Sniff and Go

  Niven and I began training in Nosework in October of 2012, with Torch and Tarot started the following year.  You would think I would have entered a trial or gone to a match before now, but schedules never aligned for me to enter.  Recently I entered three dogs in their first NW1 trials and I figured it would be a good idea to have a little bit of experience before going to one.   For today's DTCCC's Sniff & Go, I originally had Tarot signed up, but she is now in mid-cycle season.  Bitches in season are allowed at trials and are placed last in a running order, but I think this is hard on the male dogs who would run later that afternoon.  

  I really wanted to give Tarot opportunity to work in a new location to help with the threshold work we have been doing.  Instead, Torch would get to work on not fringing to alert, which he has been doing to me a lot.  Torch enjoyed being the only dog to walk out the door and I benefited by having the small, focused dog to handle.  I have to say it was a very relaxed morning, augmented by one 'judge' being my current instructor and the other a previous.

  There were twelve dogs ahead of us and we had time to get ourselves together.  The four search areas were continuous, with the last one being an Exterior.  The only misgiving I had was working three different rooms and going outside without a potty break.  Other than that, it was going to be what it was going to be.  This was all Torch's show.

  We waiting outside the main door and were finally called in.  Torch is a dog I cannot really stop on the threshold, but I managed to keep us moving as we approached the blue line on the floor.  He was a bit confused as to what was wanted of him, but as he started to look back to me, he caught scent.  It was game on.

  Interior 1

  Walking through the door and getting a whiff of 'old building' was a reminder of everything that could go wrong for an inexperienced dog and handler.  I reminded myself that Torch would find everything and my job was to pay attention.  In the meantime he looked confused as to why we were going into this room.  I chose to run him off-lead to allow free movement around the table and chairs.  If he started to catalog, I could always put him back on lead and offer more direction.

  We crept slowly to the threshold line and he appeared to walk into odor because from that moment onward, there was no question as to why we were there.  I stayed back on the near end of the tables, while he moved along the wall and cut over to a group of chairs at the far end of the tables.  While he was working under the chairs, I had to bend down to make sure I was not missing a possible alert.  First issue by having a dog without a tail, it is hard to read the back end of a Corgi in Alert Mode.

  I was still in my spot at the other end of the table when Torch turned and bee-lined it for the chair at the end of the second table.  From where I was standing, I could clearly see the Alert and it was called.  The judge responded with her "yes" and Torch & I survived our first official, yet unofficial search.  He got half a hot dog for his 15.65 second search.

Not exactly to scale or object placement

Interior 2

  We waited in the first room for the dog ahead of us to finish and soon enough we were led into the hallway.  I am not sure if Torch knew we were to make a right or if odor was caught, but the end result was he was working long before we got to the next area.  I did pause him at the doorway and he did not look back or pause like he normally does.  

  

  Moving through the doorway, he made a sharp left turn and started to work a short cabinet/box up against the wall.  He tried to stick his nose under it and alerted.  Again, we survived the search and another half hot dog was given for this 11.43 second search.

                              

                                            Not exactly to scale or object placement

Interior 3

  While the first two searches were issue free, we always learn from something that went wrong.  It was not that Torch's actions were wrong to non-qualify, it was not planned and I learned something from being thrown off.

  We had to wait in the area of the door that opened to the kitchen for a few minutes while the dog ahead finished its search of the kitchen (Interior 3) and the following Exterior.  When the door opened, I was just about ready to start.  I did the slow step to the threshold, let go of the harness, and Torch immediately indicated something on the left side of the door jam.  I thought about calling the alert, but realized he was looking at me from the corner of his eye and that something was wrong.

  Not being able to see into the room since I was still two feet back, I wanted to be in there.  Before I could make the decision to push him into the room, Torch gave up nose pointing the woodwork and came back into the room to work under the table.  At this point, I called him back, held the harness, and slow crept with him into the search area.  He did fight me on this while passing the door jam, but once I had cleared a stack of boxes to the left, I let him go agian.  He started to work while I turned around to step backward.    I hated to push him into the room like that, but I really had no choice.

  I figured if the hide was on the threshold, me getting out of the way would give him the opportunity to work the area again.  The door was now shut and he chose to go down the length of the cabinets.  Almost to the end, he turned around and came back toward the doorway.  There was a pause while the boxes were sniffed and Torch re-investigated the bank of cabinets to the other end.  

  With Torch now mid-room away, I realized my position in the bottom right of the room was horrible for seeing what he was doing.  I moved along the opposite side of the island because the aisle between was very tight and I did not want to block a working dog.  No sooner did I get within sight of Torch who now working between the cabinets and wall when he Alerted.   It was a good thing I showed up with a lot of  hot dogs because Torch got another half for his 38.87 seconds of working.

  What made this search a bit more challenging was the exterior doorway at the top of the room.  Each time it opened, it pushed odor down along the wall.  The cabinets on that wall were not flush with it and there was a two inch gap that allowed free air movement.  Torch caught that scent on the door jam and chased it back into search area #2 where it was either lost due to me calling him back or mingled with the other odor source.  In any case, this hide was pure evil for the number of times that exterior door opened.  

  Learning point about Thresholds:

•   Always check to make sure there is not an obvious and potential odor chute near them.
•   Be prepared for a dog to pop out of the room to chase odor.

Not exactly to scale or object placement

Exterior

  It was decided during the briefing that dogs would be given time to potty after the three interior searches.  An area was designated away from the Exterior search and I decided to take that offer.  We came out of the building and turned right where an ExPen with cloth was set up as a visual barrier.  Torch immediately caught odor from it and started to work strewn objects, ignoring me completely when I said it was time to pee.

