Our nose work weekend is over. There was an NW2 and NW3 Trial in Hudson, WI at North Hudson Elementary School, about an hour from our house on Saturday and Sunday. If you follow me on social media you may have heard about it as it happened. Bailie was the dog in white for the NW2 Trial on Saturday. She misunderstood the meaning of her job and came downstairs all dressed up in white Saturday morning!
Actually, the dog in white is the dog who is competing at the trial level for that day, but doesn’t have a spot in the trial. Bailie got to run all the element searches before the competitors to see how the hide placement worked. Depending on what the dog in white does, the CO (certifying official) may change the hide placement or make other adjustments. It was a fun little practice opportunity for Bailie who is looking forward to her NW2 Trial next month. Mom volunteered all day which gave her the opportunity to watch lots of searches.
I was lucky and got a last minute spot in the NW3 Trial on Sunday. The day started off with huge rain storms, then turned to hot and humid. I assumed my usual “nose work position” in the back of the SUV with my Kool Kollar, sun shade, and fan. My day was not the day we had hoped for, no title, but overall it was a good day and we learned a lot of things which will help us in our next attempt.
For anyone interested in knowing a bit more about my NW3 trial searches, the search map with all the details is above. The CO posts this at the end of the trial day. Note, only larger objects are drawn on the map. Interior #1, for example, was a library with shelves of books, stands of magazines, and more, all of which can have hides. For more information on why an NW3 trial is so difficult, you can check my post from May. I aced the container search, interior #1 and interior #3. I missed one of the hides in each of the other searches.
Wrapping up our nose work weekend:
The Good
- Mom learned I love cheese! Cheese may be the best reward for me and it doesn’t fall apart or anything so it is good for searches.
- Bailie and I are currently rocking container searches. Both of us knocked out the container searches with distractors with no problems at all. Containers have the lowest pass rate, so it is a good thing to do well there.
- Mental management has started to work. My mom managed to remain calm and keep her wits about her all day through it all. She even dozed off with me while we were waiting to search, and for the first time ever, she was able to eat her lunch. Usually she is too worked up to eat.
- With the exception of one slip up, Mom stuck to our goal. Our goal was to let me work, stay out of my way, don’t try to sell me on any hides, give me time, if I struggle, attempt to help me out as needed, and don’t let any mistakes throw us off course.
- We did not time out and Mom felt comfortable calling finished when there was still time left. In two of my three searches I failed, she knew in her gut we were leaving one hide behind, but I was no longer searching so she called it. In containers, we did one fast lap around the sixteen boxes and luggage pieces, I alerted once and she called it. She totally trusted me and we both felt good about it. I was the ninth fastest dog in that search which is huge for me.
- Our team work improved, and we know what we need to work on now.
- I may not be the fastest dog in the sport of nose work but we know there is plenty of time for me to find all the hides, I just need to work a bit harder and alert to all the hides so Mom can call them.
- The biggest lesson we learned was for Mom to be confident. She is understanding her feelings, how to handle them, that they are valid, what a good search feels like, what it feels like to know you left something uncalled. This is so good to know for our next trials!
The Bad
- No title, but we did improve a lot with our score over my first NW3 Trial in May.
- I obviously knew about the second hide in two of the searches but decided not to find it. That has to change. In some ways, this trial I was the weak link, not Mom, but we will get it together the third time.
- The heat and humidity are not my strong suit, so when we got to vehicles I no longer wanted to search. I should have easily searched all four vehicles, but I found one hide and wanted to go back to our car.
- The mental management went out the window once on vehicles. Mom couldn’t let it go and had to talk me into a second hide because her gut said we needed to find one more. There was a second hide, but she pretty much told me to alert on the wrong car and we got a “no”. On the positive side, she did stay on her game and was cool as a cucumber in the next search.
The Future
- Bailie has an NW2 Trial in Toledo, OH in August. It will be a three day road trip, but we are putting our confidence in her abilities. Paws crossed she does well. We get to add a few states to our list on that trip.
- There are a couple NW3 trials, and an Exterior Element Trial coming up in our area in September and October. I’m hoping to get a spot in at least one of those events. I know I will get my NW3 Title, I just need another chance.
- We may also enter a trial in IA in November which is pretty much the end of the season until April or so in our area.
It sounds a lot like the hot weather was a factor for you, Emma. You learn more every time, and it is impressive the way you analyze everything afterwards and know what you need to work on for next time.
We know you’ll get there!
