REVscene - Vancouver Automotive Forum

Soundy · 04-14-2012, 12:07 PM

No, not like Michael Jackson... like, scent tracking?

Just signed Groucho up with Qs4K9s as they came recommended... we start next Saturday!

Last summer, at Clayton dog park, Groucho suddenly took off, bolted 100' or so across the small dog section, slipped through a gap in the fence into the all-dog section, ran up to two women, stood up on his hind legs sniffing around their pockets... turns out one of them had liver treats in her pocket. Pup has an amazing nose, so we're hoping this will be a good task for him!

bballguy · 04-14-2012, 01:59 PM

Soundy · 04-14-2012, 07:29 PM

I already did that in the "Fucked up shit" thread:

Soundy · 04-21-2012, 09:19 PM

Well, we had a great time at the first class! Of course, the first thing, everyone was amazed at how small Groucho is - lots of "Awwwww, so cute!" when I brought him in for his first round. He did pretty good, although he was a little jumpy when Ann (the instructor) scratched and scooted the obstacle boxes, but he managed to find the hides without much trouble.

After his second time around, I noted that unlike most of the other dogs that were coming in and immediately sniffing around for the target, Groucho almost seemed unsure as to what he was supposed to do, and it almost seemed like he was wandering aimlessly and just "stumbled upon" the treats. She said no, he wasn't just stumbling across them, but locked on when he got within "cone" of the target. I noted that this was similar to what happens when he loses track of his ball at the park - if I walk toward it, he'll follow along, sniffing around, until he suddenly locks in, anywhere from 6 to 12 feet away, and bolts right for the ball.

On the third round, the dogs all went off-leash, and Groucho seemed to have a lot better idea of what his mission was, and found tracked the hidden treat down with very little hunting around. All in all, Ann said he did really well, and she seemed quite impressed with his progress over just the three tries.

We have next weekend off as Ann is off to a seminar, then it's back to it the following Saturday! Meantime, we have lots of homework to do!

Soundy · 07-25-2012, 12:59 AM

Well, I haven't updated this in a while...

We finished our first level with everyone learning to sniff around cars, with the help of bits of lunch meat. Second level has been actual odor training, using birch scent. Groucho has one more class in this "term", which will end with an odor recognition test... then the next day our teacher is hosting a "Sniff and Go", which is structured like a competition but is intended more as a social thing.

Ann is taking August off, and we're hoping to get back to it with her September classes!

For any of you looking to get into nosework, I HIGHLY recommend Ann's classes - I've been to and seen some training courses where the instructors seem to be quite rigid about how they expect things to go and particularly seem to get frustrated with the handlers... but not Ann. She stresses constantly that this is *the dog's* game, that it's up to the individual dog to find their own method of hunting and signaling... and she not only understands, but actual revels in all their unique behaviours. You can tell this is a person who really loves dogs, and derives more joy from just watching them than from their final accomplishments.

Soundy · 01-02-2013, 07:54 AM

So, Groucho's classes are taking a winter break, but one of the students in our last class is studying to become an instructor and is now running her own first class, so I signed Daisy and Taffy up with her. Since we missed the first session, I gave them a little introduction to "the box game" at home, then we joined up for the second session this past weekend. Both pups did REALLY well!

One of the "puzzle games" has a small box stacked on top of the low box with the hide (treat) and the dog has to figure out how to get at it - Taffy has NO FEAR about stepping into the flat box and pushing the top box aside

She also has no hesitation about going right inside a garbage can to get at the hide

Taffy:

Daisy:

Soundy · 08-19-2013, 10:04 AM

So Groucho's nosework instructor, Ann, got a new toller puppy last year... Spring just had her first birthday, so Ann decided to have a nosework birthday party

And despite not having attended a class in a LONG time, and Daddy' being extremely lax on practice, Groucho did REALLY well, missing only two of something like 27 hides, combined between interiors, containers, vehicles, and exteriors (about half were outdoors). The only ones he missed were in a compost bin, and a shower door, both of which were quite a ways over his head.

Really need to make the time to practice more with the little guy, he really does enjoy it.

Here he is nailing one of the vehicle hides:

stewie · 08-19-2013, 12:18 PM

I should have my older dog do that lol.

we'll let him have a ball for a few seconds, then take the ball and pull him out of the room. we'll rub the ball over various items and eventually hide it somewhere like under a couch cushion. we'll call him back in and he'll go on a scavenger hunt sniffing out each place we rubbed it on till he finds his ball lol.

how much were the classes?

Soundy · 08-19-2013, 03:52 PM

I think Ann's classes are $125 for six weeks (six weekly sessions). Ah, scratch that, it's gone up a little: $140. See her page at NoseWork.ca - NoseWork.ca

Ann is an amazing instructor - she loves all dogs, and works entirely on the philosophy that it's the dog's game, not ours, and above all, this sport should be FUN for the dog, so there's no great expectations, and no pressure. As noted above, I've done it with Taffy, who's going blind, and she's had other blind dogs in her classes before. It's good for older or less mobile dogs as well, as it's very low-impact (no running or jumping), and it lets them work their primal hunting instinct.