  If he had it in mind that he was working another search, I had better stop my quest for a break and follow his working lead.  I turned around and walked us straight through the threshold cones while Torch began to hug the building wall.  I realized during the walk thru this wall was similar to my neighbor's garage door and the potential for crittering would be very high.  Was I surprised there was so much attention paid to it now?

  While Torch did the super sniff thing under the wood door, I kept lead tension.  I was positive Torch would lift a leg and I was near sure this was crittering.  It was when he moved away from the wood door and started to work the stone wall that I realized he might just be finding something real.  I mirrored his direction and was in position in enough time to see a small stone pile and Torch alert.  The last of the hot dogs was given out for his 21.18 second work.

Not exactly to scale or object placement

Overall Search Flow - Four Areas

We Had Fun

  So much for having large rooms or lengthy yards to sniff through.  I find it amazing how the dogs work differently when an area is devoid of odor and how the dogs know the difference.  When working in rooms or fields were birch, anise, or clove were previously set, the dogs have to work twice as hard to isolate old from new.  This building and property had not been host to Nosework and it made the difference for short searches.

  I was happy to have a great experience as a first time competitor even though this was a "Sniff & Go" and no where near official.  The morning was set up and conducted as if this were an Element Trial and I have a better understanding of what I am about to put three dogs through starting this month.

  As a first experience for me, I am very glad it is with Torch.  After seven years of trying to find his dog sport, this is it.  It is also bittersweet because most of my 'first' experiences have been with Corgis.  Mandy was Obedience and Crumpet was Breed, Agility, and Herding.  Niven was my first to exhibit in Rally and train in Nosework, but Torch gets to blaze the way into trialing.

  

   Hope you had a great Sunday!
  Joyce

  foxlgen.net

Rainy Days and Pedigrees

  Rain has come from nowhere these past few days and I have been housebound since it started.  Tarot is in season and most of our activity has ground to a halt while we wait for better weather.  I actually got to answer email, one including a slight distress call from a friend who has been involved in Rottweilers for near forty years.

  Recently she had bred her bitch to a dog with one of those pedigrees everyone wishes they could find.  Not only was the sire's lineage a perfect line up to the bitch's, but he was a product of frozen seamen stored for over twenty-five years.  The bitch's pedigree may not have the top dogs from the 1990's in the first five generations, but there is hidden off page.  As it normally goes when expectations are high, only one female puppy was produced from the mating and she was finally going off to her new home.  Thus the email request from my friend.

  Online Pedigree generators are handy, but most do not store the information and only provide HTML or PDF as a method of save.  My friend wanted to send the puppy people off with a five generation pedigree because the AKC form only will provide for three.  She spent time entering information into one of those online sites and only produced a PDF that spanned two pages.  Could I crank out that much information in a real short amount of time to get it to fit to one page?  The answer was no, curse the thing called 'being at work'.  The email chain grew longer and the plan to repeat the breeding came to light.  She wanted the pedigree for her website with no rush to complete the task.

  But it rained and there was no class and the house chores were caught up.  The HTML I have been using on my own website had corrupted and I had to build a new table from scratch.  By helping with the puppy pedigree, I could finally fix the problems I was having with with my own website.  I cannot tell you how much fun I had despite the tedious 'cut & paste' methodology.

  Basic page layout was complete and the puppy's ancestry slowly took form.  Half of the sire's ancestors I did not recognize because they were from the early 1980's, but knowing the others made it interesting.  I had time to really look over the dam's lineage and understand what each Rottweiler breeder was going for in their choices and then see the resulting championships and working titles.  Decisions made from paper sometimes do nothing in the whelping box and vice versa, but this little puppy is the perfect match of genetics.  If your are interested, visit the Von Braun Rottweiler page for more information.

  I spent a few hours getting the table to balance while reminiscing on dogs long passed. Soon enough the final product was created and my friend was happy to have working HTML to add to her website.  I was still in 'dog mode' and decided to fix the broken code on my own pedigrees, which meant I had be patient as each dog's name was cut and pasted for five pedigrees.

  It was still raining and I was down to the two pedigree with missing information.  One of Desi's ancestors had been sold to Japan and I was missing two dogs in one generation.  Although it was from an American breeding, the kennel website did not have a pedigree for quick reference nor did anyone else's.  Ironically, this night I found the missing information on a Chinese website, thank you Google Translate!  The pedigree is now complete because the line goes straight back to the same dogs I am familiar with and suspected were there.

  Years and years ago, I embarked on a pedigree search of Crumpet's ancestry to try to teach myself the value of  'on paper' mating decisions.  I found a name or two which would open the pedigree to thirty generations before going cold again.  Time would pass and I would luck up during a conversation at a show that would spark the interest again.  I would go back sixty generations.  I ended up with an almost complete lineage with the exception of a seventh generation blank.  I finally found someone who knew the two dogs personally and she sent their four generation pedigree.  It was a gold mine to me, completing the full pedigree back to the first English and American Champions and first registered Corgi in every line.

  I learned a lot by typing out each name and creating my own Access Database.  Eventually, I could click on the dog's name and produce the next view.  Pembroke Welsh Corgis are unique because up until the 1980s, you will find the same dogs appearing in one lineage up to an easy fifty times.  It is this tight breeding that caused, among others, von Willebrand Disease which is a form of Hemophilia.  What could be interrupted as kennel arrogance turned out to be deeper.  The breed was nearly wiped out during the Blitzkrieg and there were not many dogs to chose from. When genetic testing became available, it enabled everyone to make better out-cross decisions and lineages have opened.

