Tarot's NW1 Trial

  This weekend was Tarot's turn for Nosework Level 1 and we drove north to Trout Run, PA. for the experience.  Tarot adjusted very quickly to being the "special dog" and adapted to hotel living pretty quickly.  I spent the time trying to come up with low key activities that would not encourage long run-outs to keep the mindset of close working well seated for Sunday's tests.  We did a few walks and enjoyed a quiet evening at the hotel.

  The trial location was in a valley of steep mountains and I wish the trial had been held earlier in the Fall season.  I cannot describe the feeling of calm despite the bare trees that stretch far above, but it made the morning's deep frost tolerable until the sun made its way into view.  We had plenty of room for parking and created another camp of good company and support.

  During check in, I found Tarot was to run as the first dog and that we would be running in full numeric order.  As a group we would work Containers and Vehicles first followed by an afternoon of Interior and Exterior searches.  I was not sure how I felt about about our position in the running order, but there was no changing it.  A good thing about being one of the first dogs is that the area is undisturbed and you do not have an hour of constantly checking the number board.  The downside is odor does not have the same time to travel (could be a good thing!?) and you are setting the precedent.  I tried not to worry about any of these points and was thankful to be done when everything was getting underway.

  Tarot is not exactly the easiest dog to handle.  In typical Labrador fashion, she likes to come "off the start line" at a million miles an hour and bolt to the back of a search area.  Once she has reached a boundary like a wall or end of the lead, she will pick odor up and start to work backward.  This method is fantastic if odor source is placed at distance, but for threshold hides it becomes a time waster.  I could work different hide placement lengths and give her the opportunity to gather scent information before she bolts off. 

  I realize this is a working style, but up until this summer not much threshold practice was done with Tarot and even now I am not sure any amount of exposure will make this change. It was not an easy six months while Tarot learned to 'slow walk' to a spot, stand for a few seconds, and then go off to work.  We are still working on our search area approach, but the difference from April until present is huge and it has helped with her performance.

  With the trial briefing completed and ten minutes until the first dog started, it was time to not worry about all of the things that can go wrong.  The person working the number board called us too early and we stood at the first station for nearly ten minutes before being called to the first search.  With this being the first time Tarot was 'being shown' I never developed an 'outside of the ring' routine for her.  I found some of the games I had for Niven worked well until it was time to go.


 Containers

  When it was announced Containers were being run first, I have to admit I was relieved.  If this search did not got well, I would have the entire day to play with handling.  The room had a laminated concrete floor with a wall of windows and three doors.  I was glad to see the entry and exit were on the lower half of the room which would help keep odor from traveling over the entire area,

  After Torch's non-pass two weeks ago, Alexa invited Torch and Tarot to her Thursday night class which is held in a church basement.  It offered a slick floor for footing and a musty smell often found at these trials.  It took two weeks, but Tarot showed she was mastering the pause on the threshold and her footing on a slippery surface.

  Now we slow walked to the threshold and stopped for a second or two before I let go of the harness.  Tarot did well with not face planting and moved to the right while focusing in on the ORT type boxes.  I was honestly prepared to follow her around the room for a minute, so I was a bit surprised when five boxes were sniffed, Tarot back tracked, and stuck to a box.  I am not sure what I was expecting when I called the Alert, but the "yes" from the judge flooded me with relief.  I just managed to survive the first search with Tarot and it ended with a positive outcome.  

Vehicles

  This particular search was one I was not thrilled with and it had nothing to do with taking Tarot so long to find the Hide.  It is really difficult to show the potential issues this area had from a "top view" drawing and I am sure I missed more from lack of knowledge.  Standing between the cones, on the left was a grass hill that angled sharply upward to the back of a building.  Most of the spectators were positioned here during the test.  On the right was a steep drop off of about twenty feet to a strong current creek below.  Behind was a gravel driveway that rose slowly and circled around to the front of the building.  The only plus I saw was the 2B Composite Gravel driveway the two cars were parked on and prayed this would work to our advantage.

Oh this was fun

   I am sure someone would argue, but to me this search was not going to be a simple 'walk around the cars' and find the Hide in six seconds.  Tarot prefers to use the environment around the vehicles instead of sticking her nose to them, turning a Vehicle Search into an Exterior Search very quickly.  We have all been trained in our classes to know the difference between the element types and I did not want to break that.  To help, I have been working with Tarot and I knew we were going to have problems based on topography and general area movement.  

  I chose to change to a six foot leather lead and slow walked to the cones to a pause.  My hope was allow Tarot to gain as much info as possible before we stepped off together.  The threshold line and the bumper of the first vehicle was well over the length of the lead and I could not send her off from where I stood.  I took two steps forward and wasted no time in letting go of the harness.

  Tarot immediately pulled away from the front bumper and started to track along the right side of the car, sometimes 'head flicking' toward the creek.  From body language I felt she was not following odor and all I could do was tag along around the cars and change of direction.