It’s just one big game with a strategy and two players. If you don’t reveal the plays, you won’t know where you went wrong and how to improve next time. We know the heat was too much for me with vehicles, but I could have done it had my partner been a bit more pushy but it was what it was, and we will have another chance on another day. It was fun and we learned a lot.
Mom is so impressed that you took time to reflect and write down what worked and what didn’t go so well! That will definitely help with your progress. It’s always so interesting to read about your nose work and we are always impressed with you Emma! from your doodle friend Dash. (PS Lilly wanted me to tell you that we keep seeing rabbits on our walks in our new neighborhood! She said you and Bailie would love this neighborhood. Rabbits are everywhere and we love pulling mom when we see one!!! Have a good day!)
We have so many wabbits here too. There is a reason Mom has body builder arms! We have to go over our trials to evaluate where our team went wrong so we can hope to do better next times. It is a big game and we are going to win it.
that heat can be eggs-hausting I agree…and I bet in september/october that heat is gone and you can show them the bestest noses ever :o) …nevertheless your mom found out that you love cheese and that’s a super win too :o)
I am nuts about cheese, but she is being stingy as she wants it to remain a special snack for me! I could have fried eggs on the pavement around those darn vehicles. It was a hot one!
….in fall you will be the bestest nose on this planet, I’m sure :o)
Do get credit for your analyzation of your day? I know about hot and humid as I went to the horse ranch on Sunday. I was tuckered out when I got home. I am proud of you and Bailie XOXO, Sparkle
No credit, but we hope to benefit next time from what we learned from our mistakes this time. We are a team of two, this time the mistakes were somewhat more on my end of the team but we will get things together and go for it again hopefully this fall some time.
I can’t keep up with you guys. I just makes me tired.
Mom needs to win the lottery so she can just spend all day every day with us doing dog sports. It is so much fun!
Well those are all good things. The more you practice, the more you learn, the funner and better it gets in the future.
We have our times where we get frustrated and think we should give it all up, but then we remember how much we love it and how much we want to succeed and we just keep going. Hopefully the third time will be the charm
You should be so proud at how much you have learned and improved over the past year. We are super excited for all of you. Keep on sniffing! ♥
Sometimes we get frustrated and think of quitting sports completely, but then we remember how we love it, and how much fun it is. We have more titles coming up. I’m sure of it.
Hot but fun. Good job acing that container
Lily & Edward
Containers were really fun and easy. The vehicles were a nightmare with the heat.
we learn so much here – who knew vehicles were challenging in the heat?
Metal gets hot and if they are parked on asphalt, the heat comes up from that and it practically roasts a short dog such as myself!
I just nose y’all are gonna do great!
We will. Practice makes perfect.
We think that just spending time working with your Mom must be rewarding, so anything on top of that is just gravy!!
Smileys!
Dory, Jakey, Arty & Bilbo
You are right about that. Bailie and I love the one on one time.
Even know no titles it sounds like a lot was learned so a good weekend.
We did learn a lot which will help us on our next quest.
Your “good” list is GREAT! Your “bad” list sounds like challenges you will soon overcome, and your “future” list is DOODLE*TASTIC!
It was a bit disappointing since I was the one who really didn’t do my job 100%, but together, Mom and I will get it. Next time will be the right time.
Still pretty impressive-all 3 of you! Best of luck next time.
Lots of time for reflection on what went wrong, and we will be better prepared next time.
Honestly, it sounds to us like mom had the most improvement! It all sounds very confusing to us so any accomplishments you get to us means success! Any chance of a Chicago visit on the way to Toledo? Hint, hint. Love Dolly
Not sure if it is on the way or not. Mom isn’t much of a travel planner. If so, then it would be on the way back. On the way there, we need to focus and get in early so we can get acclimated and ready for the trial on Sunday. Maybe Monday. We’ll have to look into that the beginning of August when we are getting closer to the date.
This is really interesting, we’ve done several dog sports but haven’t tried this one. Looking forward to future upates!
Nose work is an awesome sport. Any breed can do it, and dogs of any age can do it. We just love it. I have a video of my container search on my Facebook page.
I think if you learn something and have fun, then it is successful. You and mom are really learning to work together as a team and that is important.
Job well done, Team Emma.
We really did well in three of the searches and have studied video of some of the problem areas in the others. Now all we need is another spot in a trial.
I’m with Jodi – if you have fun and learn something, then you are successful. Good Job!!
Of course, we want the title, but we learned a lot and it was a good day. Best of all, Mom and I spent the whole day together and got to play one of our favorite games, nose work.
LOL I wouldn’t mind bringing Bailie with me in any forum, courth hearing, conference. It seems like Bailie can make a great difference in the proceedings.