  When I picked Niven as the puppy I wanted, I was given copies of her parent's AKC Pedigrees.  I knew from a quick glance that her sire was from working field lines, but her dam was a hard guess. Despite half the pedigree revealing working ability, I still took the puppy.

  Working dog pedigrees are harder to read than Show dogs'.  In the Show world, breeders have kennel names that can go for generations and help track backwards.  If you know the kennel, you have a idea of what type of traits are consistently thrown with each generation.  In the working world, breeders may select basic registered names where there are no references making it hard to figure generic kennel type from paper.  All you have are the titles and can assume the dog worked.

  Unfortunately, working dogs are normally selected for their ability to perform and not necessarily for their conformation.  Titles become important while the conformation of tail, head, or ear set do not factor in.  When I went to see the litter ten years ago, the remaining five puppies' conformation and type was consistent and I knew better than to walk away.  I would take my chances by only knowing half the deal.

~~

  The Age of the Internet is awesome for research, but often contains false information. Every time we read, we have to assume the person doing the writing has the facts straight.  This is no different when using someone's posted pedigree!  I took my chances in piecing together Crumpet and Sprout's pedigrees and continue to take chances with Niven and Tarot's.  It is always nice when you find a reliable source and I finally did.  Could there be mistakes?  Sure.  In the case for certainty I would have to find the owner of the Stud Books or buy each pedigree from the American Kennel Club.

  With that in mind, ten years ago I started a search on Niven's pedigree.  The field titled dogs were easy to find and I bonused with background information.  Then I found an online pedigree database where I could enter a dog's name and within minutes, be taken back to 1870.  It was the greatest experience accompanied by photos and extended background info, if only field wins.  From what I could tell fifteen generations back, someone knew what they had and continued the tradition of working dogs.

Niven's Sire: "Damien's Scar"

  For every dog listed in the fifth generation, they all go back sixty years and for a few, continue backward to 1868 where the lineage drops off into the true unknown.  Four or five dogs reappear a few times, but not in mass quantity we see in Corgis.  These decisions were made willingly and the pedigree balances from strategic planning to produce the Working Retriever.

  What do you do with the other side of the pedigree?  With no titles one can assume these dogs were family pets or personal hunting dogs.  Maybe there is a photo or two posted to an old website or on Facebook for "Throw Back Thursday", but that does me no good.  If anything, I figured there had to be some titles back there, maybe more breed championships than performance?  All I could do was sit, stare, and imagine the grandiose hidden lineage.

  Google searches led no where except for one dog entered at a breed show in 1997.  Every couple of years I would have a few minutes to search, but with the same results.  For nine years, I have stared at that fifth generation and wondered what was back there and eventually resigned myself to letting it go.  These dogs were long gone and the paperwork with them.  Who would spend the time entering in information twenty years later?

  So.
  It still rained.  It has been raining hard for days and Tarot is in season which means my routine is changed to one night of classes with the other dogs.  I have free time after spending an evening creating an HTML file for my friend's fantastic repeat breeding.  I decided to do another search.

  Desi's missing ancestors were found first, followed by Niven's.  By the time I was done searching the eight names left in the pedigree, I was ecstatic with four found.  Where Damien and Tex's (Tarot's Sire) pedigrees are heavily entwined on the same working titled dogs, Sady's goes back to breed and dual champions.  It merges in the 1950's with their pedigree of foundation dogs, all ending with "Netherby Boatswain" whelped in 1868 .  Now I hold hope for the other missing names to appear in a search one day, but I think I know where this goes.

  I realize there is an argument concerning when in a pedigree the dog or bitch becomes less influential.  Some say four or five generations, but I have experienced genetics pop up from ten generations back and it comes down to knowing what is back there.  Maybe I do not need to worry about those missing grand parents in the sixth generation?  In any case, I am glad to be a bit more educated concerning the pedigrees we are continuing and I look forward to the future.

     Here is to you, Sady X.  Your mystery pedigree is slowly being revealed after ten years.

Niven's Dam: "Sady X"

Damien & Sady

Niven

Tarot

Sunday is My Fun Day

  Every now and then we get a rare glimpse into how far we have come in short time.  I have been training Tarot for Agility competition since the end of January and there are weeks when I think we are moving too slow.  Other weeks, Tarot is showing more understanding and flies forward with the next steps.  It continues like this and I never see the overall progress because I know there is more to polish.

  A friend has been holding a "Let's Work On That" class on Sunday mornings and I try to make this class as often as I can.  All of the dogs are being trialed and the class is set up for issues that have risen and need to be worked through.  Tarot and I make the attempt on the segment even though it might prove too far advanced.  Sometimes we pull it off, but most times obstacles need to be modified for success which is fine with me.

  Today was one of those "marker" days, where that glimpse into the future becomes the flood water rush into the present.  One minute you are working independent contacts or pausing to offer a reward for something done absolutely perfectly and the next minute you just ran a 13 obstacle mini-course as efficiently as your retiring Masters dog.  Better yet, you had to haul to keep up with your dog that is running twenty feet ahead or pulling in to work at six feet.

  A set of runs like this make the late night practice sessions worth driving home after 11pm for.  Experience with developing a training program, training when you are exhausted, drawing on patience, learning to support more, dealing with distance, distracted by tennis balls, suddenly all slam together in a few neat performances run at full tilt and focus.

  Do I expect tomorrow night's late night practice will go like today?  Nope.
  Tomorrow we will go back to working on our weak points while on the road to more strengths.

