I attended an all day Nose Work workshop down in Olympia and decided to bring Viva along. While the workshop was lecture only we had an hour break and close by was Percival Landing Park. So Viva and I drove down to Olympia on what turned out to be a beautiful sunny day.
Viva is wonderful in the car. She travels quietly and doesn't have an issue with long stints in her crate. Having a bully stick also make the crate an awesome place.
With it being such a beautiful day out, that meant a lot of people and their dogs were out. So, I modified my plan of where we were going and we had a great time that included games and work.
I park in a large empty lot that had great sight lines. But, before we do our work in the parking lot we check out one of the many waterways in the area.
"That is fast moving water!"
Viva is a very curious girl and of course this area needs to be explored
"Not much here - what's next?"
We head across the way and find some public sculptures
We get our bearings and Viva is fascinated by the fast moving water
"What is down there?"
We'll explore this area after our parking lot work. Here's the lovely view along the boardwalk.
We back over to the very large parking lot. So what are we doing here? Way off in the distance you can see the green patch. Along that path is nice walkway that was full of people walking their dogs. So, when Viva can see or smell the dogs off in the distance I work with her - giving her a very high value treat for looking away from the dog and looking to me.
We walk the parking lot and watch for dogs
"Dog where's my food reinforcer for looking at you?!"
I do a straight drop of the food from Viva's nose to the ground. This placement of the reinforcer has really helped us a lot - many thanks to Lori Stevens who has worked with the two of us, refining our training plan.
We practice this for about 5 minutes which is plenty of training time. This is a lot of work for Viva and she's slowly making progress when the environment is set up so she can be successful.
View on zoom from the parking lot. That building is the state capitol.
Having a great adventure
Viva's harness matches the crocus!
Time to head over the landing
Lots of boats in the water
Time to play games!
As Viva was watching the boats, I placed some treats for her to find.
"I love this game!"
Pretty girl watching the seagulls
"Let's go see what else we can find!"
We move along the boardwalk and as we passed this boat - out came a rapid fire barking dog. Luckily the dog was on the boat!
Good girl Viva - we were able to move by the barking dog without Viva fixating and pulling to get back to the dog.
We follow some people and Viva wasn't bothered by the people.
Viva did check in with me and she was tossed a treat for the check in.
A lovely day
"I'm having lots of fun on this adventure."
More games of "find it".
We found some beautiful crocus
Lots to watch
Time to head back to the car and Viva can take a nice nap!
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