Jillie got her Nosework 1 Title today :)

[Lisa and Pic]

Congratulations Little Jillie and how exciting to even surprise you Dad!

[Marhcarter]

Congrats Jillie! Smart girl

[yorkiemini]

Way to go you gorgeous little girl! Jillie Rocks !

[alaskayorkie]

Originally Posted by kjc

Wow! Impressive! This is sooo exciting! What's next?

Since Jillie beat my star Eddie, she will be retiring and never allowed to sniff again.

KIDDING! They have 4 levels of nosework. Level 2 is infinitely more difficult. They have to identify two odors (birch and anise), they have to search more vehicles, they have to find multiple odors in the same room, and they will have to be able to distinguish between food and the odor in the container search. They can't alert on food, only the odor.

In Alaska's first Nosework 2 trial Friday, no dogs passed Level 2 and 12 tried.

I believe the odors can also be hidden higher too, up to 4 feet. And that's a challenge for an 8" dog. Initially, I would have said she'd never be able to do it, but she proved me so wrong this week that we'll give it a try.

[Yorkiedaze]

Mike, if she passed the first round without much training, I would just love to hear she passed the second. She sure is a smart puppy and she must have found her talent. Great things may be in store for you two in the near future. Congratulations to you both.

[Starlette]

I do want to say "Congratulations!", but the truth of the matter is that I don't what I'm congratulating about *sheepishly stated* Can you explain more of this kind of competition? Thanks.

[Jenna AK]

I just found this and how wonderful!
I would actually like to know if there is anything like this up here in Fairbanks, as Ebon, our newer pup, is a real nosy character. She sniffs stuff out buried in snow and that snoot is never still. Jenna could probably give it a try but her strength is more in the power napping category.
Jillie looks lovely too, her ear fluff has grown over that side well.
I hope Eddie is back on the nosework himself soon.

[alaskayorkie]

Originally Posted by Starlette

I do want to say "Congratulations!", but the truth of the matter is that I don't what I'm congratulating about *sheepishly stated* Can you explain more of this kind of competition? Thanks.

Ha ha. I've been doing it for so long that I forget it's still a new dog sport! No sheepishness needed in asking.

K9 nosework as a dog sport was invented by an LA police officer who worked with K9 dogs for much of his career. In doing so, he realized that the dogs LOVE their work. He found that doing something they're naturally good at gave timid dogs confidence, made aggressive dogs mellow out and made all dogs happier.

He also realized that it's not just German Shepherds and bloodhounds who have a phenomenal ability to sniff. All dogs, including our Yorkies, can smell 1,000 times better than humans. They are master sniffers even before taking a class.

So the LA police officer started a sport for pets. Instead of searching for drugs and bombs, etc., they are taught to search for specific odors -- birch, anise and clove in the form of essential oils. A few Q-Tips are exposed to the odor, and that's what the dogs hunt.

In classes, the dogs are the instructors. Students are encouraged to watch their dogs. They start by finding treats or toys hidden in boxes. Eventually, the odor is added along with the treats. Lastly, the treat is removed and the dog is left with just the odor.

In competitions, they have four levels. In NW1, dogs have to find the birch odor in four elements -- an interior search, an exterior search, a vehicle search and a container (boxes) search. Each element is limited to about 3 minutes.

The sport is so new, Alaska has only had two competitions ever. But I don't really care much about the competitions -- other than bragging My dogs just love searching for the odor. I used to come home and they'd be bouncing off the walls with energy. Now I come home and hide the odors around the house, and they put on their game face and have a great old time finding it.

As a spectator sport, it's boring, but the dogs love it so much that it makes it worthwhile for me. We play nosework at least twice every day.

[alaskayorkie]

Originally Posted by Jenna AK

I just found this and how wonderful!
I would actually like to know if there is anything like this up here in Fairbanks, as Ebon, our newer pup, is a real nosy character. She sniffs stuff out buried in snow and that snoot is never still. Jenna could probably give it a try but her strength is more in the power napping category.
Jillie looks lovely too, her ear fluff has grown over that side well.
I hope Eddie is back on the nosework himself soon.

