I've been sniffing since I was a very small puppy. My mother used to hide treats around the living room and tell me to "find it!" and of course, having the excellent nose that I do, I always found them quickly. I have used this skill in many venues before, from tracking to obedience to Rally! My excellent sniffing skills in the Obedience ring have been quite unappreciated. For some reason, my finding teensy particles of ancient food crumbs in the grass at Rally shows has never been rewarded. They have never even given me a ribbon for doing that. Their loss. But I think I have finally conveyed to the humans around me that there should be appreciation for my wonderful sniffing ability, because suddenly and without warning, I am being taken places JUST to SNIFF!
It started last fall - in October I believe - when some friends of my mom invited us to join them to practice something called Nosework (well, there is UKC Nosework and NACSW K-9 Nose Work. We practiced both. It's sniffing either way). Mom's friends started by putting food in boxes and telling me to "Find it". I knew this game! It was easy! But soon, mom started putting other smelly things in the boxes with the food. After awhile, she took the food away (oh the horror!) and changed her command to "Search!", but I caught on quickly and discovered that if I found those other smells, I'd get a treat! This was fun!
Practices were never boring. Sometimes it was boxes in rows, or piles of boxes. Sometimes it looked like this:
Where's the scent? Is it in that tree? I had to check everything.
Look, the scent is on the wheelchair this time! I found it. What a good puppy I am!
After a few months of practicing on all five UKC scents as a cocktail, and all 3 NACSW scents individually and mixed, mom thought maybe I was ready to try for my ORT: Odor Recognition Test. That's the test you have to pass in order to enter NACSW Nose Work trials, and it also allows entry into UKC trials for the scent passed. Mom decided she may as well enter me in all three test levels: Birch (NW1 level), Anise (NW2 level) and Clove (NW3 level). We went all the way to Whidbey Island three weeks ago for my ORTs and look at what we found.
Yes, bunnies. Dozens of them. They live all around town and they were all over the place outside our motel AND at the middle school where the tests were held. Very distracting for this shepherd.
We made it to the test and I had to stay in the car for a long time. I couldn't wait to get out and chase bunnies! I love lure coursing. But alas, that is not why we were there. Here was my first clue:
Yep, a giant nose. My second clue was the "warm up boxes" that were set up outside the venue in the grass. Tell you what. I have never done box searches in dirt or grass before, and it is very hard to focus on boxes and scent when there are dozens of bunnies hopping around beyond the fence. But I did catch a whiff of scent and somewhere in the recesses of my brilliant mind, there was a remembrance of the nosework we did back in the clubhouse.
The third and final clue was when we walked in to the school gym and there were orange cones, a start line, and rows of boxes. Yep, now I knew exactly what we were doing! I was ready to sniff!
Mom said "Search," and search I did!
Mom was thrilled! Treats abounded! Spectators and the judge were amazed! But that wasn't the last of my snifftastic performance! Later that day, I came back to a new arrangement in a new spot in the gym and just as smoothly passed my ORT for Anise! Here I am smiling after my pass:
Although there aren't pictures of my third and final run, I did in fact pass my ORT for Clove, too! That test was in a different gym but I found the right box in no time.
After the ORTs were over, I stayed and did a little NW1 Interiors trial practice! There were three searches. First, I searched a hallway near the cafeteria. Here I am doing a perimeter search:
I thought I smelled the Birch right here, underneath this thing on the wall. But actually the source was just across the hall and the scent had drifted over here.
After a bit more searching and a hint or two from the Judge, I found the source hidden way back here under the edge of the Lost and Found table, beside a vending machine and a folded-up lunch table!
The second search was IN the cafeteria. You can't see it in this picture, but there were snacks all over the ground! Mom says there were noodles, Cheetos, chips and crackers trampled all over the floor. For some reason she thought I would "Hoover them up" and get sick from eating all that junk. Doesn't she know the difference between Birch and snacks?? This nose knows! I didn't touch a thing on that floor. I was busy searching each table for scent: (seriously, just because I am an expert crumb finder in Obedience does not mean I don't know when it's time to work!)
I worked up and down a couple of tables and then, there it was! I found the Birch source under this table. And yes, I got treats!
So there you have it: I passed all 3 ORTs in one day! Now mom is training me for my NW1, which includes interiors, exteriors, containers and vehicle searches, I can't wait! And I hope I never have to hear mom say "No sniff!" again!