Tarot kicked butt on this mini-course

  Have a fun week!
  Joyce

ORT Results for Tarot

  Odor Recognition Tests are the first step before a dog can trial at any level within the NACSW.  Each dog has to be tested for each of the three odors before it can be entered into that level's trial.  For Level 1 trials, the dog needs to be ORT'ed on Birch, Level 2 needs testing on Anise, and Level 3 needs Clove.  The dog has to process through the levels in order and cannot jump ahead like in hunt tests.  As a handler you can choose when to test a dog, one odor per level achievement or all three.

  In February, Tarot was ready to try her first ORT on Birch, but Anise and Clove were months away from introduction.  I elected to test her on that one odor and waited until now to try the other two.  When I entered this passed weekend's ORT, I did so with the idea we would have a round of practice in a new environment.  I know she knows both scents, but I was not sure how she would handle a different location.  Would she remain focused or would existing smells cause her to stray from the task?

  Tarot's nose is not connected to her brain the way it is for every other dog.  Where Niven, Torch and Desi"just focus in and stay on it", Tarot has this ability to process all information which causes her to try to act on every impulse at once.  The result is a "ping pong" type of working style or would be noticeable as ADHD in humans.  There is no way to change this, but I have been working threshold hides or other non-NW behaviors to help stop her from bolting through odor to chase it to the other end.

Getting ready for this round of ORTs, Tarot and I have spent a lot of time practicing with boxes and typical patterns.  During each session, there was a marked difference in her focus level and almost immediate detection of the hot box.  One element I wished would could practice under was working in a location with other animal scent, meaning a dog training studio.  Using ground where other dogs have worked is so different than a parking lot, wide open field, or playground.  We can practice in class(es) and these types of crittering issues do not pop up because they are familiar.  It is similar to the dogs who practice Agility or Obedience in the same building, but have problems with trial distractions.

  During Tarot's Birch ORT, the issue was not finding odor source, but dealing with linoleum flooring that did not support a dog who was trying to get around a musty church basement as fast as she could.  Tarot dropped her nose to each box, but was drawn to the wall, short staircase, and low stage area that pooled odor.  Fast turns resulted in slipping paws and broken concentration.  We must have circled the boxes fifty times before she abruptly stopped at one and would not move.  Her movement indicated the type of behavior where a human forgot why they walked into a room and suddenly remembered the purpose.  "Oh yeah, that is what I was doing."

  I jest with the number of times we circled, but it took a good minute before the indicating behavior emerged.  I learned in this situation to let Tarot order out what was not relevant and figure it out herself.  Under testing, I have to depend on the dog to tell me which box to call and in this case that requires patience.

  From that day in February, I knew there was an issue that would require more work, but I needed to figure out what was compounding the problem.  It took until June for me isolate issues and start to work on them.  There has been progress in working more slowly and I can tell Tarot is working to sort out her own thought process.  The more we practice, the more even-keeled the searches are.

Tarot's nose was finding everything

  I had hope the next round of ORTs would have Tarot make one pass and indicate the hot box immediately.  The passed two weeks of practice had her doing just this and I was keeping my fingers crossed.  Unfortunately, that was not the case in both tests.  The building was awesome for people flow and dog footing, but it is used for Agility and Rally classes.  Since we have never been here before, Tarot needed to work through the foreign scent before she suddenly remembered where the hot boxes were.

  She passed both her Anise and Clove tests, but I walked out into the parking lot each time feeling like we searched forever.  It was not until the next morning when I received an email with video of each test.  I was shocked to find we did not do what I remember us doing and more importantly completed the searches in thirty seconds and fifty seconds.  Here I was worried about the three minutes warning coming?

  I wish I could include the video, but the formatting is not allowing me to post anywhere or to even convert it to a new file extension.  I am however, thrilled to have it for at lease personal  use!!!!

  While we gear up for our first NW1 trial in mid-November, Tarot will be searching for Birch.  I have a couple of ideas for practice and problem solving and it will be interesting to see what develops.  Now to charge up the vid cams and get out there!

Hope you all had a great weekend.  We did.
Joyce

School Is In

  A break in the early September heat wave encouraged me to pack the van full of dogs and head out for Nosework practice.  Being this is Labor Day weekend, I did not want to go to the normal park locations in fear I would be distracted by or run out early by people coming to set up family park parties.  Normally, I would take that as challenge, but this particular morning I just wanted to work the guys.

Elementary School
Parking Lot and Playground

  I found two local spots, one an elementary school and the other the pool park.  Even though the pool area was empty when I stopped by, I knew once I got working this would change.  I elected to try the elementary school despite the possibility of someone calling the police about a woman wandering around and placing things near the building.  If I was worried about this as a real possibility, the person who did show up happened to be my neighbor who owns the yard where I normally practice.

 ORT Boxes & Containers
  The asphalt parking lot was still relatively cool and I set up objects for Desi, ORT boxes for Tarot, and Containers for Torch & Niven.  If the surface temperatures were causing heat convection, it was not enough to create issues.  Neither was the wide open field with it tempting breezes and birds in flight.

• Desi is working Primary Odor (food) and it took her about five seconds to realize she was playing the Nosework game in a new location.  She moved over the plastic containers, some stacked, others needing to be pushed into with speed and grace to find them all.
• Tarot stayed focused on task for eight rounds of searches, four each for Anise and Clove.  Each odor box was found relatively quickly and only twice did we have to navigate the line up and back.  I was happy about Tarot's focus on the boxes and not on the field or asphalt cracks.
• Niven has already passed her ORTs, so the boxes were moved around to form a circle Container search.  I kept Anise and Clove for her to search, which both were found fairly quickly.  I just need to remember she will crush boxes if I wait too long with the hot dogs.
• Torch worked the same circle pattern, finding his two hot boxes just as fast as Niven.  Fortunately, he is more gentlemanly about his indications and does not crush box lids.

