiking trails during that time with our friends Mary and Zoe. I could not resist a funny photo of Molly between the two poodles!

After that was Perri's turn for Buildings. Another thing I really love about this venue is that they offered "split" Novice classes so that a handler can run two dogs in the same day. For each Novice game offered, there were two groups of Novice dogs running through. Molly's Novice A group had gone first, and the Novice B group went later for Buildings.

This search was my proudest of the day. The building was very very large, so two search areas could be judged at one time. You can see the divider in the back of our area. The dog working adjacent to us was very vocal, the building was echoey. The hide was in the support of the table and Perri went in through metal chairs and the metal support of the table to get to it. She does not alert or stick to source as she normally would, but her behavior told me she was in odor and likely at source. I asked her to check the area again and called alert when I saw her freeze at source momentarily. I had to repeat my "Alert!" call to the judge as the other dog was so loud! I am so proud of Perri for continuing to work through a loud dog in the same building and pushing around metal to search. Good girl! This search was also a third place!

I thought we were golden for a perfect pass rate for the day, since we had only Containers to go. Perri's favorite element is containers, and Molly is doing well there too. And then...I walked into the search area. They were hanging containers. They were little plastic pilgrim hats hanging from a line. Uh-oh. I knew PSD uses hanging containers but I did not train for it. I didn't expect to see that at the Novice level, though I am certain the rule book covered that subject and I overlooked it. I do love the idea of it though, it is different and fun! In Molly's defense she gives it a pretty good try! And I think if I had not been so surprised by the hanging containers and then subsequently by Molly pulling the line down we could have passed. I should have taken a moment, gotten us both away from the search area, gave Molly a treat and then restarted. Watching my video I do see towards the end she smells the hot container and then turns to me. It just wasn't clear enough to me, I don't regret not calling alert on that one. It was all really not that bad for a dog as green as Molly, and the double leap over the clothesline was too funny!

I knew that Perri would be afraid of the hanging containers. Whether it would be mild reluctance or outright NOPE! I wasn't sure of. I have a video of the search but it isn't much. She approaches the first hat tentatively, gives it a nose touch and recoils in terror when it moves. When I ask her to walk in a circle around the line she speeds into a pretty trot, obviously relieved I am getting her away from that offending object. She would not search and I ended it. I was not going to beg and plead and upset her for the remainder of our time in the search area. It needs a lot of work but I wasn't going to progress by asking her to search over and over again. The judge was extremely supportive, and told me she has a dog like Perri. She asked me to turn Perri away from the containers so that she could turn the hat upside down with source pointing out towards Perri and being held very still. I loved that she understood that. Perri was worried to approach at first but then she surprised me by sticking her nose forward, so lots and lots of food! The judge told me that it means more to her than I will ever know that I ended the search for Perri and supported her. I saw on our score sheet that she wrote, "Love how you treated your dog."

So while our container search was a Fail, the judge's kindness and support meant a lot to me. I came to this venue after finding NACSW to be too intense for Perri, especially one particular judge. We ended our day with an issue caused by Perri's sensitivity and limitations but this time we found compassion and understanding from the judge instead of criticism. I feel great about our decision to proceed in this venue. And it is fun!

Now remember, I don't like Nosework! Nope! Not at all! But...I can't wait for our next trial!

NW1 Trial Photos and Videos

Containers

Exteriors 

Vehicles

Photos thanks to Foggytop Photography and videos Happy Tail Dog Training!

First NW1 experience with Perri

Well check "first Nosework trial" off of the first experiences list.   Hint: we did not title, but we almost did.

Videos will be ordered at a later date, as well as photos.   I come away from today wondering if I want to continue pursuing trialing in nosework.   Perri did not show her best work today, but she did work very hard for me - even if her efforts would not be considered much or enough by some people.  I was proud of her.  I wasn't sure if I wanted to write a post on here tonight or not, but I'm going for it.

