Nelson made his NW3 Nose Work debut at Camp Confidence in East Gull Lake last Saturday. He is very young to do a trial at this level. Heavens, he is only twenty months old! I was twenty six months old my first time. Mom wanted to give it a try to see if he is ready for it or not. Since the trial didn’t fill, I got to run as well, in a “just for fun” status. For me it is good practice for my Summit Trials that are coming up.
It is a beautiful site, right on East Gull Lake in Brainerd. Madison trialed here at an NW3 three years ago. I earned my NW3 Elite Title there two years ago. It can be a tricky place to trial because it is in the woods, with tons of critter smells, and even the indoor areas tend to be rustic with lots of good smells. The question Mom wanted answered was how Nelson would handle it all. He made friends with Linus waiting for his first search.
NW3 has six searches, the number of hides is 0-3, unknown which is the big challenge. This weekend there were two interior, two exterior, one container and one vehicle search. At this level, Mom and Nelson really need to be a team and this takes time to develop. To say it was an easy day would be way off. Team Lime Green used a lot of time to find the hides. Nelson is learning about how odor works and is developing a memory about the puzzles he works. Nose work is about talent, training, and experience. Mom says I was born with an exceptional talent, I’ve trained a lot and I have a lot of experience. Mom and I did all the searches in under nine minutes, Nelson used almost fourteen minutes. Our goals were practicing for Summit, so not like the other competitors at the trial.
In the end, Nelson, the youngest dog by at least one to two years, finished in ninth place overall! He found nine of the eleven hides but Mom said he actually found all eleven but he didn’t stay and tell her about the two he “missed”. She only calls hides he tells her about. He worked hard every second he was in a search, and he even solved the challenge hide which was elevated under the top bunk in a bunk bed.
Camp Confidence gave both Lime Green team members the confidence to do so well. The little fellow has a bright future and he will get faster the more experience he gets. Mom says she will enter him in NW3’s as they come up on the schedule. He crashed out completely on the ride home, and again really early Saturday night. His young brain was drained! Way to go, little bro!
It is Happy Tuesday, but we would like to express our sadness for the loss yesterday morning of a long time blogging friend and icon, Brian. Brian and his human dad were some of the first bloggers Emma found online and Mom met the human dad at BlogPaws back in 2011. Sadly, Brian lost his health battle and crossed the Rainbow Bridge. We can’t believe he is gone and we feel especially sad for his humans and kitty siblings. We can’t imagine his blog without him.
My GBGV Life is happy, so we’re joining Comedy Plus for Happy Tuesday!
Congratulations, Nelson! Linus looks like a great friend to have. We are so sad to hear about Brian.
I’m super happy with how my first try went. Seeing some of the Peanuts was fun too.
congrats dear nelson… that was a super day for you and your nose… and we are sure there will be more of that… and lots of joy..
It will get easier for me to solve puzzles as I get more experience.
Hey Nelson, good job … you are totally “on the way” to becoming a “noser” we think. Hard work and training, and try, try again will be the key to success!
I work hard and am doing really well for my age. Sniffing is lots of fun and I enjoy practicing.
Run free Brian.
Way to go Nelson
We are sad about Brian, but I’m super proud of how well I did at my sniffing.
You did very well, Nelson and mom is wise to let you do a practice run. Well done.
We’re so sad about Brian. He was so very popular and he will be missed.
Thank you for joining the Happy Tuesday Blog Hop.
Have a fabulous Happy Tuesday. Scritches to all the furbabes and a hug to mom. ♥
We feel really bad for Brian’s family. He was so loved and lived a great life.
Nelson practice makes purrfect…although Nelson I am purrty sure you are 99.9999% purrfect
I wish my fur was the color of your ear fur
Brian was also one of the first kitties we met…I will post on Thankful Thursday.
Hugs Cecilia
Being so young, it is really all about getting more experience in solving odor puzzles and I do get out a lot to practice. I did great, and we are super happy with the results.
Woo-hoo for Nelson and his nose! You have a fabulous career ahead of you.
We send sympathy to Brian’s family as well – it is very painful to lose a companion.
Brian has been there forever, we don’t know the blog without him. It is so sad for his family. On the other paw, I’m a young guy with hopefully a big sniffing career ahead of me.
Great job Nelson!!! We know you are just going to get better and better!!
xoxo,
Rosy and Sunny
(who will also miss Brian so very much)
It is all about experiences and learning how odor works. I get a lot of practice and it helps.
You guys did a fabulous job!
It’s so sad to lose Brian. He was most special.
I did really well for being so young and Olivia, well, she is always a sniffing rock star!
All I can say is WowZer for team green! and… How sad it is to lose a fellow blogger.
Mom kicks herself for not calling one container Nelson kind of alerted on but he wouldn’t stick with it, so she didn’t. Still he did a great job for a young sprout.
It seems like little brothers are often very talented in some area. Congratulations to Nelson. Not only is he a handsome young canine, but a very talented one as well.
Mom tells me I’m a very hard worker and very honest too. Speed may come with more experience.
Wow, that’s pawtastic! Way to go, Nelson!
Mom is really happy with how well I did. Now I need more experience so I can be faster.
Nelson, you are amazing and you’re going to do some amazing things in all your sports! Thank you all for the beautiful words on the passing of our sweet Brian, he was everything you saw on his blog. We appreciate your kindness and friendship more that words can say.
Thank you. We know it is hard to lose a family member, and one that has been with us for so long is even more difficult.