 Playground
  For the next round of searches, I decided to work a NW1 Exterior, placing two Birch hides (only one in testing) within the playground area.  One Hide was placed in a metal container on the playground equipment. The second was placed in the ground using a medical centrifuge vial.  Each of the dogs was walked up to the back side, so everything was to the right.

• Niven pulled between the playground and shed (not seen) and almost to the school's wall before turning back to find the Playground Hide.  From there, she moved to the Ground Hide.
• Torch also passed the Ground Hide to search near the shed, then tracked back to it.  From there he worked the playground area to find the elevated hide.
• Tarot searched similar to Niven, passing the Ground Hide to work from the school wall to the Playground Hide.  Moving onward, she worked the shed area to the Ground Hide.

   Later when everyone was done working, I did set up a series of hot dog hides for Desi.  One piece was placed near the wooden shed ramp, one on the ground near the corkscrew, and two on the plastic climbing benches.  Both Ground hides were found first, followed by a cubbyhole hide.  It was the hot dog on top of the plastic bench that gave her the most trouble and it was not because of height.  We eventually walked around the outside of the playground and immediately Desi tracked it straight to source and jumped up to get it.

Dumpsters

  We ended the practice session by working a series of Dumpsters.  I put out three Birch Hides; one on the backside, right, and under the lift sleeve of #2.  One was placed front side, right, and bottom of #3.  The last Hide was placed on the front, left, midway up #4.
  For all three dogs, we weaved in and out, up, down, and through the Dumpsters to find the #2 and #3 Hides.  It was the one on #4 that gave the most trouble since odor was probably traveling upward or outward toward the field behind.  Everyone needed to go about twenty feet out to come back to find it.

  One of the biggest take-aways I have from this search was with Tarot. Like Niven and Torch, she had difficulty with that #4 Hide, but her overall performance wandered.  For some reason, Tarot does this with Dumpsters and Vehicles and I have excused it away as needing more practice.  I am starting to see is a pattern where "metal" causes her to search harder or lose focus, almost like she is not finding odor at all.
  A few weeks ago, I had set a Clove Hide on a fire extinguisher and had the worst luck in having Tarot find it.  Two weeks later, a Birch Hide was placed on one during class and the same behavior started.  I dismissed this as either needing more time with other chemical scents or that odor was traveling upwards.  I am not too sure now this is the case.
  Oddly, we have had serious time searching metal folder chairs, racks, and stools without issue.  Could there be a limit for Tarot when the object being searched is "x" large?  To see if this is possible, I do plan on driving around one night with her to find dumpsters and other training opportunities.  Should be interesting to see if this helps.


  For a two hour practice session on an early September morning, we accomplished a lot.  All four dogs got opportunity to stretch out and use their noses in a new location while I enjoyed being outside with them.  Niven and Torch are both entered in their first NW1 trials and  I am waiting for word on Tarot's entry.  In the meantime, I get to look forward to next Saturday's ORT with her for Anise and Clove.

  We need to have mornings like this and I am really glad to have left the video cams behind.
  Hope you enjoyed the weekend!
  Joyce

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

Lunchtime Nosework Practice Part One

  Every now and then a day turns out too perfect to not be outside.  For the first time in a long time, I took "lunch" and elected Nosework practice over Agility training.  Since time was limited, I had to keep the search areas local and set up four different areas along the road behind us.  To be time efficient, I worked one dog at a time, but tried to give a few minutes down times between runs.

  As I had mentioned in an earlier post, I wanted to use a video camera instead of the Action Cam to record the whole environment.  Unfortunately, the camera had to be set further away to capture the whole picture and there were moments lost.  Luckily, I did use the the Action Cam until the battery died while handling Tarot, but in some cases, it saved the day.

 Area order was House, Garage, Dumpster, Shed.  Torch went first, followed by Niven.  After waiting half an hour, Tarot was finally able to work, but had to wait for an Ambulance and Oil Delivery truck to leave because both were parked in three search areas.  Tarot's order was Garage, House, Dumpster, Shed.

 To be expected, the dogs did fantastic despite serious challenges and I think they appreciated the spur of the moment training.  For me, having two different views of the sessions has enabled me to evaluate my own handling.  So while the dogs did their thing and get critiqued, they still pass with flying colors.  In a separate post, it is me that I am going to beat up on because there were a number of things I caught while editing the video that I think I need to change.

The Four Search Areas

Dog Evaluation

The House

Fire Damaged in April 2015

Three Clove Hides:

Pillar Base (2nd from left) - Flexible Tubing

Far Wall (decking screw) - Metal Canister

Pillar Deck Hole (1st from right) - Straw

  

  

  A bit of brick cleaning and other chemical processes have removed the fire damage smell, but there is still a lot of debris around the porch area.  In their own working styles, Niven, Torch, and Tarot had little difficulty finding them.  The threshold was the concrete walkway and each picked up the Pillar and Wall hide quickly.  It was cool to see they all had to go to the plastic buckets to work the higher Pillar hide.

Torch - 2 minutes / 3 Hides

Niven - 1.5 minutes / 3 Hides

Tarot - 2.6 minutes / 3 Hides

The Garage

Functioning Garage with Groundhog

Two Clove Hides:

Door Lock (5' up) - Metal Canister

Bottom Step - Flexible Tubing

  This area is a functioning garage with a lot of great motor and natural smell.  I also counted on the resident Groundhog to pose a problem, but I do not think it did.  What did throw Torch and Tarot was the Hide's five foot height and long scent plume which had to be worked for great length.  None of the dogs had any issues with locating the hide at the bottom of the rear steps.

