more nosework!

Indi and I have been practicing nosework off and on this winter and are having lots of fun! It's such a good way to use up doggy energy when the roads are icy or the trails are muddy.
I'm hoping we'll get to enter an Odor Recognition Test in the next few months. It would be the first of its kind in Boise. The ORT is the pre test to show that your dog can find each of the three odors before being allowed to move on to competitions.
Just last night I broke down and ordered this:

I was tired of my little lip balm tins that you can't open and my baby food jars whose lids don't shut. Also, my anise oil smells suspiciously different than my friend and training partner's anise oil...Super excited!
For the ORT Indi will have to identify which of 12 boxes contains the scent of birch oil, clove and anise oil, in three separate tests. We will have 3 minutes. Eek!
Indi does very well finding the scent most of the time. There are a few times that she hasn't found it right away or hasn't found it at all. She definitely doesn't lack enthusiasm for the search but we find that boxes are hard!

Here is the first training session of the day using boxes. She seemed to hit on the incorrect box the first time and I think I should have stopped to open the box and show her it wasn't that one, but I didn't.

This is the next session after moving the boxes around. She got it right away this time.

The scent (clove oil for this one) was on q tips stuffed into a piece of plastic straw about an inch and a half long, then placed in the box. I open the lid to let her smell the scent better so she knows she was right and the scent was in there and then reward her close to the scent with cheese!

And some pictures to finish this post. Here is Indigo doing a vehicle search on our car. She found it!

K9 Nosework!

Indigo and I have recently discovered a very exciting new sport. K9 Nosework! We took a course through our local kennel club and had so much fun I just had to share.
Our teacher provided the first odor, Birch and a small tin with holes in the lid to keep the odor in. After a few weeks I made up my own kit and ordered my own oils on line. If you look around a little you can find the best deals but you can also buy already made kits for nosework online. I thought I could do it myself pretty easily and cheaper too.
To start with you will need your first odor which is Birch, botanical name: Betula Lenta. It is a lovely smelling essential oil that your dog will soon be crazy for!
I took home pill bottles from work to keep each bottle of oil in as you don't want any scent to escape and confuse your dog when you're not working with it.

You will also need a few small glass jars to keep scented q-tips in and separate jars to keep your tins with odor in. I used baby food jars that I had in my cupboard and they work ok to keep the scent in but I will tell you that the lids are a little hard to screw on. I need to get different jars. The size is just right though!

The tins I have are smaller so I had to cut my q-tips slightly smaller than just in half. Fill the jar 3/4 full with the cut up q-tips then add 1 or 2 drops of Birch oil to the lid of the jar, close the jar and shake it up. This will scent the whole jar of q-tips magically!

I had some old tins of Burt's Bees lying around so I cleaned those out thoroughly and drilled holes in the tops of them. These tins will hold your scented q-tips.

You only need a few scented q-tips in the tin. Each week at class our teacher refreshed our q-tips with new, smellier ones from her stash so the odor would be strong. You have to use tweezers to transfer q-tips as you don't want the scent on your hands, obviously.

Ok, now let's teach your dog some nosework!

Take your tin with Birch scented q-tips inside in one hand and some good treats in the other closed hand. Hold your hands out to your dog and wait for them to stop slobbering up the hand with the treats in it and notice your other hand with the TIN. When they sniff the tin, even briefly you will give them a treat from your other hand. The reward must be given directly on top of the scent tin to create association with the odor. Warning: your hands will become very slobbery! Give lots of small treats, one at a time over the top of the tin.

Here is a video!

Do this over and over and over and in different parts of the house, outside, all over! Then, when your dog is really starting to understand you can put the tin on the ground, or hold it up high, play around with it but always reward right on top of the tin and don't try to make it too hard right at first. You don't want to overwhelm your dog.

Have fun and happy sniffing!

