Madison earned her first nose work title in Joliet, IL on July 15th. Mom, Madison, and Bailie all took the almost seven hour drive for her to compete. It seemed a bit silly to travel so far, so early in her career, but Mom really wanted to give it a try, and they did it.
The Road Trip
The road trip was much more fun than the dreadful trip to Michigan two weeks prior! Heat and humidity were the biggest issue on this trip, once again. Thankfully, cars have A/C to keep everyone cool on the drive. Speaking of cool, if you are a Facebook fan, you probably saw the Pink Elephant they found on the way to Joliet. Mom calls Madison Miss Smarty Pants, and they are team pink, so this elephant was bound to be a good omen!
In case you have never come across such an elephant, this is a short piece about where they come from. Mom found it interesting.
From our house, it is about a seven hour drive with a couple quick stops along to the way, to Joliet. The hotel was super nice, but Mom forgot to get a king sized bed. Queen was a bit small for the three of them, but they managed. Madison was in no rush to get up and get going to her trial on that morning. She found the bed to be quite comfy for just her.
Facts About Madison’s First Nose Work Title
The trial took place at ATI field in Joliet. The searches were not really in the stadium area at all, but it still was fun to be in a venue other than a school. Many trials are at schools, and Mom is bored with that. I thought it would be nice to list a few fun facts about Madison’s first nose work title.
- She is the first one in our family to travel for a title, and actually earn the title on the road. Bailie has earned element titles, but no major titles. I have not earned any titles on the road.
- Madison is the fourth GBGV to earn an NW1 Title. Someone had the nerve to squeeze in a title between Bailie and Madison last summer!
- At twenty three months old, she is the youngest in our family to earn a nose work title. I was eight years and ten months when I earned my NW1, Bailie was two years and eleven months old when she earned hers.
- There were twenty one titles in her trial out of forty five competitors.
- The total search time for all four searches Madison did was 3:47:05 which placed her as the nineteenth fastest our of all forty five teams. Time starts when the dog’s nose crosses the start line, and ends when alert is called.
The Searches
Every trial has four search elements. In NW1, there is one hide in each element for a total of four hides to get a title. Each search has a time limit. Madison started the day with containers, went to vehicles, and after lunch, searched interiors, followed by exteriors.
Until recently, Madison rarely told Mom when she found a hide. They are working as a team better now after a lot of practice, but Mom still prefers to wait until she is definitely sure to call a hide. She does not want to risk a no. As they learn to work better together, Madison’s search times will most likely be faster because Mom will feel better calling an alert earlier. The container search is a good example of Mom being afraid to call the hide until Madison gave her a real alert. In between searches Madison rested in the car which was hot, but everything was hot with a heat index around one hundred that day.
For the first time ever, we even got a video of Madison’s interior search. Until recently, they were not allowed to video interior searches. We put all four of her searches together in one video this time.
Team Pink Earns Their NW1 Title
At the end of the day, Mom was ecstatic as team Pink earned their NW1 Title. Madison worked so very hard in super tough conditions. They received pronounced in two of the four searches which stands for superior team work. Next to the actual title, Mom’s favorite part of the day was reading on one of the scoresheets, “She is a happy teammate.” The judge, and most people at the trial really picked up on Madison’s happy, positive attitude, as well as great work ethic. We are all super proud of little Madison, Ethos Intel Inside CGC TD RATO NW1
PS: Mom was so worn out from the heat and thinking about the long drive home, she totally forgot to take a photo of just Madison with her ribbon. Once we have still photos, we may do another post with those. We know the photographer took one of just Madison with her new ribbon.
Oh how exciting! Congrats sweet Madison, we’re all very proud of you and your Mom, go Team Pink!
She did a real big girl job of working!
That was so much fun to watch.
Thank you. Madison did a real good job and worked super hard despite the heat.
madison that 15th was sure a lucky day for us pups! and how fast you found the right box… I bet your mama was surprised too ;O)) congrats that was a super day in joliet… you were actually jolie(t) in any way!!! yay!!!!
She kind of is a little beauty! It was fun for her and Mom.
Fantastic job Team Madison! So fun to watch your work. Congratulations.
Thank you. It was a real good day!
Huge congrats!!! Way to go. Looks like a fun trip too.
Outstanding!! Congratulations Madison
She is our turbo sniffer…at least that is what Mom calls her.
Woohoo! Congratulations.
Thank you.
WAHOO!! Go Team Pink! That sister of yours really is a smarty pants, Emma!
xoxo,
Rosy, Arty & Jakey
She works hard at all her sports and is really good.
Congratulations, Madison and Mom!!! Madison did look hot with her tongue hanging out, so it’s even more impressive she got her title under those conditions.
I can see that her alert can be pretty subtle, so no wonder your Mom has hesitated at times. Her hard work always pays off though!
We will take subtle as it was non existent and Mom had to read her body language. Madison is still young and will progress.
We are so impressed with Madison! She is really special and loves all of your sports. ♥
She impresses us too…or should I say makes Bailie and I look bad? She is perfect for sports with Mom.
YAY MADISON!!! You go girl!! Well done YOU!! About the pink elephant, your Mom is probably too young to remember an advertising jingle that went “lots of pink elephants, pink, PINK elephants!!!” Loved reading the story about the ones that you featured!
Mom had never heard of pink elephants before, so it was a fun road trip find.
Congratulations Madison! I’m glad she was able to work in that heat. I’m looking forward to autumn.
Bailie would not have worked that day, so Mom had the right dog. It was a wonderful day.
Madison has an amazing nose and did a terrific job, Congratulations!!! Thanks for the picture of the pink elephant we have never seen one:)
Funny how running into a pink elephant wearing glasses can be a good thing!
Well done beautiful girl!
Thank you. She did a great job.
YAY!!!! Congrats. I can see how hard you look to be sure that Madison is alerting. Woo hoo! Team Pink put it all together!!!!
Mom really makes sure before calling it. On the other paw, her alert has gotten so much better this summer with lots of training. As she matures it should also improve. They did a great job. Calling alert is scary as if you hear no, that is it, title is off the table. Mom has had a lot of “no” practice with Bailie, so she is a bit gun shy anyway.
Wooftastic work Madison!
Nose nudges,
CEO Olivia
Thank you. She worked really hard and it paid off.
Congratulations! Until March, Barley, Rye, Soth, and I were all snuggled up in a full-size bed, so a Queen still feels huge to us! I’m glad that having to snuggle a little closer didn’t throw Madison off for her big day 😉 Barley and I are working through our communication right now, too. She’s finding the odors and I’m not recognizing it very well right now, so we’re trying to communicate more clearly with each other, too!
I have always been very clear, Bailie is subtle, but does alert, Madison often freezes for a split second and then moves on, but at the trial, she did pretty well with alerting. Good luck to you guys working better together too.
Congrats Madison, well done!
She was a star on that day!
Good job Madison and Mom, it seems like team Pink is really getting into their groove.
The heat and humidity is just energy zapping, I don’t know how team Pink managed.
Mom was having trouble, but Madison was motoring through. She is like me, knows her job, and will work until she falls over. Bailie on the other paw will not.