  In fairness to all three dogs, the garage door hide was set on a master lock, canister holes facing inward, and five feet off the ground.  Both Niven and Torch did investigate with a jump up, but chose to continue searching without indicating.  Tarot had the hardest time and is the most inexperienced with this type of hide.  I cannot fault a long search given the negative factors stacked against the dog nose.  I am proud each continued to work and use the drain and gravel to finally locate source.

Torch - 4 minutes / 2 Hides

Niven - 1 minute / 2 Hides

Tarot - 6.5 minutes / 2 Hides

The Trash Dumpster

Used Daily

Two Anise Hides:

Lift Bracket (right side) - Straw

Under lip (back left side ) - Metal Canister

  At first Torch missed the cue to begin working, but soon picked up on the container search.  When it was Niven's turn, our neighbor pulled up into the search area which changed it dramatically.  Tarot needs to realize she has to stick on containers or vehicles and not find the furthest point away.

  I am not sure why this dumpster provided such an issue.  I realize both odors were converging, it was hot on the asphalt, and the truck(s) caused "odor chutes", but in my mind, this was basic.  Maybe there was a lot of awesome smelling trash adding to the problem?  (Trash pick up is Tuesday and this was Thursday)

Torch - 2 minutes / 2 Anise Hides (converging)

Niven - 50 seconds / 2 Anise Hides (converging with change of search area)

Tarot - 2 minutes / 2 Anise Hides (converging)

The Shed

Tomato Plants & Neighbor's Dogs

One Birch Hide:

On the ground (3/4 left) - Chapstick Tube

  Considering we have used this area a few times before, I thought the dogs had more trouble locating the one Hide.  Perhaps it was the grass area under summer conditions, plastic tube container, or the neighbor guest's two dogs barking in the window, but it took everyone longer than normal to find it.

  While working Torch, I realized there was a Cherry Tomato plant growing along the shed wall.  If you have dogs and vegetable gardens, you know they do not go well together.  I was surprised none of the dogs even looked at it.

Torch - 50 seconds / 1 Hide

Niven - 25 seconds / 1 Hide

Tarot - 20 seconds / 1 Hide

Video

Links to YouTube Video for each of the dogs.

 My original intent of this post was to separate the search areas and discuss the whole.  I realized this was not the greatest idea, as there are two themes, one of the dogs' performances and one of my own.  I decided to split the post in two and use the same video for discussion.

  Each link will take you to the dog's YouTube posted video and in the Part Two, I will use the same video from a different point of view.

Torch's Search Video

Niven's Search Video

Tarot's Search Video

Enjoy!
Joyce



Part Two

Lunchtime Nosework Practice Part Two

  If you have read Part One of this training session, I stayed focused on the dogs, their performance, and the obstacles they faced with the different areas they were searching.  While piecing together each dog's video, I started to shift focus to my own handling.  This came easy with the long distance video where the dog was lost in shadow and I was suddenly the main focus.

  As I mentioned in an earlier post, I thought I move around more than I do.  Using a handheld cam makes it difficult to see what I am actually doing and I am glad to finally use another source.  I am not disappointed in what was captured from both cameras, but I am with my own handling. Like we evaluate dog performances during editing, we also analyse reasons for why the human did something. Up until now Nosework has been about getting the dog experience, supporting the dog through the learning process, and just following behind.  There comes a point when the Handler has to stop training and.....handle. I believe this is where I am now and why I am being overly critical. I can beat myself up in many ways, but I walk away from this experience knowing it is time to focus on what is going on on the human side of the lead.

Video

Hand Held vs Long Range

ActionCams are easy to hold 

  My intent is not sell any camcorders, but I do want to explain the benefits to having each. The ActionCam is designed for fast movement and does a fantastic job of showing the dog's performance details.  Long Range video shows the overall performance, but leaves more questions for why the human did not act when clearly the dog was "on it".

  When trying to evaluate where the dog is in its training, up close video is incredibly important.  For Nosework, I can see where the dog picked up odor and started its track back to source.  I can see how odor is drifting by how the nose slowly circles around until it finally stops.  In other dog sports, I can see a side step or forge.  We have been focused on the dog for years and video helps us remain challenging in our training routines.  

  The ActionCam is easy and non-obtrusive, there is no worry about positioning a tripod, a second person is not bothered, and video is started and stopped when the action does.  The challenge as the person working both the dog and the camera is paying attention to both.  Obviously, the dog comes first so there will be the moments of perfect wall or spinning sky.  This can be overlooked as audio continues to record the event, how the human responds in vocal tone, problems with the environment, or overall experience.

  Having first hand video will provide feedback for what the handler was seeing with the dog.  Often this is different from what the instructor or fellow classmates see.  Years ago while running Niven in competition Agility, I swore she had side stepped toward the wrong end of a Tunnel and I adjusted my shoulders to pull her inward.  Later, someone gave me video from the sideline and there was no indication the dog was even looking at the wrong end of the Tunnel.

  Long range video needs to be set up and started, but provides a very different feedback.  The vantage point will show the overall area and play the part of the "peanut gallery".  When the dog starts to move, I focus in and normally tune out other factors that can effect behavior.  I could have another dog on the Agility course or a bird swoop into a search area, but I will never notice.  Video will show that moment when the dog seems slightly distracted offering different rationalization.

  For this practice session of Nosework, I had two cameras going before the ActionCam batteries died while working Tarot's first search.  The difference from a handling perspective is staggering and is portrayed when viewing both video types.  Most important for any video is being able to see the synchronicity between human and dog.  Did I move the way I thought I did, support enough, or not do something that would have produced better results?  