Since I start nosework, I have been fighting myself to have interest in it.   Then I attended a mock trial as a volunteer in last fall and my passion for it renewed.   I got to watch confident teams working and I enjoyed it.   I started training Perri with as much frequency as she could tolerate.   We tested on Anise and Clove and passed.   When I saw today's trial, only 8 miles away from where I live, I submitted and entry in hopes of getting into the trial.   NACSW trials are very difficult to get into, even NW1.  

Today's temps were a sudden spike up to the 80s.   I am told it reached nearly 90 degrees today and the humidity was outrageously high for April.   Perri does not like doing anything but hiking and swimming in the heat.   We have struggled with motivation all of her life and Nosework is no different.

We got there at 830.   We left at 430.   In NACSW Nosework your dog is either in her crate, searching or pottying.   Nothing else.   You may not leave the trial site.  Your dog may not relax in your lap or next to your chair.   And I do not like this, not at all.   When I go to a trial I like my dog to chill in my lap, I like to leave the trial site for coffee and geocache searching, I like to take rambling walks with my dogs.   Dog sports are on the most artificial side of what I do with my dogs, and asking them to stay crated for nearly eight solid hours without a break to stretch their legs for a nice walk other than a quick pee?   I'm thinking it might not be my style.   This is something I can't force.

We did Interiors first.   This trial was at a summer camp, so we were searching a bunk house and it was small and cramped.   Perri stressed down.   She went out half searching and half greeting all those in the room (the judge, a videographer and a steward.)   And then she stressed down and came and sat in front of me.   We repeated this dance.   I remember thinking, "We are going to actually NQ this because she won't keep searching."   She just kept doing some searching and disengaging and looking at me.   This is what is in my memory.   And then she finally went over to a chair she had been at before, sniffed with interest before...and did her alert.   2.08 minutes.

Containers was next.   Plain white boxes arranged in a circular fashion.   This makes me feel relaxed, it is Perri's strongest element.   Once again she struggled to remain focused on the containers, several times she left the search to go indulge in displacement behaviors, visiting people.   She finished in 44 seconds and actually as I look over her score sheet, Perri got the "Pronounced" designation!  "The judges may ‘Pronounce’ handler/dog teams demonstrating exceptional technique and/or teamwork"
And truly Perri was adorable - she nudged the hot box and then put both paws on it after I said alert.   It was very cute and was my favorite search of the day!

Then we took an hour break.   And the temperatures soared.   And my EZ up flew away and tried to attack a group of people.  

We headed to the wait area for Exteriors.   I was feeling very nervous.   Exteriors is Perri's weakest element, she hates the heat and here we had to go out in the blazing sun and search.   I don't remember much about the search.   I remember taking Perri up this wooden ramp and searching the side of the building.   I remember the judge telling me a dog peed on the grass and to keep her away from that spot.   I remember her sniffing an upside down utility bucket but not alerting.   I remember hearing them call "thirty seconds" and I remember asking her to check the bucket one last time.   She alerted and I called it and we passed Exteriors with 10 seconds to spare.   I remember thinking, "Wow.   We did it."

And then it all fell apart on Vehicles.   She was attracted right away to a white truck.   She was up and down the one side of it.   I asked her to look at the other vehicle, but we kept coming back to the truck.   I saw the judge and photographer all on one side of the truck so I really knew the hide had to be on the back of the truck or the side.   Perri kept coming back to the back end of the wheel well of the rear tire.    She was sniffing and sniffing but not alerting.   I remember going around the back, I remember her avoiding the hitch because she fears the hitch and I remember her recoiling from the tail pipe.   At 2 and a half minutes I had enough.   Perri was so hot, so demotivated and she was trying and trying to search for me.   I called alert where Perri had fringed on the wheel well, even though I was nearly 100 percent sure it was wrong.   "No." said the judge.   The hide was in the hitch, and Perri is afraid of hitches.   With how hot and low she was, there was no chance Perri could have gotten that hide.  