  At one point I was led back to the front of the first car and Tarot finally noticed there were people standing on the hill.  It took a few seconds to iron out why they were there and then turn back toward me. It was while I was turning that she finally picked up the odor trail and started to work toward the back of the second car.  Once Tarot's nose started to bracket the rear bumper to the passenger door, I held my ground while trying to keep her from going under the car.  It took a few more seconds for the nose to settle on a hole in the hubcap and I called the Alert for a return of "yes".

  Later, the judge mentioned the Hide was stuffed in the brake pads and the bracketing behavior made a lot more sense.  Trying to get under the car more than once made more sense too.  One other point that hammered home after the hide was found is that I might have pushed Tarot in and out of odor from the start line.  Knowing where odor was eventually picked up and tracked, it would have been smarter to let the search begin from the threshold. Had I used the ten foot lead and started from the cone line, I might have blamed the poor performance on having too much room.

  Like I said, this was a challenging area and I am glad to have had the opportunity to work it under a trial condition.  I will have to figure out how to set up something similar at the local river park. 

Interiors

  This room was so tight I am surprised the judge could fit into it.  There was no way I was going to follow Tarot into this room because my body would immediately block every opportunity.  Besides from the threshold I could see everything with the exception of the walk in and recessed closet on the right.  I decided to run her off lead as there was nowhere she could possibly run out to.  Tarot did a fantastic job of navigating the wood flooring while pulling me down a tight hallway to the doorway.

  Once released, Tarot cut to the left and realized three quarters of the way along the bunk beds that she needed to turn around.  She passed the folding chair and started to go toward the closet where I almost stepped in to see where the nose had disappeared to.  Just as I moved one foot, she turned around and started to work the chair, where I called the Alert.

  For her quick search, Tarot took 3rd Place and we got a Pronounced for teamwork.

Exteriors

  Leaving the building after the Interior search, we followed a gravel pathway around a bend to a large gravel area next to a fenced in, closed pool.  As we walked, Tarot started to pull forward and I know she caught odor.  I was glad to have a fifteen foot lead and taped finger to work it with.  We reached the threshold with her head pointing straight and when released that is where we went.  

  Tarot appeared to be focused out beyond the orange flags, but as she passed over the larger landscaping border rocks I noticed her movement change.  She continued to work beyond the flags and then I had to limit her from not going too deep into the fence area.  She turned to look at me and appeared to go back into odor, moving to a pile of landscape rocks to my right.  Slowing down, she whirled around to nose the rock pile where I called the Alert.  For this search, we were also given a Pronounced for teamwork.

  Someone asked if this was her fourth 'yes' and I responded that it was.  It dawned on me Tarot had just completed the NW1 and everyone was excited the first dog was setting a great precedent.  When the trial was over and times were scored, Tarot finished in 7th place for Overall Searches.  This was a respectable finish to her first title and trial experience.



  This weekend's trip was a lot of fun for me and I know the hotel stay was exciting for Tarot.  We were able to practice lobby and elevator etiquette and just hung out.  After the trial, I found an office building with a lit grass field where I could throw the bumper for as long as she could keep at it.  I know she was more happy with that task then anything else.

  We now go into the winter season to continue practicing for the NW2 that will come in 2016. 
  Hope you all had a great weekend too!

Joyce

Foxglen.net

Tarot being very proud of her sniffing ability

Torch's NW1 Trial

  Torch and I drove down to Knoxville, MD this past weekend for his first Nosework 1 Trial.  Despite appearances, the hotel we stayed at offered easy access to our room and had a huge inner courtyard of grass walk in.  I almost wish it were Tarot I had only for this reason, but Torch enjoyed the "special dog" time without the rest of the pack.

  The trial location was beautiful and the event ran smoothly, at least from where I was parked.  It was the type of Fall afternoon where you are glad to be out doors surrounded by forest landscaping.  Unlike the trial a few weeks back, we were close to the search areas and there was little to no wind to bring on exhaustion.  I was glad to finish the evening off with a good dinner with our instructor, Alexa, and head back to the hotel.

  I do wish I could say Torch was "on" and everything played out like it does in practice, but there seemed to be some kind of funky overtone with him.  I realized it has been two years since hes stayed in a hotel and three more since he was the only dog to "go".  I am sure this was a contributing factor, but whatever was keeping him from being himself, he did well for three Elements.  For Containers, I am not sure what was going through his mind, but we ended up with a non-pass for the day.  Like both Mike and I later said, Torch rigged it so next year he gets another weekend alone.

  Despite not coming home with the coveted NW1 title, I am really glad we had a great day with some great searches!  I really wish there was a trial opening soon to enter, but we have a long wait before trying again.


Vehicle Search

  Our group started with the Vehicle Search, which involved two stations of sitting on folding chairs for a few minutes each.  What air movement there was blew from the parking lot and up toward the search area providing no extra information before we reached the top of the hill.  I knew the approach from upwind would pose a problem because I cannot stop Torch on thresholds.  Swinging wide and moving slowly provided nothing as he sniffed the cones.