  

Handling

Frustration Finally Understood

  When you have a ton of experience in working a particular dog sport, you have a good grasp of when to start, how to teach, what to train, and then handle the dog to a finished performance.  You can take this knowledge to a new dog sport but there is a learning curve to be patient with.  Eventually, you become proficient in two sports and can cross train both.  As the same handler adds new sports, transition experience and progress comes quicker.

  Viewing the video taken from Niven, Torch, and Tarot's Nosework practice, I could evaluate their performance fairly quickly and create rational for why each did well on a particular Hide or where we need more time.  After the second view, I found I was watching myself and worst becoming highly critical of my own behaviors.  I sat here for a long time before it dawned on me this game had changed.  No longer was I training a dog to "search", but I was working a dog to do that.  I have to carry that philosophy to Nosework and start handling.

  A huge struggle for me with Nosework is that when I ask a question, I get these weird looks and evasive answers.  If anything, I feel like there is some secret society I need to belong to to get the full answer.  In response, I ended up working the dogs with the mentality of a fast find and when they did not, I tried to understand the why and adjust.  Perhaps I am not seeing the whole picture and am trying to figure out handling for four different elements.  Interior and Exteriors may require more distance, where Containers and Vehicles handle better in close quarters.  Am I not transitioning that?

  What exactly am I trying to do when working the dogs?  Numerous times in the video I hang back to give the dog space to work.  Other times, I do not take enough initiative to keep things moving.  In a way I am trying to follow the Agility Old School philosophy of "stay out of the dog's way" and apply it to Nosework.  The more distance between the dog and myself means the dog can make the decision to change direction and I induce minimal impact.  If I start working "up the dog's butt", how much pressure do I put on a poor performance especially when the dog is detailing?

  In most cases, I leave the lead loose so the dog is not hindered during a change of direction.  The con, this also allows for the dog to pick up speed and bolt forward resulting in  Herky-Jerky handling.  I feel more like a post it is tied to than handler.  If there is always tension on the lead, I might be able to put on the brakes easier, but too often this is at a cost of blistered fingers.  Do I need to handle the working styles differently, limiting access for the bolting dog and open for when there is methodical work?

  Most if not all of the Hides I place are a fair distance away from each other, but sometimes environmental conditions will cause unforeseen problems.  I have no idea what odor plumes are doing and a lot of times I let the dogs work out whatever they need to.  In some cases, they track scent back to a found Hide and I am back at square one.  Eventually I figure out where certain odor is flowing and will begin to limit the immediate area.  My fear is I will become pattern to not think Blind Hides can be set three feet apart.

  The answers to my questions would come from what the founders envisioned when they created the sport and what judges are looking for in competition.  The best option I can roll with is to focus on lead handling and to try to find a balance between "loose, but limited".  This is not an easy feat with Tarot who feels the need to run to the back of a search area and work her way to the threshold.  Taking charge and getting ahead will help Torch from revisiting a found Hide and will help all of them with vehicles/large containers.

  I never thought I "sold a Hide", but I think I am fringing this topic.  Where I do circle or move to the side, am I indirectly selling the area the Hide is in?  Or is that part of limiting the area to help the dog in training?  If I do contain where we search, at what point am I playing the arcade moving target that flips direction every time hit?  If the dog walks through an area without stopping to indicate a Hide and I continue to walk on, how am I to know the dog is ignoring odor for other interests?  Walk slow, move fast, limit lead length, play out the lead, take control, give it up; there are too many variables to factor in a strategy without knowing what a search area is doing at that moment.

  As a last point, I realize I delay the food reward after the dog's nose has stuck to the Hide.  I am not sure when this developed, but before I take any criticism, the answer is simple.  These three dogs have been working a long time and are not training to locate.  They are searching to find.  If these searches were part of a Level 1 trial, the dog would indicate a Hide and I would call "alert".  I will have to wait for a response before I can even move into to reward, so the delay is justified.

  Frustration No More
  Sine I started this set of posts, I had the opportunity to apply some of my theory into Tarot.  She is not an easy dog to handle in searches and I am determined to manage the chaos.  I took advantage of depleted energy from running Agility segments to work thresholds, containers, and interiors.  With a ton of enthusiasm, we trained and worked each element with a steady pace and focus.  I would like to say she left the building with a lot of success to process.  I can say with confidence did I.

  Enjoy the video while I still sort out my revelations and on practice them.
  Joyce

Neighbor's House Search Area

  Since Tarot and I were going to the training building for an early Sunday morning Agility session, I figured I would take advantage of the Nosework boxes and room dividers to work Threshold Hides.  Tarot is the type of dog that will pull her way to the start line and burst through to circle a room as fast as she can.  I am not sure if this is a result of her foundation training lacking any kind of threshold practice or if it is truly how she works.  The only thing I can do at this point is really begin training hides within three feet of a search area start and also work corners.  The method I wanted to use included multiple box hides along a wall and I decided to pair all of them for motivation and put out Anise and Clove oils for practice.  Tarot has already been introduced to Anise and I believe Clove is new, unless her instructors have been slipping it in during class.

  Morning sessions were awesome and both of my instructors helped us more than they even knew.  Returning home, I decided to use my neighbor's property to work a few more hides.  Renovation work has been on going since their house fire in early April and a semi-permanent dumpster has been beneficial for practice.  There is a heavy smell of wood damage and debris still litters the landscaping.  Where Niven and Torch have extensive experience with Anise and Clove, I knew this would be a new challenge for Tarot.  I paired all of the hides and she was fantastic, salmon treats doing their job of helping her home in one each.