We were so close.   And I can't believe how close we got, I can't believe how hard she worked.   I am so grateful to Perri and so amazed.

Then we went to the awards ceremony.   You are encouraged to go even if you don't title, since you might get a placement and besides that - the judges explain what the odor was doing in the hides.   It is educational and sportsmanlike to go to the awards ceremony.

I couldn't believe how fast the times were on some of the dogs.  The one judge then explained Containers and Exteriors, what the odor was doing near the bucket in Exteriors.  How the odor was pooling on one side of the bucket due to the wind and heat and all sorts of interesting educational explanations.   The second judge did not explain anything about Vehicles.   It was what I was the most interested in hearing, I thought maybe the wind blew the scent from the hitch into the rear wheel well.   He was a police officer and he explained to us how all of our dogs wilted in the heat, that we needed to train them to be more motivated and to want to search the vehicles more and that he knows they are pets and sleep in our beds and lick our plates but that if we teach them all of our "little tricks" we can teach this as a trick.  Our dogs should not need to be asked multiple times to search, they should see just the sight of the vehicle as rewarding.   It was....astounding.

......

It was very off putting for a brand new Nosework handler.   I'll say it, I was offended.   And then I went to find my record book and saw my record sheets.   That judge wrote, "Make source more valuable" in my Interior hide and "Let your dog lead you to odor" on the vehicle hide.   And I was even more offended.   I'm not usually sensitive.   But today maybe I was.   Maybe I am allowed.   And even from the other judge, on my Exterior hide I was told that "Your dog's nose was on source twice and your back was turned.   Watch your dog."   I cannot remember ever having my back to Perri if she was doing anything that resembled coming into odor and at source.
And as for the Interior and Vehicle elements?  It is completely offensive, when I am in there struggling with a dog who doesn't even want to be there and is trying her best for me - to be told these things.   If I did not encourage Perri and ask her to search more, she would shut down and not search at all.   I know my dog.  Perri is not easy, she has never been and likely never will be easy, but I love that dog and I know her.

It was mine and my dog's first trial.  It was unseasonably and abruptly hot, and it was too hot for my dog.  I would never enter Perri in a summer nosework trial because she does not do well in the heat.   So I do not appreciate the absolutely critical attitude.   At all.   In agility, you do your run and if you mess up, which you do...a lot!   It's over with.   There's no spanking, no little report card with the judge's personal note about exactly how you messed up.   You know you messed up and you try better next time.   I don't consider this way of judges in Nosework to be constructive criticism, to me it comes off as rude.   I noticed it in the mock trial too, but I thought it was a training exercise.   The "judges" would tell people this or that that they did wrong, they would tell them "your dog found source but you didn't notice."   (Never mind that their dog wasn't alerting as it usually did, as the handler expected the dog to do!)  It seems like across the board, this is common behavior in Nosework - for the judges to write or say critical things towards you and your dog.   It's just not my thing, it's not my style.   I don't like being criticized by somebody who doesn't know me or my dog.   Somebody who doesn't know how hard I worked just to get my dog to be able to do as well as she did today.   Because for my Perri, she did amazing today.   When in Interiors my Perri stressed and panted and struggled but still finally found source and I was proud of her, the judge only saw a dog who didn't find source to be valuable enough.   When in Vehicles my dog was melting hot and didn't source at the hitch because she was afraid of it, the judge only saw me not letting my dog lead me to odor.   As though it was so simple for me as holding onto the leash and letting my dog trot over there and show me.  

Screw you.

I don't know if this is common treatment in NACSW or not.   But maybe today was all too much of a culture shock for me: the long day, the dog barely allowed out of her crate, not being allowed to leave the trial site and the nit picking from the judges.   It's just all too weird for me.   I'm not saying there will be no more Nosework trials, but even if I had titled today I know I would have these feelings.   Everyone likes something different, and I'm not sure I am cut out for the Nosework world.  I have a lot of thinking to do.