Last weekend, Bailie and I had another ORT. We had our first tests last May, Bailie failed the first time, so she has been one odor behind me ever since. In order to compete in nose work you need to have passed the odor recognition test for the level you are competing in. The three odors are birch, anise, and clove. Level 1 is birch, level 2 is anise, and level 3 is clove. Since we are competing at level 1 right now, we only need birch, but we wanted to pass all three, so we are done with it once and for all. Above is a photo of us with our NACSW Scorebooks.
This ORT was at night, which means it was dark out by the time it was our turn, so we didn’t get any photos at the event. I passed birch last May, anise in July, so I only had to test for clove. I was real proud to have passed and with a time of 0:20:19. There is a three minute limit which we never need. Mom loves how serious I take my sniffing, and when I signal her, she says alert, and the judge says yes, I get so excited. My whole body wiggles and I want to hug and snuggle with Mom. I’m real proud of myself!
Bailie didn’t pass birch the first time, but she did pass it in July. This time she had to test for anise and then for clove. She did a good job and passed both. She was busy playing for the crowd, so it took her some extra time to settle in and get to work. Anise took her 0:46:25, and clove 0:38:00. Time really doesn’t matter as long as it is within the three minute limit, but it is fun to see how long it took.
The week before the actual ORT, we attended a mock ORT for some practice. We got a video of Bailie searching for clove. You can see in the video how she keeps losing her focus and wants to go see the people, but Mom gets her back on track. When she finally finds the box, she sniffs it and the floor for some time before signaling Mom. We think there may have been treat fragments from a previous search there. I wanted to show you all how an actual test looks so you have an idea of how we search.
May 2nd and 3rd we are entered in level one element specialty trials. We hope to finally bring home some titles for our efforts, so stay tuned! I will be doing interiors, vehicles, and containers. Bailie will be doing exteriors. It is a draw system (there were about 250 dogs for 120 spots), and only one dog per handler, per element which is why I have three events, and Bailie has one. Wish us some good sniffin’!
I’m co hosting the FitDog Friday Blog Hop with SlimDoggy, and To Dog With Love! Please join us on Fridays to share your fitness stories with others, find new ways to have fun, and new fitness ideas too! Tell your friends to stop by as well – fit dogs are healthier, happier dogs!
Great explanation of what goes on in the ORT. Loved Ballie’s video – Miss Social seems to be her calling in life! Good luck on the element trials.
Thanks! Bailie is our PR dog. She did the same thing at the ORT, and especially since she knew the judge and CO, she wanted to be cordial and say hello, but had to wait until she found the right box!
Way to go on passin all da scents!
We have gotten to know our smells pretty well!
I am clapping my front paws for both of you!! Aplaws! Aplaws! XOXO Sparkle the PBGV
Thank you. We are happy to be done with that finally!
Oh I wish you the bestest sniffin ever for may 2nd and 3rd…. grab that titles and bring it home!!! oh and if you have time, please do a sniffing-test in my crib… may momma said something smells like wet&dirty dog here…think she probably has a hallucination… we have no “dog”…
Dog, what dog? It never smells like a wet dog, but may have a wet dog odor. Smells sounds so negative!
Congrats on passing your elements and best of luck for your upcoming trials. You two are doing great!
We are pretty happy. See how it goes next weekend.
Bailie is still a pup at heart I guess…not mature like you Emma. Good luck with your upcoming test, I’m sure you’ll do great!
Mom always says Bailie is very immature, but we don’t know why. Maybe some day she will grow up, but she is kind of fun in her current state.
Great job both of you! Loved watching Bailie figure things out!
Let me tell you! She has a lot to figure out. That girl needs some focus. She can do it, but she gets so busy and easily distracted.
Way to go! Good luck on the next one.
Thank you! Paws crossed!
You both rocked those tests, congrats!! That Bailie is just too cute (and I think she may know it ;-))!
Smileys!
Dory, Jakey, Arty & Bilbo
Her knowing her cuteness and her butt wiggle are her downfall! She knows her job, but prefers to play to the crowd, silly girl.
WOW! Such hard work – you should be so proud! Good luck in your upcoming trials, can’t wait to hear all about it!
It is a real mental workout! We love it, but it is tiring. Hopefully we will rock the upcoming trials.
You girls are so talented! I have a question: if you’re searching for say birch, will there be other scents like cloves put out to see if they can confuse you, or is it birch or nothing?
Level one is only birch. Level two adds anise, it could be a combination of the two, but they never put out odor you aren’t supposed to find. They do have blank searches with nothing after level one, though. Any time we find any of the three odors or any combination of them we are rewarded.
Hi Y’all!
Congratulations! Congratulations! Bailey, so glad you caught up and passed everything! Lookin’ forward to seein’ y’all pass your next tests!
Y’all come on by,
Hawk aka BrownDog
Sometimes she gets serious and gets the job done. She can do it, but often she simply has other things she would rather do.
Wooohooooo!!! Thats so cool!!!! Plus I am learning a bit about this too so thanks!!
ღ husky hugz ღ frum our pack at Love is being owned by a husky!
We are both really happy, and Mom is too!
She’s a fun girl isn’t she? Reminds me so much of Delilah with her antics. I’m looking forward to meeting you both!
Bailie is the ideal PR dog, serious work ethic, not so much, but always ready for fun.
Congratulations Bailie! This is the best reason to have a celebration weekend. I was talking about you and Emma to a friend of mine – she’s interested in getting her dog started with nose work, I’ve sent her to your website!
Awesome! It is really a fun sport and something a dog can do their entire life too.
Great job, girls! It was fun to see the video and exactly how it is done. Good luck in the trials!!
Thank you. We are hoping for some good results.
Congrats! I’m thinking about signing Mr. N up for an ORT later this year. Would you recommend doing all three at once?
If he is working on all three regularly, might as well. Worst case he won’t pass all of them, but you only need birch to start competing. I passed birch just three months after starting on odor, Anise after five months. You know him and how he works, which should tell you what to do. We wanted to have all three done, so we can focus on practicing and signing up for trials. The ORT doesn’t ever expire, so if you have it, you have it.
Good work and congratulations to our GBGV friends! Bailie is silly, isn’t she? The way you said you wiggle your body when you are excited is what I do when I am excited!! Have a great weekend. Your doodle friend
Dash
Bailie lacks the serious work ethic. She loves people and gets easily distracted by them. Mom sometimes thinks the job is too easy for her and bores her. I love it and work hard no matter what.
awesome job girls, good luck on your test coming up.
Thank you.
How exciting! We are so proud of our best girls! ♥ P.S. Check out Pierre & Bailie Conference Cruising today onFB. LOL!
Hope we get some titles so you can really be proud! Just was on FB…Pierre…you don’t know what you signed up for hanging out with my wild child sister, fun, but crazy!
Congrats on your certifications and good luck at your upcoming tests.
Millie & Walter
Thank you. We sure hope to do well.
Bravo to you both and happy sniffing!
Sniffin’ always makes us happy!
We’re wishing you tons of good sniffin’! Thank you for sharing the test video, very interesting!
We really hope we do well, but we have to rely on the weakest link as well, which would be Mom.
Congrats on passing-good job! Sam can never do nose work-he’s always too busy being a social director. 😉
Bailie finds it difficult to put social fun aside, but if Mom works on it with her, she can get the job done.
that’s some fancy nose work guys!
Thank you.
Thanks for the videos.