  Four of the hides close to the house were left to sit for about forty-five minutes so I could run Niven and Torch.  Although we have lived in this location for eight years, the dogs have never been in this area and it would offer a new experience.  After both were worked, this crazy idea popped into my head.  I know curiosity killed the cat, but I really could not resist running Tarot over the same hides, this time unpaired.  My hope was scent from the other two dogs, hot dog rewards, and source odor would assist in location.

 I did pull out the Action Cam for this search and the Christmas gift from my husband two years ago continues to prove invaluable.  It is not easy to watch a dog while working, handle the lead's constant motion, balance a treat, and video at the same time, but I like to think I do well enough.  The camera is normally held free handed at my waste level and is the least priority to the dog's needs. Sometimes I get great shots of the ceiling or floor, but I get a lot of what went well or wrong.

  While I can re-see what I saw (or not) with the dog, it does not provide my own handling feedback.  There are times when I remember stepping backward or moving a few paces 'that way', but the video never shows it.  I might have to make a point to dramatically move so the video defines that and hopefully helps the dog.

Niven:

  Niven is the most experienced with working Thresholds and will normally stay focused.  As we approached the porch area start line, Niv has already been air scenting.  This is marked by her attention to the left and a head flick, plus her instant knowledge of where we are going.  I gave her a few seconds before releasing and she moved directly to where source was hidden.  There may have been a piece of salmon remaining from Tarot's earlier paired run, but sometimes it is hard to tell. Bonus for Niven if that was the case.

  Moving across the porch, the next hide is picked up along the brick landscaping border, followed to the wall, and then back to the ladder hide.  

  I was surprised Niven stepped away from the ladder and immediately went to the shrub line to work a short distance to the next shrub hide.  

  We continued along the shrub-line, cut the diagonal to search the end of the area, and move up along the house wall to the last ground hide.

  Personally, I see this as my version of textbook searching.  Nothing was wasted and there was clear direction on the part of the dog.  Considering the problems I had with Niven at this time last year, I am ecstatic about how she worked.  From the start at the edge of the porch until the fourth hide was located, I guesstimate 1 minute, 3 seconds for four hides.

Torch:
 Torch is not the strongest on thresholds and stopping him is normally not a great idea.  Instead I let him stay ahead of me and rarely hold him back to work while we walk.  It seems to work for him, but the advantage of an extra few seconds to draw in additional information is lost.

  From the start line to the first hide, you can see Torch catch odor, track to the wall, move to the pillar, and work the debris to the hide.  This was different from Niven and Corgi height may have come into play.  He was able to pick up the odor plume in a different way that caused further investigation.

  After leaving the first hide Torch did head-flick in the area of the brick border, but scent may not have been strong enough to capture his full attention.  I was surprised he continued to the shrub line to work his way back to the ladder hide.

  Moving from the ladder, I think he caught the odor trail back to the first hide and I limited him from doing so.  Once he realized he was returning to a found hide, Torch had no problems continuing on to find more.

  Quick movement carried Torch over the shrub hide, but he tracked one odor to the house wall and back to the clear area.  At this point two sources of odor are converging and I let him determine which hide to find next.  While he was working along the wall, I think I began to move a bit too soon to reward, but when I arrived, his nose was on the canister.

  The remaining hide posed the most issue.  Torch decided to head to the rear of the house, walk along the shrub line and got caught in converging odor from three hides.  I had to limit the area he was working to help a solution emerge.  As soon as he put himself near the shrubs, the remaining hide was found in three steps.

  Torch has been true for working one hide to the next, so this was really cool experience.  It was not as clean as Niven's search, but he continued through three converging odors to work for 1 minute, 32 seconds.


Tarot:
  Video of our searches has been so helpful with Tarot because she moves very quickly, changes direction a lot, and creates her own chaos.  Being able to sit back and watch her work without handling allows me to see.....I need to stop working thresholds while holding the lead.  I need to be moving with her using the harness handle.  The threshold would have been less chaotic for both of us and Tarot would not have been so distracted by the other neighbor mowing his lawn.

  For a start, this was the best Tarot has been able to keep even keel.  I held my ground and stayed inside the porch area while she tried to go further out.  I wish I could say she was in odor from the Ladder or Shrub hides, but I honestly think that is not the case.  It took her a few passes to settle into searching and eventually found the hide.

  Tarot decided to stay to the outside of the porch area and we hugged the parameter of the yard to find her shrub hide.  Ironically, the porch and shrub hides were both Anise which she has more experience with.

  Again, she wanted to work the parameter and of course got distracted by the landscaping neighbor.  Back to working, Tarot followed scent back to source, but never indicated she has found anything.  Worst yet, I could not tell where she was in relationship to the hide and could not move in to reward.  I realized my opportunity was lost and we circled and side stepped while I kept her limited to the area.  When she finally did stop, odor was picked up and traced to source.  To me, this was an awesome learning point for her, especially since this was unpaired Clove.

 Setting out again to find the last hide, Tarot rediscovered the shrub hide and was re-rewarded. Moving on, there is clear indication she discovered Clove and worked back to the ladder.  This was another perfect learning point.  I did find it funny that she found the two odors separately, but still found all of them in about 2 minutes, 50 seconds.


  The order in which hides are found does not matter, but all of them being alerted to does. Niven, Torch, and Tarot found four hides within my person goal of three minutes without giving up or slowing down despite the level of difficulty.
  One other really cool point, I use empty pen cases as hide containers and thought the discarded pen laying in the dirt would be interesting.  Not one dog went to investigate a very potential hide.

Enjoy the video!
Joyce