Nosework

Summit and I recently attended our first Nosework seminar. I have been looking for an activity for us to do that is easy on his old joints, and that he would really enjoy. Unfortunately, most sports are out due to being not so friendly for old dogs. No agility, flyball, disc, or obedience. I thought about Rally because you can modify the sits for downs for medical reasons, however I thought we'd let his sniffer have a work out. He loves sniffing on walks so much, I figured it might be fun to see it in action.

I forgot to get video at the seminar itself, but did a bit of work at home with both dogs. Summit didn't do so well in the video at home because I made things a little too hard for him. I forgot that even though home is his "normal" environment, it is in theory a "new" environment for Nosework and I really should have let him start from the beginning for a couple of turns just to remind him of the game. Still, he did alright, he just needed a little bit of extra help.

I then got Kili out and let her give it a shot. As always, the difference in training the two dogs became abundantly clear. It's always interesting to see how their differently their brains work, but especially in nosework where it's so independent, it was very intriguing to see their different styles. Kili is, of course, a lot less careful and worried about things... she's a lot more resilient. Whereas Summit kind of starts to worry and look for support if he doesn't find something right away, Kili is pretty happy to exhaust all options before "giving up". I also love the little "piggy" noise she makes when she's sniffing hard.

All in all, it was a very successful day. I hope to be able to take Summit back to the next seminar of the series in a couple of months. My plan is to continue to do seminars/classes with Summit to give him an outing, and then bring back what I learn to teach to Kili at home.