M&P Winter 2024

The Adventures of BB the Sniffy Dandie May Blary CAD BISS CH Sparklize Midnight Believer CGN RN NTD ITD, C-wags SP SD SI SSS, UKC PTN PTA PTS PTM PTE NC NI NE NV NN AC AI AE AV AN SC SI MC MI, SDDA Started Advanced A fter finishing his championship, I took BB to obedience classes for 16 weeks to get his Canine Good Neighbour title and Novice Rally Obedience title. He didn’t have much difficulty to get those titles but I felt like he was doing those tasks just because I asked him to do so. BB is a stubborn but very soft dog for a terrier. He gets startled by large noises and he was not fond of new places and new people. One of my friends who does many different canine sports told me that nosework has been very efficient to train nervous dogs and took us to a drop-in introductory class for Scent Detection and that evening changed our life completely. When we started Scent Detection seven years ago, it was not known to regular dog owners. We only had a few trainers offering classes in my town and they were usually filled months in advance. I

had to wait few months to participate in training classes. Also, there were only a couple of trials a year for chances to get titles. Now, Nosework has become very popular, and I have seen at least 25 trials from many different organizations hosted by many canine clubs in my town. It became very difficult to get in the trials as it gets filled as soon as entry opens. At Nosework classes, some trainers used essential oil only as hides and there was one trainer uses NACSW method, which uses combination of food and essential oils as hides. All of us can guess which class BB got more motivated. His big nose never stops while searching in the room and he was having so much fun. I had to drag him or carry him back to the car after the class is over. We found the sport BB loves. BB learnt to sniff out essential oils quickly but he took a while to give me his indication such as sit or lie down to let me know where the hide is. As the level goes up, we were having difficulty in communication. He gets so excited to sniff out the essential oil in a search area and let me know far away from it. Also there are so many times he didn’t feel like telling me where the hide is and gave me no clue. He was losing confidence and giving up more easily and I realized that I was the one causing his failures. It was crucial for me to get more knowledge in canine behaviour and body languages. Every week, I had a Nosework class with BB, and I had several online courses and webinars on Nosework and Canine Behaviour from Fenzi Dog Sports Academy. I am fortunate to have great instructors and training buddies. We get together often to practice and to study olfactory science. BB’s funny character and unique look always get a lot of attentions from classmates, judges and other handlers. More and more people came to give BB bum scratches and treats before or after his searches. BB’s shyness was gone. BB and I build some new routines for searching and I stopped making him wear a harness for a search. Some dogs do well with a harness but BB was one of those become a statue when wearing clothes. Things got changed by the third year of training. BB started to have more focus and confidence. I kept all practice searches easy for his continuous positive experience. We became a team and we bonded. I knew what BB would do seconds before he does and I am 100% sure he reads my minds. We were getting Qualifying scores at trials at higher levels and even getting Highs In Trials BB got over 20 Scent Detection titles and we were stepping into the highest levels at each organization offers. Unfortunately, BB got injured this spring and could not walk for a while. After many different treatments, he still can’t use stairs so we had to give up trialing. We still play “Sniffy” casually. When I pull out his training bag with biothane leashes, he gets so excited to wait for me at the door. After perfecting hand stripping and scissoring techniques for conformation showing, teaching BB to walk side by side for Obedience training, what I enjoy the most from my BB is letting him walk in front of me and wait for him to tell me with those big beautiful eyes saying, “Hey, Mommy, I found the hide, call Alert now!”

Mustard & Pepper

18

Winter 2023