The Great Minnesota Sniffover 2018

The Great Minnesota Sniffover 2018 is now in the books. My sisters went to camp this year, and not only learned a lot, they had a fabulous time at Camp Warren by Eveleth. This was the fourth year of camp. Bailie and I attended the first two, and then Madison took my place as only two dogs per handler can have a working spot.

After arriving at camp on Friday, Bailie and Madison got to do two searches before dinner. Bailie was too scared to go out on the dock, so after dinner, Mom took them both to the dock, and taught Bailie it was safe to go out there. I find it odd she would go on a swinging bridge, high over a river, but not a dock…strange girl!

Saturday morning was chilly, about forty degrees. When they all went for their morning walk, there were some pretty photo opportunities. Steam was coming up off the lake right at sunrise.

Some of the trees were turning color already, and they reflected off the smooth water of Half Moon Lake.

Although the Sniffover is a nose work camp, Mom did not take any photos of actual nose work activities this year. She did catch Bailie and Madison helping the caretaker with some chores in the morning. I think they just enjoy John Deere equipment.

Madison found the log cabin a bit too small for interior searches. She can really be a picky girl! Even though she is pretty small, the cabin makes her look really big.

While waiting for her turn to do a nose work exercise, Bailie found the fish house. We all love fish. Bailie even thought to bring her salmon treats along to make it seem like an even better place to hang out.

Camp Warren has a lot of row boats and canoes. My sisters thought they would make a great shelter if it should start to rain.

It was super cold up north, with highs in the low fifties, and a cold wind. The cabin has a fireplace, but my mom would never make a fire as she is afraid of fire. We don’t even light candles at our house. Madison was imagining how toasty it would be if there was a fire in the fireplace.

Bailie found a nice old wooden door for a photo backdrop. She looks really nice there, I must say. Every year we only have one complaint. The time goes by way too fast. There is never enough time to see and meet up with all our friends. This year, Madison had a boyfriend in the cabin to the right of us, and Bailie’s boyfriend was in the cabin to the left. Neither of them had any time to even meet up for a little romance.

The last night of camp, my sisters were hanging out on the front step looking out over the lake. They were both pretty tired from working hard for two days in a row. They decided to head inside around eight o’clock. Mom was hanging out on the bed with them when the unexpected roommate raced across the cabin floor, and behind the wood box. Bailie was too tired to care, but Madison was going to get that guy! It was too big to be a mouse, but so fast we don’t know what it was.

Mom went to the caretaker to get a live trap. She is not afraid of critters, but didn’t want it to get into the luggage. Madison was on a mission. She spent half the night pacing around the cabin trying to get that furry critter to come out. It was not invited to the Sniffover, so it should not be there. The little fellow never came out, never went into the trap, and was not seen again.

Now it is time to mull over all the lessons learned at camp, and look forward to The Great Minnesota Sniffover 2019!