Out & About: Catty & I have fun at a Sniff-n-Go

Catty and I have a very busy January that is full of Nose Work adventures! Now that we have her car anxiety/sickness under control we are signed up for lots of fun that requires travel.

To kick of 2015 we participated in a Sniff-N-Go and as a team we did great. A Sniff-N-Go is basically a mock trial of the different Nose Work elements. There are 4 elements in Nose Work - Containers, Interiors, Exteriors and Vehicles.

Here's Catty at the warm up boxes!

There are usually 4-5 warm up boxes with one having odor in it. The odor box is labeled so the handler knows which box to reward at while the team warms up.

This Sniff-N-Go was staggered for Nose Work 1, 2 and 3 teams. Catty and I titled in in Nose Work 1 this past fall so, we have taken the leap to Nose Work 2 and it's a big leap!

Nose Work 1 is one odor hide in every element. While the handler needs to be there working with the dog - their job is basically to get out of their dogs way and let their dog search, locate and alert on odor. The only odor used in Nose Work 1 is Birch.

Nose Work 2 is a different beast - this is where the teamwork comes into play. There are 1-2 odor hides in each element. The odor can be birch and/or Anise. Also because we are in Nose Work 2 there are always two interior searches. So really a total of 5 different searches (2 interiors, 1 container, 1 exterior and 1 vehicle search). In a Nose Work 2 trial there could be up to a total of 8 odor hides and the search areas can be very compact areas or pretty large areas. During the vehicles element there could be a few or many vehicles - and cars are not the only vehicles used.

And remember with Nose Work the handler never knows where the odor is located and the handler is never able to see the odor since it's so tiny. The handler has to work with their dog, know their dog and trust the alert their dog gives them.

At this Sniff-N-Go we did two container searches, two interior searches and an exterior search. The location of the Sniff-N-Go was at a doggie daycare/agility training school so LOTS of smells and a large non-insulated building. This was our first visit to this location and you will see that Catty said "No problem mom!". As I've said before - Nose Work has made a tremendous difference in Catty's world. Thanks to Nose Work she's not as reactive to dogs, not reactive to strangers who are watching her and her environmental sensitivity is pretty much gone. Not to mention her car issues are resolved. And we have a much deeper connection while having lots of fun!

In the first container search we were told there was one hide and we had 2 minutes 30 seconds to locate the hide. As you can see Catty (as usual) was quick and I was the one lagging behind. She tells me with her paw to get with the program! Good girl Catty - she found the hide in 6 seconds.

We then moved to the 2nd container search. Here we have boxes, bags & luggage. All of these containers hold and do interesting things with odor. There are 2 odor hides and we have 3 minutes to locate the.

In Nose Work 2 there are "distractors" in the containers. We don't know how many distractors there are or what they are. The distractors could be anything including food or toys. There is at least one distractor in this search that a lot of dogs showed interest in. It's the green bag and I found out that the distractor was coffee cake... You can see that Catty shows interest on that bag and it's up to me to read my dog knowing if her interest is an odor hide. Every dog works differently so, it's up to you to figure out what your dog is telling you and their alert.

And in Nose Work 2 you have to call finish (which you can see I'm not good at) when you have found all the hides.

Here we are at the larger interior search... 2 odor hides and 3 minutes to locate them.

My job as the handler is to help Catty cover all the areas where the odor could be hidden. So, in Nose Work 2 the human has a much more active roll. This is a large space to cover with tons of possibilities for a odor hide.

We do well locating the first odor hide and then you can see that I get jammed up and not sure what to do next. And here's what I love about the sport of Nose Work - while it is a "sport" what everyone is looking for is to have fun and help the team be successful. This is a Sniff-n-Go and they make it clear that if you need assistance during the search help just ask - remember this is fun! The judge can tell I'm not sure what to do next since we've covered the search area. I know by Catty's movement (behavior change) that she's in odor but, how to locate it. In Nose Work 2 there can be inaccessible hides... I know this and we practice them at class but, my brain has forget this!

It was great though - you can see we are having fun and this is increasing our team work. In looking back at the video and watching Catty I know she knew she was in the right spot and she was working that area - I just panicked a bit. Again as usual it's the handler that is the slow learner...

Our last search was the exterior - 2 odor hides and 3 minutes. The orange cones are the boundary. Every thing within the cones is in play.

And remember in all the searches - the odor scent moves and does interesting things with air/lack of air movement and temperature. It also does interesting things on different surfaces/textures.. So the dog has to work the odor back to the source of the odor.

Catty did a rat-tastic job and I did a good job of trusting what she was telling me!