Sunday morning we were up at 5am, out running at 5:30am and on the road to a sniffing field trip at a John Deere dealer at 7:30am. So much for sleeping in, but we knew we would have tons of fun doing nose work! Look at all the big machines and stuff to sniff!
Sniffing field trips are good as they get us to new places to sniff. You never know where Nose Work Trials will be held, so it is best to practice in a variety of environments with lots of different places to hide odor.
My first search was this massive piece of machinery. Even Mom didn’t know what it was, but it was big and there was a lot of space to cover to find the hide.
Not only is it a big piece of equipment, but it has its own interesting smells and lots of cavities, crevices, and holes where odor can travel. Here I had actually sniffed the hide, but gone on past it. Most of the dogs did the same thing. It most likely had to do with the position of the hide and the air current.
Wait, I think I smell that little bugger in there somewhere!
I had to stick my head in there a bit to find it exactly, the then it was rime to alert Mom and get my reward!
The second search was on a really weird piece of equipment. It was up high for a short dog like myself and tucked a bit inside the opening there as you can see in the second photo with the arrow. I managed to find it pretty quickly.
Another reason to practice in a place with huge John Deere tractors and machinery is to teach us not to be afraid of things. I wasn’t scared, but some dogs are afraid of such giant machinery. This piece of equipment held the hide for my fourth search.
We don’t need to really walk under big equipment, but nose work dogs need to learn to put their head under and into places which a lot of dogs don’t feel comfortable doing. It becomes more necessary the more advanced you get in nose work.
The breeze carried the odor around under the entire front hitch area. I had to find out which direction it was coming from and then follow the scent to get to the source.
Now it became complicated for me because I needed to alert Mom, but she couldn’t really see me from where she was at.
When all else fails, just sit down and look at it until your human can figure out what you are telling her. The field trip leader, who coincidentally was dressed to match Mom, was on the side with the hide and knew I had it. For some reason, I enjoy finding the most difficult path to a hide. A reasonable dog would find it from the side, but not me. I wanted to be underneath the machine.
That concluded a really fun sniffing field trip to the John Deere dealer. We were done by 10am, and it was starting to get hot out. Bailie and I were wiped out from the mental workout of it all and the heat. We got home and crashed out for most of the day! We didn’t get any photos of Bailie searching, but she has been on the blog a lot lately, so she was alright with just doing her work without photos.
I sniffed a Deere and liked it! Have you?
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Oh I know that giant machines… they first grab the potatoes with their frontal gripping devices and then the potatoes wander trough that machine till they fly out on the other end as french fries, ready to eat with ketchup and mayo :o) That was brilliant how you showed your momma and the nosework trainer the hide… without wild barking and jumping… BRAVO!
Oh I am never wild while working. I take my time and do a very thorough search and when I find the hide, I show Mom my brown eyes and she knows 🙂 I love searching.
Those are some big machines! You two looked like you had a hard workout! Good job!
A new environment with new smells and all new search areas is a real mental drain, but a good one!
You not afraid of anything. Very proud of you guys!
We are both pretty fearless unless it is our own lawnmower. That is a scary machine!
What a neat place for nose work, and you did such a great job! I can see where some dogs might be nervous around that big equipment, good to see you weren’t bothered by it. You both earned that long nap!
It was really fun and that is part of nose work fun, finding new interesting places to search.
OMD you got to sniffs John the Deeres… We do that at our house sometimes…. butt ours is LITTLE compared to THOSE huge Ones… GOOD sniffies….
I bet yours smells like grass 😉
Wow that looks like such a fun challenge. Those machines are huge. The big thing looks like a combine,although I am no expert.
Mom has no clue what all the different machines are, so she just calls them John Deere stuff and it is good. It was a lot of fun.
Wow, what cool machineries! I think you deserved to get to take a joyride after all that good work. Think how fun it would be zooming around on one of those! BOL
Grr and Woof,
Sarge, Police Commish
As a short dog, it would sure make me tall to ride in one! No rides were given, though ;(
We have some interesting farm equipment around here at the local farms, but they sure aren’t as pretty and shiny as those. Well don on the sniffing Emma!
The kind of equipment around your place would be even better with all the distracting smells on them!
My boyfriend would LOVE this post. He collects tractors and refurbishes them. I asked him last night what he plans to do with all the equipment he’s collecting and he said “I don’t know.”
Maybe I can do nose work with our dogs – hide treats around the tractor?
It was great for us to learn not to be afraid of the big things, and to stick our heads inside odd places sniffing for the odor. As long as you are careful not to place hides on any sharp or dangerous things it would be fun for them probably even with just treats.
I don’t have a John Deere to sniff, will a regular car work? LOL Great job missy, have a great weekend with your sisters!
We search regular cars all the time! Remember I got my first nose work title in Vehicle Search 😉
Good job sniffing, again! You rule!
sumskersandearlskers13.blogspot.com
I just hope I can get it right at the trial in three weeks. I want my title.
Good job Emma I am so impressed! I may have been afraid to stick my head in some of those places you are very brave! I can’t wait to get back to nose work! Love Dolly
Once you get the basics down then you start learning in class to go into strange spaces, cramped areas, etc. It is a constant learning project. Hope you get back to nose work soon. We would love to hear how it is going. We just finished doing some homework and I was pawsome today!
That is a great place to search! I’m glad that you had fun. I remember seeing a photo of you driving a John Deere last summer, I believe.
Oh yes, that is our neighbor’s child tractor. I have some farm girl in my furs I guess.
LOL!!! Now I have that song stuck in my head!! 😛
Whoops, sorry!
Wow, what a cool place to have a search! You’re doing great, Emma! Tell you mom I love her pink shorts and shoes! I need some!
I wish she wouldn’t wear such loud clothing when I am trying to concentrate on my work 😉 She loves bright fun colors.
That’s some mighty big equipment! And yes, sometimes we need to make it SO OBVIOUS for the humans!
Mom is getting better at trusting my opinion except with containers as I don’t like containers when they are boring boxes, so I alert on every one and she has to figure out when it is really the one.
That’s awesome! Such focus in those photos. And you’re totally right about the machine fear. I don’t think Sinead would go anywhere near machines that big!
Jean from Welcome to the Menagerie
I take my work really seriously, and do a good job. Part of nose work is working in all environments and not being afraid to stick your head in places to check things out.
Hi Y’all!
Love your blog title. Congrats on finding the hide!
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BOL! Looks like ya had fun sniffin!
It was pawsome but real hard work too!
Cool place to do a search! Mr. N does not seem perturbed by equipment. I had him sit in a backhoe for a photo once.
Some dogs are intimidated by the large size, but the other piece is being comfortable with sticking your nose/head inside spaces on the machinery to pin point the odor. Bailie and I didn’t have any trouble, but some dogs get scared.
My husband’s Brother-in-law use to work at John Deer a long time ago, they live in Wisconsin. I have never seen all those hugh machines. That is a lot of area to sniff and you did a terrific job. BTW Aspen always wants to climb on my riding mower while I am cutting doesn’t seem to scare him course he wants to be in everything:)
We don’t like the mower at home, but these were alright since they were quiet and not moving.
That was some very impressive nose work!!!
Thank you. It was tough, but fun!
What a super fun field trip and awesome combination of socialization, mental & physical exercise! I’m not surprised to read that you crashed for the majority of the day 🙂
Nose work is so much fun, but it always tires us out so much!
What a very fun day, good job!!
It was hard work, but lots of fun too!
Wow, you both look very tired! I’m glad you had fun. It’s a very interesting thing to do.
It’s really good practice for us.