Scent Work Success At Sioux Falls Leif Ericson Camp

Scent Work success is a perfect way to describe our AKC Scent Work Trial on the 10th and 11th of this month. We traveled to Sioux Falls, SD for the trial, and stayed at a fabulous La Quinta! It was so nice we were a bit sad we only were going to spend two nights there!

The hotel was super full when we called to make our reservation in early September. Come to find out when we arrived, the Wayzata High School boys wrestling team was staying at the hotel. Mom took it as a good sign, because she graduated from that very high school many years ago. She too traveled to Sioux Falls, with school, but for debate. Our room was huge! There was plenty of room for us to hang out, and even do some wrestling of our own kind.

Saturday morning, we were up bright and early to head over to Leif Ericson Camp for the AKC Scent Work Trial. It was held outdoors, even the interior searches were almost outdoors being shed type buildings with no heat or lighting. It was super cold, twelve degrees when the trial started with gusting winds. One clue as to how cold it was could be seen by the ice chunks floating down the river that runs along the one side of the camp.

Searching Day One

Search photos are from TracyPollard.com Photography and were purchased by My GBGV Life for our own use.

In AKC Scent Work, you need to pass each element three times for an element title, and all four elements three times for a novice title. Bailie and I had different numbers of legs in the four elements. Our goals were for Bailie to finish her interior and exterior element titles, and earn her novice title, and for me to finish my container, interior, and buried hide titles. I started the day with buried hides.

I passed two buried hide searches the first day, and one container search. Since I got two container legs in October at another trial, I only needed one container pass for my title in that element. Sunday I would need to pass one more buried hide search for that title.

Bailie needed to pass three exterior searches during the weekend, and one interior search. For exteriors, the second search was several boats. The judge specifically said you don’t need to go under the boats. Of course, Bailie is her own hound. She started off by sniffing around on the boats.

She could not do a quick search. Bailie had to go under the boats, and did a thorough search of the area under the boats which was making my mom crazy. Eventually, she stuck her nose out from under the boat, and showed Mom the hide in the concrete block. Everyone got a good laugh out of that!

Our first day of trialing was a Scent Work success. We achieved the goals we set out to achieve. I earned my container novice element title. Bailie earned her interior element title, as well as a second place in her second interior search. We have never earned a placement in our scent work searches, so it was a big deal. After the trial, we headed to Falls Park for a walk before heading back to our hotel for the night.

Searching Day Two

Sunday morning, Bailie and I were exhausted. Being out in the cold all day, and the sniffing work we did had us worn out. We didn’t want to get out of bed at all!

Mom insisted that we get up, and head back to Leif Ericson Camp for the rest of the Scent Work trial. I was up for interiors and buried hides on Sunday, Bailie had more exterior searches. My searches were either not that interesting, or they were interiors which were not photographed, so we only have a couple Bailie shots from the day.

On her first exterior search, Bailie earned a third place which made Mom so proud. Two placements in two days is awesome for us! The camp setting, and the cold weather made for beautiful photographs. Sunday was almost as cold as Saturday, but there was even more cold wind.

At the end of the trial, Mom cried. She was so proud of us for our Scent Work success, earning every title we came for, along with Bailie’s placements as a bonus. The weekend was supposed to be for Mom and Emma alone. Emma planned to get all four elements, and her novice title, but life had other plans. Mom felt she needed to go to this trial, and she was able to switch Emma’s runs over to me and Bailie. Rather than dressing in pink and purple as Mom always does for us, she wore a red shirt and red coat for Emma all weekend. Emma’s color was red. We know Emma was with us once again, guiding us, and giving Mom the courage to trust us more and more. Our new titles mean a lot to us, but they mean so much to my mom. Bailie and I made Mom and Emma very proud, and happy. Bailie even smiled for the camera which is something she doesn’t usually do. It was a great road trip, and a wonderful trial.

Don’t forget to enter The Purrs & Paws Holiday Giveaway! $500 in prizes are on the line!