It has been a busy week. Between work and other concerns, I had no time to practice any Nosework with Chandler. However, he was in high spirits when we arrived at Tails U Win Thursday morning. Apparent, Skyler the Whippet was also, because Chandler and I were greeted with happy "wow-rowrow"s as we exited the car. Once in the building, Chandler didn't want to wait for the finish of the Beginner's Nosework class that proceeds our intermediate class. I diverted him by walking away from the door to that classroom, and ended up introducing Chandler to a couple elementary school age girls who were waiting for their mother to finish class with the family dog. The youngest was really taken by Chandler, and declared that he was "talented and sweet." I'm so glad he has gotten over that single bad incident with children that happened when he was two; he seems to be a magnet for little girls, and it is so nice to have a dog that is happy to see children rather than nervous about what they might do.
It turned out that the Whippets' owners had also not managed to find time to practice during the week, and the lab once again had to miss class. I don't know if it was the lack of practice or the slightly rainy weather, but both whippets seemed a little confused and off their game during the first run. As far as Chandler goes, perhaps the girl's words about talent were prophecy, because his attitude can probably be best described as:
"I'VE BEEN WAITING ALL WEEK FOR THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Chandler sees boxes scattered all over the room. Chandler wants to sniff. Chandler wants to search. Chandler does not want to play with the Whippets. Chandler wants to work.
...and so he did.
Run 1
Sorry, the camera was turned on a little late for the first run. Showing his typical excitement, Chan shot into the middle of the room, and then had to circle back to find the correct box.
Run 2
Mr. Hooligan still wants to mess with the camera. I'm not sure why. It could be the quirky sense of humor that I think he has. He also likes to poke the cats with his snout to make them mew and complain. I wouldn't put it past him to be amused that we jump to protect the camera.
The "waiting area" behind the ring gates is also visible for the first time in this shot. If we're back there, I generally keep Chan distracted so he's not trying to peek out through the sheets. My class seems to have dispensed with the crates because everyone is dog friendly, so I brought a mat to do some matwork with Chan in between runs.
Run 3
This run is interesting because Chandler seems to catch the scent in the middle of his initial zoom into the room. He quickly turns around to zero in on it.
Run 4
This run was very quick. It looks like Chan is not having trouble with hides on top of chairs anymore. Chandler is doing very well, and Nancy wants to know if Chan is signed up for the Sniff Weekend the training center is having on the 14th and 15th of August. He is; at least for Sunday, and I'm looking forward to it.
Run 5
This was a rather odd run, because Chan immediately found the correct box, but then seemed to dismiss it. He actually "hit the brakes" to circle back to it the first time. I'm not sure why he left it to check out other boxes. It could be because the birch scented q-tips were in a small round tin rather than the larger Altoids box that he was used to. Eventually, he did come back to the correct box.
Run 6
There were two hides on this run.
Mr. Hooligan wants to check out the food dishes on the table. You never know, there might be something in them...and there is some birch scent floating around back there.
That little round tin is still giving Chan some trouble. and he paces right past the cone that it is hidden in several times. However, to me, it seems like he goes straight back to that cone when he realizes there is another hide to find. Maybe he knew it was there because he just passed over it? I may have to practice more multiple hides with him. Unfortunately, I need more scent holding tins before I can do so.
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