Last week was our last Nose Work Distractions class. My little pal, Brody, let us use his small vehicles for our class. Altogether we had seven miniature vehicles to use in our search. Remember, a vehicle can be anything that moves, not just a car. The first search was just a circle of the vehicles with three hides. We do nose work in our yard and neighborhood all the time, so the only distraction we had was the other classmates being at our house, but for them it was all new. We had planes flying over, cars going by, Katie was on the deck watching and barking, kids were playing in the yard next to our fence, and then all the new smells for the new dogs.
Our neighbor offered to man the camera so we could get some shots of Bailie and I on the course. The first photos are Bailie on the second miniature vehicle arrangement. Now instead ofΒ a circle, they were in clusters of one to three vehicles. Bailie is ready to go, you can see she has found her focus.
The first hide she found and went right to was on the Arctic Cat.
Next she made her way over to the wagons. Both wagons were together, but only the red one had a hide on it. While this task seems easy to humans, for dogs it is not. It is as if we are blindfolded and are led by our sense of smell. The clusters and new arrangement of the miniature vehicles creates an entirely new scent pattern to find and follow. Bailie is on the wagon hide.
Next up was the fun little plastic car. We have practiced on this one before, but it is all new in our minds now. The hide is on the front of the car, but Bailie is following the wind to lead her to the source of the odor.
Bailie found all three hides pretty quickly, but on the way out, she had to stop and sniff our good old John Deere Tractor just in case!
Now it was my turn and the vehicles had another configuration. Our teacher arranged the clusters so the hides were difficult to access. To a human the paths were clear, but dogs like to go straight to the odor and don’t even see the opening if it isn’t on their odor path. The hide is in the same place on the Arctic Cat, but now the Mercedes is in the way.
Rather than walking around the Mercedes to get easy access, I strained my neck to reach the hide from behind the Mercedes.
The next hide was on the red wagon again. The green trailer blocks the odor if you come from one direction, but not the other.
I found this hide easily because I went the easy way around the wagon.
Next up was the funny car. The ATV was blocking the path on the passenger side, but I chose to go around the driver’s side of the miniature car.
Look, I found this one too!
Our teacher said Bailie and I were really on our game that class. Mom says we were showing off since class was at our house. It was a lot of fun searching all the miniature vehicles. Next week Bailie and I start a class called Seeing What The K9 Nose Knows for six weeks, and I will be doing a three week trial prep course on my own. Mom wanted me to have a class by myself since Bailie will be doing tracking on her own later this month. We both love nose work and highly recommend it for any dog. It is something a dog of any age can do with any age handler. Some of the dogs we have in class didn’t start until they were twelve, and some handlers are seniors as well. You can also take nose work classes and not even move on to odor, just work with treats if you don’t want to compete. It really works our noses and brains!
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Looks like fun!
We all had a good time.
That looks like a great time! If I ever get to visit, you’ll have to talk Brody into letting us go cruising in the Mercedes. We would sure look awesome cruising together in that sweet ride! XXOO Your Basset, Bentley
Sadly, the day after class, he sold the Mercedes because it didn’t run well on the grass, but he has all the other vehicles.
Every time I read one of your posts about nose work it inspires me to get out with my huskies and let them do some too! They love nose work, although they get distracted pretty easily (i don’t work with them on nose work to often) but they have fun, and that’s what counts!
α¦ husky hugzΒ α¦Β frum our pack atΒ Love is being owned by a husky!
I think all dogs enjoy it and it is natural for dogs to do it. Being scent hounds we are really nuts about it. We always go bounding to the search area because we can’t wait. Have fun and take the huskies out.
Nose work, always fun and you sure show us how it is done. Have a fabulous Friday.
Best wishes Molly
You are so right, it is always fun. We would love to practice all day, every day, but only get to do it 3-4 times a week.
Good job! Now I think you all should use those vehicles for a parade!
That would be a blast, but most of my nose work pals aren’t the silly fun types.
You guys are stars!
We just love using our noses, it is so much fun.
These vehicles look just your size! Perfect for searching π Glad you were able to shine when all of your classmates came over!
We were really awesome. Mom wishes we were always that awesome. I mean we usually do really well, but we were exceptional.
The mom was totally impressed with all the cool “vehicles.” I was impressed with your wonderful scent abilities. We were both in awe as to how beautiful you and Bailie are! XOXO Sparkle the PBGV
Thank you! Mom and I are wondering when Bailie will learn to smell out trouble and avoid it π
Bailie and I can be in the dog house together. Maggie used to do exactly what Bailie did yesterday. The mom says I am going through a naughty time in my puppyhood now. I shred ANY paper I can get my teeth on, I refuse to be brushed (but I will chew on one particular brush any time I can get my teeth one it!), and I sneaky pee on the floor. I go to the groomers today, and I may come home bald. The mom is bewildered how a sweet, loving girl lake me can be so BAD. BIG sigh, Sparkle
Oh yes, you and Bailie are quite similar. Bailie is much better most of the time these days, but she has her phases and it makes Mom crazy!