Fit dog Friday

I wanted to share a little strengthening exercise I have been trying to do with Indigo about two or three times per week. I use her kibble (Acana Pacifica at the moment) and do it in the mornings before work. I made it up so don't take my word for anything!
To start, kneel down and bend one leg up so your dog can crawl under it. Lure them under with one piece of food and then toss a second piece a bit further so they go all the way through and stand up. Show them another piece and lure them the other direction and repeat! If they don't want to go all the way through at first, just be patient and give lots of rewards for each attempt at going under further and further. Some dogs aren't comfortable with crawling under your leg like that.
I have her do about 10 repetitions back and forth and then walk around a minute and then another 10 or so.
If you have bare floors like we do I think it's nice to use a rug or a dog bed for your dog to crawl on so it's not so hard on their elbows.
I feel it strengthens her hind leg muscles.
A video:

Happy Fit dog Friday!

Last AKC show of the year

Earlier in October we ran in our last AKC trial for the year. I do believe we are improving! We did three days total and came away with one qualifying Open Fast run and one Q in Excellent Standard. That Standard run didn't make it onto the video camera, sadly.

Indigo had a grand time.

 

 

 

She only appeared to be possessed in a few of the photos. See the drool?

 

 

 



Here is a just one "little" (ok, pretty large) thing Standard run that I was happy with other than how aweful she was at the start line, arguing with me about the stay. The error was taking the tunnel after the first few jumps and I am not sure how she saw that as an option!

She kept more bars up than she has in the past. And hopefully I am learning to run her better so she CAN keep the bars up!

 

 

Fat tail.

 

 

 

 

Here is a Novice Jumpers run in which I clearly called "come" in time, don't you think? We've been practicing coming sooner! She does try really hard to go the way I want her to it's just so hard when she just wants to stretch out and go as fast as she can. We almost had this one!

 

 



 

 

We get to do a Nadac trial this weekend. Can't wait to TUNNEL!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 



Frisbee!

Today we competed in a frisbee show. People lined both sides of the throwing area. Teams were given three throws and dogs were judged based on distance and style. We failed! I just couldn't throw straight enough for her to catch it correctly. Three throws, three non catches. It was fun though!

After we competed I threw the frisbee for her off to the side to burn off some more steam and to remind myself that I CAN throw straight when no one is watching.
Our awesome cousins took these pictures for us.

 

 

 



Fun day!

V day and Rye's Birthday!

On Friday Rye turned 13 years old! Sadly for him it also happened to be an agility trial for Indi and I so we didn't get to plan anything fun. He did get a special dinner though!
I took these pictures earlier this week.

My sweet sweet boy. All Rye wants is to make us happy. That is all he has ever wanted. And please please don't make too much noise!

and food! Give him lots of yummy food and he is a happy boy. He may bite your fingers when taking an item from your hand but he does not feel guilty about that.

And please remember to share the toy throwing with him! He may decide after you throw whether or not he will go after it but that is ok!

I took Indi to a skate park down town for some interesting backdrops and I really like how these came out! I got these before the teenagers appeared with their skateboards and took over the park.

I feel so lucky to have my Rye dog so healthy and youthful still! What a wonderful dog you are. Love you Rye!!!

Fun on a rainy snowy day

Let's see how many different things Indigo can hold!

There's 1!

There's 2!

There's 3!

I could make a really yummy doggy pie with all these things!














There's 4

There's 5

There's 6

There's 7

Do you think she's hinting at something?






















You could also practice silly tricks like this one.

When you've run out of things to do and it's still raining outside, just curl up together and read a book.

There's 8!

play and not play in Pocatello

We took the dogs on a trip to visit my dad this weekend.
 These pictures were taken along the way there, next to the Snake River at a place called Massacre Rocks State Park
Indi isn't satisfied with simply hiking, she has to harass Rye while he tries to hike. He sometimes decides to play back and sometimes gets angry at her for her obnoxious behavior. I let it go on for a minute or so, long enough to see if he is going to play or if he is not in the mood.
This was play.

A beautiful place to hike.

Pelicans!

Sand!

These pictures are from a hike with my dad. Pocatello, Idaho is FULL of beautiful foothill trails. Amazingly, it seems like hardly anyone uses them so we had it mostly to ourselves.

And this was not play, at least not from Rye's point of view. Indi running at him full speed, knocking into him. He gets as tough as he can, barking at her and she still doesn't listen. I have to take her collar and tell her to keep walking, then she stops.

Knock it off, black dog! I'm trying to eat snow!