  I am not sure what Torch was doing, but he led me past both sport utilities and continued to focus on the volunteer parking lot beyond.  It was at this point I realized he was not working and when I called him back I got a look of confusion.  Similar to the behavior at the match a few weeks ago, odor was caught and he started to work, pulling me to the right.  My biggest worry was that the two boulders would be used for the wrong reason, but both were used to quickly identify odor and bounced between car and rock to the first car.  From there he worked along the car and partially went under the end it to alert underneath.

Exterior Search

Not to scale!

  As the other group completed their Exterior search, we queued up.  Torch was running as third dog in his group and off we went fairly quickly.  Like the vehicle search, I could not stop him on the threshold and the confusion started again.  Both cones were sniffed and he moved off to the left only to be distracted by the officials sitting outside of the area.  These decisions distracted him enough to not pick up anything and resulted in us "walking the search area".  It was not until Torch reached the covered porch that I felt comfortable there was something to follow.  I continued to give him as much room as possible and he nosed his way toward the picnic table where he alerted.  

  Earlier, while waiting for our turn to search, I realized the wind had changed from the early morning.  This new current moved odor to the corner near the door where it pooled.  Eventually Torch found the area and sure enough picked up what he needed to follow the trail back to source.

Interior Search

  The summer camp bunk house was more like our backyard shed, but I am sure constructed for human habitation.  It was rectangular with the door dead center and hallway that lead into a tight open space.  The designated threshold was located at the end of this hallway and passed an open door to a room not in use for this exercise.  I decided to work Torch off lead and not to move into the room because of the tight aisle between the bunk beds and walls.  I figured if he went into the area where I could not see, I would follow and get out of the way as soon as possible.  It never came to that and I remained on the threshold.

  As Torch moved over the blue line, he turned to look back at me and I opened my hands to show him it was time to search.  This look back could have prevented him from focusing on odor directly in front of him and instead moved to the left.  The bench was sniffed and he came back along the bed frame to stop and sniff.  I almost called the alert, but knew he would look back he decided where the hide was.  I am glad I did because after a few seconds he moved to the chair and fully alerted.

  The cool thing is that we got a Pronounced for my decision.  :)

Container Search

  As we walked from the Interior Search and towards the building where the Container search was to be conducted, someone asked if we were ready to get our NW1 title.  I wish she had not because it jinxed us.  I was reminded of all the issues we faced and knew the recent problem that has developed with boxes.  The room was hot, stuffy hot.  I could not help but remember our Anise ORT where the same conditions existed and Torch had a hard time, eventually mis-alerting.

  This run was no different, if not worst.  He was interested in searching from the start and pulled down the line of boxes to the third box where he weakly alerted.  I kept moving and he did go with me until the last box.  He locked up and for the life of anything I did would not move, standing there staring at me.  

  Here it the dilemma.

  In practice, I would know where the odor box is and this alert would be ignored with confidence.  Since this is a blind hide and I do not know where it is and have to depend on the dog to tell me where it is, I am at a disadvantage.  With Torch not moving come hell or high water, I have to assume he is working and not looking for some kind of confirmation from me.  If this was truly the odor box and I pull him from it, what are the ramifications?  What damage would I do to Torch's motivation?  Would I receive a Handling Fault for not trusting my dog?  

  I decided in that moment to trust my dog as there was no immediate answer to any question that ran through my mind.  I knew this box was wrong while I called it.  Of course the judge issued his "No" and we failed the exercise and lost the NW1 title.

 Interesting to note, they do let you know where the odor box is for you to immediately go there and reward.  When human voices were heard, Torch seemed surprised he was not getting his treat where he stood and that I was moving around the outside.  He moved to the box in the next row and alerted yet again.  I kept going and when he passed over the correct box, his head whipped back and I was immediately able to reward.  This was a good thing because there was recognition with immediate positive response from me.  I rather failed like this than potentially create issues trying to "save" a title.

Tomorrow Is Another Day

  Am I disappointed that Torch did not come home with a new title and fancy ribbons?  

  Absolutely!

  Does it really matter?  

  Nope!

  I have been at the dog trial thing for too long to not place that kind of stress on my partners and teammates.  They think this kind of thing is cool and have fun no matter what.  If wind conditions did not work in our favor, our technique was not good for the environment, or super focus did not emerge, I so rather a great day like this than creating a training issue by over handling.

  Torch and I had a fantastic weekend away from home, enjoyed being outside, hung out with cool parking lot people, had dinner with a friend, and had a warm bed to return to.  I have some ideas to practice that will benefit all four of my guys!!!

  Learning and experiencing is good.

  With that, there is no photo of Torch with a ribbon haul, but you do get one of him having a great day instead.

  Hope you all had a great weekend too!

  Joyce

  www.foxglen.net

Torchman getting ready to work the Exterior Search