Off to Nose Work we go - Part 1



Torii sat out our first week of Nose Work while she ramped up on her medication. By the next week she was doing great and we were ready to give her a try at Nose Work.  I had asked the vet what she thought about having Torii give Nose Work a whirl while starting the meds and she said "Go for it".  While Torii is on anticonvulsant medication, this shouldn't impact her life and we are striving to increase her quality of life.  Since I know Torii loves puzzles and food I thought this would be a great experience for her.  However, I did make one mistake...

I had emailed Erica (our Nose Work instructor) saying "Torii is ready for class but, she moves a bit slow, can't see well, doesn't hear well and I don't think she can smell very well".  I also said that I would probably leash Torii since she's nervous/skittish with strangers.  I'm pretty sure Erica rolled her eyes when she read my email! 

I should know not to underestimate a rat terrier. Who cares that Torii is 12 years old and me putting those labels on her sure isn't helping her!  I'm happy to report that yet again, I've been taught a great lesson by the dogs in my care - Don't label or set expectations too low with your dog. Instead be open to learning with your dog, don't create barriers using labels for them and paying attention to them in new settings making sure they are not over the top stressed out.



Here's Torii first experience of doing any Nose Work

She did beyond fantastic. She strolled in like she'd been here many times and "Who cares about this lady that I don't know and is getting close to me while taking the box away"

More work and she's having herself a great time



She navigate around the boxes just fine



And her nose certainly works!


This girl is on a mission

Her body movement is great and she finds all the extra treats others have missed...

Torii was doing great and clearly into the game so, we stepped it up with locating the treats on a top of a container - not in a box.  The container is spread among boxes within the search area.

And no big surprise she was awesome!

"Yum!"

"Such a fun game"

Torii had no problem with Erica getting close to her, rewarding her with more treats.

So the moral of this Nose Work experience - age doesn't matter, don't label your dog, have fun and trust your dog!