The NACSW has made Tigger's NW2 videos available, from back in 2014 -- and Linda purchased them!
This is the Containers search. There was one hide. Tigger nailed it.
Back in those days, they still used luggage in Containers searches above the NW1 level.
Great job Linda and Tigger!
A good Nose Work handler needs to think about where scent could be wafting to where the dog can start to source it.
Of course, we can't see air movement. Usually.
Dry ice dropped into a kiddy pool with not much water. Light shifty winds make big differences in the air flow.
The NACSW has started making old Trial videos available for purchase -- back in the old days, there were no video services allowed at the Trials. This is Linda and Tigger, from way back in October 2012. Their first competition, an NW1 Trial, in Livermore, CA.
Linda says:
"My novice handling wasn't quite as embarrassing as I remembered... We would have taken 3rd place overall except for a food-fault in Interiors.
"Tigger passed away last November. It's great to see how much fun he was having here.
"In Interiors, I knew he'd found the hide under the chair, but he declined to tell me about it, so I declined to call it. I figured he'd come back after he sniffed the fascinating kid-smells in the room, and he did. If that happened today, I would have called it the first time. But it worked out OK in the end.
"He took a while to source, in Exteriors. But he got there!
"He took 1st place in the Vehicles search. He pretty much ran directly to the hide -- it was quite windy that day. Good boy!
"Containers -- the boxes are arranged in the shape of a witch's hat, for Halloween. We missed the start-line, but went back and hit it. Sloppy handling, and lesson learned!"
Travel tip: Schools can be promising Nose Work locations, evenings and weekends. Here Bodie has fun chasing odor, finding where the wind took it, and following it to source. She also has to decide which of the 5 hides to go after next.
Travel tip: Set up a search in your hotel room. It exposes dogs to searching a new location and also hopefully tires them out so they'll behave.
Interesting to note: Just how much fabric catches odor, even though none of the hides are actually on fabric.
K9 Nose Work Blowing Odor Puzzle
This is an interesting blowing odor puzzle.
As Tigger sniffs around the metal carts, he can't find a focus for the odor. That's because it's blowing widely over the carts, from behind him.
When your dog sniffs widely and everything seems equally compelling, make sure there's room for turning around and finding the odor behind your team. If you're pressed for time, you may want to guide your dog to searching for the odor source by traveling upwind.
Thank you to Dave for creating such an interesting odor puzzle.
Travel tip: When you arrive at your hotel room, set up a Nosework search. It's a great chance to search an unfamiliar indoor location.
In this case, we're practicing an NW3-level blank room (no odor). He knows there's no odor as soon as he steps into the room. We practice because the human part of the team needs to learn how the canine partner looks when there's odor, and when there's not.