Sanity Comes Cheap

The last time my sanity was saved in Nosework by a forty dollar purchase it was the Julius K9 Harness.  I went from struggling to hold Niven at the thresholds to being able to walk anywhere with some element of control and now all of my guys have one.  This time, it was the purchase of a Smoke Pencil, originally used to determine building draft leaks.  A few years ago my instructors used this to demonstrate how certain hide placements acted and I thought it was time to finally order one.

I never had use for one before now and if there was question, someone else would pull one out.  I think this practice may have fallen to the wayside over the years, leaving me with a question or two for certain spots.  Not owning the smoke machine for long, I have not had a chance to play with it in all of those locations, but the other night Mike and I did give it its first workout.

Smoke Pencil in action

 I placed Birch Hides in the three familiar areas that were searched last time I used the video camera and worked the three dogs.  When everyone was back in the air conditioning, Mike and I played with the Smoke Pencil while continuing to sweat in the near 90F temperature.

 The biggest surprise I had was that of the one Dumpster Hide.  If conditions this night were the same as that Thursday at lunchtime, I finally understand why each of the dogs struggled with finding two converging odors.  My sanity was instantly saved as I watched the smoke rise straight up and into the Dumpster.  No wonder it took them each over a minute to solve that set of Hides.

  I really do look forward to using the Smoke Machine in practice environments where the dogs have struggled.  Having a visual marker provides the one element I forgot to critique...what odor is actually doing to cause increased chaos.  Maybe my handling needs criticism in damage control and not normal application???



This set of video was taken by Mike who followed us around the search area.  There were a few times we bumped into each other or when Mike was too close behind and the dogs pushed out further than they should have, but this viewpoint really helps.  I think I have a better understanding of what I am supposed to be doing and applied other ideas.  Although I was reminding myself to move more, I appear to not move like I thought I did, so work is still needed.

  Another aspect I caught and this made me laugh, was why I kept turning to face the Hide on the hose rack on the side of the house.  Although it looks like I am constantly facing the Hide to help support the dog in finding it, it really is me cuing a "turn back".  I know the dog is starting to approach the edge of the search area and because of fast movement, I am subconsciously shoulder cuing the dog to pull it back before it gets too far out.  If the Hide was not directly in front of me each time I turned, it never would have been a consideration.  In any case, I need to not do that.

Tarot

 I have been working thresholds with her for a few weeks and already there is a marked improvement.  It may not show in this round of searches, but overall there is less excited launching forward.  Unless the Hide is placed in a difficult position, she has better focus and seems to be spending less time chasing odor and sourcing it instead.  A lot of work is still needed, but I was really happy with what she did on this night.

Working higher Hides has become standard and Tarot seemed to handle these well, especially the Tree Hide.

Niven

I thought she worked like a dream and really tried to find everything as fast as she could.  Unfortunately and as much as I hate to admit it, Niven is getting older and I should not be setting Hides so high.  She did well with the Hose rack Hide because the wall was flat, but the Tree Hide pushed that limit.  Bad handler, good dog.

  I would like to work the Tree Hide differently knowing her reluctance for jumping up and because she will be trialing at the NW1 level.  All Hides are set low and are within easy reach for a nine year old dog.

Torch

This little guy continues to work his heart out and loves this game.  Working him in other sports is so different than Nosework and he is fun to handle after working the Labs.  Up until lately, he has been driving just as fast as Niven does, moving from one Hide to the next in efficiency.  Every now and then he has to return to the perimeter to start a search over, but he goes where the nose takes him, including up.

What is developing is the need to go back to "found hides".  Not sure how I want to proceed for practice sessions, but I will figure something out.  In the meantime, he works despite the short legs and gets everything found.  I am not worried, as like Niven and Tarot, Torch will be trialing at the NW1 level where only one hide is set out per element.

Of course, the dog that lifts a leg in the Search Area is immediately the bad dog.  :(

Desi

If you are going to work three dogs in Nosework, might as well make it a backyard class and work all four of them.  Desi has been going to beginners class since mid-July and is doing really well.  She moves methodically and with efficiency, sometimes throwing me off with how direct she can be.  Hoping her Corgi brain continues to be challenged so she can catch up to everyone else.

She should be really fun to work as experience grows!

   So, I managed to get a sanity saver and quiet some of those thoughts that make anyone over-engineer solutions.  I got to apply some of my new ideas learned from the last go and can now focus on the tougher handling errors.  The dogs were extremely happy to work their butts off finding Hides, and Mike got to video the experience.

  I had a great night.

  Enjoy the Video (HyperLinks)

  Joyce