They DEFINITELY have nosework in Fairbanks because the woman who introduced the sport to Alaska has done a clinic up there for instructors. I'll find out which school she worked with and let you know.

And, yes, Eddie has been noseworking throughout his rehab. I started by just hiding it in his Xpen, so he could walk on soft padding to find it. Now he's back to searching around the house and on short walks. It really helped occupy his mind.

Here's the link to the national association for more information: http://www.nacsw.net/

[kjc]

Originally Posted by alaskayorkie

Since Jillie beat my star Eddie, she will be retiring and never allowed to sniff again.

KIDDING! They have 4 levels of nosework. Level 2 is infinitely more difficult. They have to identify two odors (birch and anise), they have to search more vehicles, they have to find multiple odors in the same room, and they will have to be able to distinguish between food and the odor in the container search. They can't alert on food, only the odor.

In Alaska's first Nosework 2 trial Friday, no dogs passed Level 2 and 12 tried.

I believe the odors can also be hidden higher too, up to 4 feet. And that's a challenge for an 8" dog. Initially, I would have said she'd never be able to do it, but she proved me so wrong this week that we'll give it a try.

Oh Yay! I'll be looking forward to following her progress! This is way too cool! Go Jillie!

I was reading up a bit on the NACSW website about the handler being able to help the dog (?) (This is all new to me so just asking, lol) Does this mean you can assist Jillie in reaching areas not accessible to her due to her height? :

* Height and accessibility of hides: Should be no more than approximately four (4) feet high. The source will be accessible to the dog (but may require the handler’s help to get close to the hide in some cases).

A note about height: The height parameter is a general guideline provided for training purposes. No trial location will ever be the same. If a kitchen counter were 3 inches taller than the specified guideline, it would still be used for a hide location as long as the dog would be able to gain access to it with the handler’s help.

[alaskayorkie]

Originally Posted by kjc

Oh Yay! I'll be looking forward to following her progress! This is way too cool! Go Jillie!

I was reading up a bit on the NACSW website about the handler being able to help the dog (?) (This is all new to me so just asking, lol) Does this mean you can assist Jillie in reaching areas not accessible to her due to her height? :

* Height and accessibility of hides: Should be no more than approximately four (4) feet high. The source will be accessible to the dog (but may require the handler’s help to get close to the hide in some cases).

A note about height: The height parameter is a general guideline provided for training purposes. No trial location will ever be the same. If a kitchen counter were 3 inches taller than the specified guideline, it would still be used for a hide location as long as the dog would be able to gain access to it with the handler’s help.

That's referring to the handler perhaps moving a chair or obstacle or opening a drawer that might be keeping the dog away from the odor. In competition, we would have to ask the judge before doing so. I've never run across a situation like that in competition, but I have in practice and classes.

An interesting footnote, though, for little dogs: The rules state that a handler can ask the judge if they can pick up the dog if they think the odor is out of the dog's reach. They'll know where it is by the odor, but they're too short to let the handler know exactly where it is.

Most of the bigwigs in the sport think that's unfair. Little dogs also have advantages in getting to tight spots and low spots that big dogs can't as easily, so why should they get a benefit on the other end of the spectrum?

But since it's in the rules, I routinely ask the judge if I can pick them up. They usually tell me no, but they allowed me to pick up Jillie one time on Sunday. She was signalling she found the odor, but I couldn't pinpoint it. And you have to be able to tell the judge within 4" where it is. So I picked her up and let her sniff the air about 3 feet off the ground. Then I put her back on the ground and asked her to show me where it was.

I regretted doing it. Before I picked her up, Jillie was signalling low on a table, but that was as high as she could reach. After I picked her up, she seemed a little confused. I called ALERT when Jillie sniffed the low area, and the judge said YES. However, if the judge had ask me to pinpoint it, I might have guessed higher and would have been wrong.