ORT pass for Beau (Hank)!

In previous posts we have heard that Howard and Hank have been doing a lot of nose work.  Well this past weekend they attended an ORT test and here is what Howard had to say...

Beau and Howard have been busy in the last two years with a new dog sport called nose work.  This sport has been described as the pet version of canine detection. 

In this sport, the dog is the leader (actually his nose) and the handler reads the dogs signals concerning what and where the dog finds certain scents.  The three scents that are used by the National Association of Scent Work are birch, anise and clove. 

In training, the foundation is to get the dog to find the location of the scent.  The hardest job the handler has is to read when he dog is in the scent cone and working the scent.

Before the dog is permitted to enter a nose work trial, it must pass an ORT (odor recognition test).  There are three ORT tests, first birch, then anise and finally clove.  The dog must pass the birch ORT to be permitted to enter an NW1 trial. 

I am very happy to report that Beau passed his third ORT Sunday in Bloomsburg.  So, we are finished with ORT tests!

He is entered in a NW1 (nose work 1) trial in MA on Friday July 3.  I will report the results over the weekend.  I hope that the results this time are better than the last NW1 trial we entered in the winter.  Beau did his job in all four of the searches!  I read him correctly in the first three searches and called the fourth search early.  I screwed him up! 

I urge all of you to explore this sport.  Dogs noses are amazing!

Hank (Oct. 2011)

Good luck in the NW1 test boys!

2 days + 4 classes = 2 much

Swing stepped into the Rally Novice and Novice obedience rings this past weekend and came away with 2 legs towards her RN title.  Unfortunately lack of training on her partners part contributed to her 2 NQs in obedience.

When it comes to showing my dogs I rarely place the blame on them when we do not do well.  They are not the ones that ask to walk into the ring and they certainly do not fill out the entry blank and write the entry check (sometimes I wish they did write that check!).  I was hoping to qualify but I also knew that I had not trained her down stay enough to expect her to hold it for 3 minutes with me standing at the other end of the ring (if I could have stood two feet from her she may have held it).  So that was our downfall in Novice B obedience, we were 0 for 2 for the weekend.  I'm not too concerned that we failed to qualify, I know what needs work and since the entry to the next show has already been mailed I have a deadline to meet and we'll meet it.  I'm also lucky to have a good trainer to work with who will make sure we are on the right track.  Stay tuned for that report early next month.

A co-worker took this picture of Swing on a recent visit and I think it really shows her personality.  I love that crooked smile and little wink in the shot.  She makes me smile every day.

Happy Birthday to the M&M's!

I was just about to post a quick birthday wish when this arrived in my mailbox.  Take it away Art!

Happy Birthday to the M&M pups. It is hard to believe they are four years old. Milo and I continue our travels to Florida. My dad had to be placed in a nursing home in January and so far this year I have traveled to Florida three times to help with the transition. Milo is my constant companion. He loves to visit Florida. My mom feeds storks, so they come up to the windows of the house. We have to put up chairs and other obstacles to keep Milo from crashing through the windows. He did that once and as I was checking to see if he was hurt my mom runs up and tells me it was all her fault because she fed the storks too close to the house. Milo leads a charmed life. 

I am still working in obedience with Milo. He is almost ready to show in Open. At this time, he can do all the exercises, but not consistently. I have him entered in a show in July, but I think it will be the fall before he gets his first leg. Milo got his first leg in Rally Excellent. Ideally, I would like to show him in Open and Rally on the same day, so it will probably be fall before he is finished in Rally.

As for the dreaded Agility - Milo'€™s instructors, he has a teacher in Maryland and one in Florida, agree Milo is ready, but that I need work. I did not believe them, until one day Milo had to do a jump, jump to the tire. It was set up in such a way that Milo after the second jump was positioned to the left of the tire and would run past it without jumping. I tried to get him to jump the tire, but each time he ran around it. I told the instructor Milo was not ready for this exercise. She asked if she could give it a try with Milo. With her in charge, Milo got it on the first try. I am holding the poor dog back from agility greatness. In any event, I have been deemed ready to compete in novice agility and have myself and Milo signed up for a couple of shows in July. I will keep you posted. As with the broken window, it is never Milo'€™s fault. 

Thanks for sending the birthday wishes Art and thanks for an update on Milo.  Swing and Beau will have a piece of "cake" for all of you when we get together tomorrow.  And it is hard to believe that they are 4 years old!

Rocky Mountain news

Ella, Stanford, Mark and Ann traveled to southern CO for Memorial Day to meet up with good friends for the wives to trial in agility while the guys hiked and biked.  It was a weekend of many firsts for Ella  as it was our first time to trial in the NADAC venue.  It was also our first time to trial outisde on the wonderful scent-filled grass, first time seeing hoops and barrels in agility, a first time trialing in a ring that wasn't fully enclosed (there was a very long unfenced area in the back of the ring) and first time since her first CPE trial to try to work with Mark outside the ring.  I was very proud of her performances as I was able to see huge progress in several areas we've been working on.  

Each agility organization has its own characteristics - NADAC is focused on open, flowing courses that require significant distance skills and plenty of speed to make time on the courses. In our agility training we have been working on focus and distance skills as those are our biggest struggles to overcome.  Ella made some big strides forward in her focus.  In AKC I spend 5-10 minutes of warm-up work with her before entering the ring.  We do a lot of opposition reflex work in a sit and left turns heeling to get her to calm down and focus.  I wasn't able to do that in this trial, but she showed me she could be a big girl and teammate even without all that warm-up.  

 Ella does everything in life with great enthusiasm, and even though she completed 17 runs in 3 days she had as much energy and committment on the 17th as she did on the 1st.  She was, however, a very tired girl by the end of the weekend.

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​Congratulations on a successful weekend Ann and Ella.  Sounds like there may be more to come.