Great post! What fun! I bet visiting at your house was exciting for all the other doggies!
Lots of new stuff for them to smell and figure out. They did pretty well concentrating on their nose work, though.
That’s awesome! Look how good you guys are getting at the nose work. Looks like a fun time too.
Practice makes perfect, and we do quite a bit of practicing along with our classes.
Love all those vehicles! I think we need a John Deere too!
Oh Rocco would look pawsome on the John Deere! That is our favorite right now. It even has a working radio!
Great lesson in nose work – anxious to see what you learn in the next class. And your friend Brody – what a lucky guy to have all those cool vehicles!
Brody loves his vehicles. He drove them all over to my house, then he parked them in the circle for our class, and after he drove them home. Not bad for being only three. He gets lots of vehicles “donated” to him when other kids out grow them.
OMD OMD OMD THIS was just THRILLING. We loved seeing you both WORK your Noses that way. BRAVO WELL DONE.
You guys should give it a try, I bet you would enjoy it and be good at it too.
Bailie looks grown up and pulled together in these pictures, not the silly puppy she can be!! Love this post, so interesting! Thanks, Emma. Happy Weekend! your doodle friend, Dash
She has her moments. Being a teenager, some days she is way advanced for her age and other days she is back to being a young pup. This evening she was top of her game.
Oh how cool is that. We would love to cruise in the red car
Lily & Edward
You know a classy ride when you see one π
You guys are awesome! So cool to see how far you’ve all come with these classes. The FBI will want to recruit you in no time.
We still have a lot of work to do, but we have really learned and advanced.
Great job you two. Love all the miniature vehicles. What a fun way to work on the concept.
It was a fun finale to the class, something different.
Bravo! And you would look great in that red Merde-cedes convertible! Nosework is great it trains all our senses and it’s really a thingy for all who have a nose :o) Have a super fit friday!
It is so good for us. We sniff differently all the time now.
That looks like some fun nose work. Ill have to try it with Kilo.
It was fun with everything just our size.
Mental stimulation is so incredibly important! It’s amazing what dogs are able to do. I hope we can find a nose work class eventually.
Mom is amazed at how we pick up a trail and zone right in. It really tires us out too.
You two are very impressive! Yes, mom really wants me to take a nose class so hopefully soon! Love Dolly
Oh, you will love it! I sure hope you get to go. Even if it is just for fun, your mom will learn the proper way to train and work with you. It’s more than just a hide and seek game.
That is simply adorable and your friend has a lot of vehicles!
He is a perfect neighbor for us dogs!
What fun! Wish we could do that nose work stuff. Is it anything like hunting chipmunks in my favorite stone wall??. I would like that.
Your fellow GBGV, Chablis
I don’t think anything tops hunting live critters, but this is a ton of fun and we get treats for our efforts! We’re interested to see how Bailie does with tracking…will she follow the trail with Mom’s scent or veer off to an animal scent…we will see when she starts that the end of the month.
I’m impressed with how well you both did, especially with all those distractions around. What great fun and variety to use all those mini-vehicles!
The humans enjoyed all the vehicles, we just enjoy searching anything we can π We are getting pretty good at it all these days.
You sure had your impressive whiffer sniffers going!
We didn’t have a cat distraction…that would have been an idea. Oh well, we sniff seriously no matter what.
Fantastic to be able to do the work with all those distractions.
Wags and purrs (from Life with Dogs and Cats
The only thing we sometimes have trouble with these days are food distractions, but we are working on that a lot with Mom right now.
PAWsome Noses ladies…. Harley would have been more interested in the cars (boys will be boys).
I could take him for a spin! They are fun to ride in or sniff around.
What a great idea to hold the class in different areas, such as in your yard! And those cars are adorable. I bet you all had a great time. Sounds like hard work, but you did a great job!
It was a distractions class, so each week we met somewhere different. It was a lot of fun and made things interesting.
You guys are awesome and those vehicles are too cool!
I know. I’m so lucky to have my little buddy Brody, who lends me his cars.
Nose work is so much fun, it’s definitely one of Laika’s favorite activities. Those photos just gave me a bunch of inspiration for new hiding spots to try outdoors, thank you for sharing.
That is one good thing about attending classes all the time to get ready for competition, we are constantly getting new ideas for hides! Enjoy!
How fun is that! I’ve done a little unofficial nose-work with Maya and Pierson in the past. I call the game “find-it”. We haven’t played it in a while, though. You’ve inspired me to play it again. π
Just for fun works too. We are working up to competition, so we have to practice a lot and we go to school every week.
looks like a fun class, you gals sure are busy. can’t wait to hear about your next classes.
We do have a lot going on and then there is this thing we call work that gets in the way sometimes! Our new classes start this week, so we are looking forward to it.
Human says you should just drive all those cars home XD
I do get to drive them in my yard sometimes.
It looks like you had lots of fun!
It made for a fun last class in that series.