The Little Dog that Could

[adojrts]

How long have you been training and have you progressed to just scents yet or is it only food at this point? Btw, congrats, Mia IS a rockstar.

[Sparrow]

That's awesome! I've been doing nosework with my Zoe for about two months now, and I love watching all the different dogs work and learn. I love the huge mix of sizes and temperaments.

I wish I had known about it sooner. I always thought my dog was too dog reactive for any classes or sports. When a local trainer told me about nosework I knew we had to check it out.

She is in LOVE with going to school! She gets so excited. When she was in PT a few years back after her TPLO, her PT told me she's the most food motivated dog she's ever met. That works well with nosework! She gets distracted at times, but we did a practice ORT last night and she did alright. Brilliant the first run, then got distracted on the second one. I was able to call the alert accurately, but she wasn't giving a long enough indication like usual.

She goes for her ORT in March and there is a trial in May. I don't expect her to title yet at that trial, but it will be great experience. She's a big time marker, so if anything that will be our downfall during the outdoor portion.

It's really hard to get these things up in Alaska - they have to fly judges from California - so there is only one ORT in the state per year, and last year was the first trial. This coming year, though, there will be a second trial in September, so I'm hoping for good things at that one as it will be almost a year into Zoe's nosework career.

I do think classes help get things down, but it can certainly be taught at home as well.

[spiffy]

Go Mia Go!

[Laurelin]

Originally Posted by adojrts

How long have you been training and have you progressed to just scents yet or is it only food at this point? Btw, congrats, Mia IS a rockstar.

It's been about 2 months and we are still pairing the scent with the food at this point.

It's definitely a good sport for reactive dogs since only one dog is out at a time. There's an ORT tomorrow but we're not ready for it. I'm surprised even Alaska has had more trials than we have in Oklahoma. Oklahoma is kind of a barren wasteland for dog sports. For now... We've got a pretty good group of people really trying to start up more trials and venues in the state.

When I first started I was kind of discouraged because I was told it would be hard with a dog as small as Mia. I'm very glad we went and did it anyways.

[stardogs]

Mia sounds like such an awesome little dog every time you post about her activities! So glad she rocked her final!

For those without a class nearby, Andrew Ramsey has a DVD on the topic that several of my friends have used with success - it's not the "official" way to train the skill, but imo it seems to make more sense. LOL

[Fran101]

Go Mia go! LOL she is such a little rockstar

[Keechak]

Do you have any videos of her working? I've always wondered what it looks like for a small dog to alert to a scent that's much to high for them to reach. Congrats on your success!

[Laurelin]

My trainer has taken a couple but I don't have any. We're still working on a clear alert but Mia starts up on her back legs and eventually ends up scratching.

Apparently some judges/trials will let you pick up your dog during the search too. That's interesting to me.

The lower levels only have finds up a certain amount of feet (I can't remember the number).

[Sparrow]

Originally Posted by Laurelin

I'm surprised even Alaska has had more trials than we have in Oklahoma.

From what I understand, it was a really huge undertaking a long time in the making. I'm very pleased with how devoted the people up here are to making things happen. It's certainly not cheap to get the judges up here, though, so we have to pay high enough fees to cover that, but it's worth it.

And by my standards, the four hour drive to the ORT and later to the trial is short/close. :-)

Edit: I'm almost positive NW1 only has hides up to four feet high.