The Smart Dog U Blog

Pretty In Pictures: Nemo's Nose Work Trial

When I detailed Nemo's and my adventures in K9 Nose Work, I didn't have any pictures. During a trial, no one except the official trial photographer is allowed to take pictures. All competitors have the option of purchasing any or all of the photos taken during the trial. At this trial, the photographer captured Nemo's Exterior and Container elements. Here's a look inside a little piece of a K9 Nose Work trial...

 

 

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Nemo's Nose Works

Nemo's Nose Works

 Our names were called and Nemo and I walked toward the start line. Our first element was Vehicles. There was a nice breeze and Nemo's nose was working long before it was our turn to come from behind the visual barrier and begin working the hide. 

 

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Dog Training: The Power of Sniffing

Nemo Has My Husband's Number

 

Oh, these two. They'll be the death of me. A dog trainer's dog + a dog trainer's husband = DISASTER. 

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Bad Habits Welcome!

Nemo is thinking about counter-surfing. Yay!

Nemo is scratching his paw on the door --again-- because he wants back outside. Yahoo!

Nemo has followed me 10 feet to the bathroom, that's not big enough for both of us, and insists on staying. Yippee!

Why, you may be asking, would anyone (let alone a dog trainer!) be excited about a dog's bad habits?

Nemo came up lame over the weekend. He plays hard, so an occasional limp isn't cause for concern. But this limp went on for three days. And got worse. 

The vet was stumped. He happened to mention the most horrible word: cancer. All of a sudden, I missed everything that Nemo did. The silliness, the annoying things. Everything Nemo. 

Long story short, there's no cancer. Nemo's limp is probably due to soft-tissue damage (tendon, ligament, body parts like that). Rimadyl for a week was the prescription. 

After just two tablets, Nemo's acting more normal. He's not putting his paws on the counter, but he's at least thinking about it. I'm hoping that by tomorrow, he'll be squeezing into the bathroom with me. 

And, what was that I just heard? Interrupting my computer time? Why, it's that glorious paw against the door, telling me that Nemo's requesting his butler (that would be me) to come and let him enjoy the outdoors. 

I'm coming, Nemo, I'm coming!

A Scary Moment on Our Morning Walk

Alternate Title: WHY I HATE UNDERGROUND ELECTRIC FENCES.

We walked every day in Europe. We walked a long time. A long way. It was really fun. I wanted to keep up that habit when I returned home. So this morning, I leashed up the three dogs and we went for a nice neighborhood stroll. As I walked out the door, I dismissed the idea of bringing my cell phone (the battery was really low). And I'd never ever needed the DirectStop. Ever. So it stayed behind, too.

The walk was nice - Lily (the dog who's reactive to other dogs when she's on-leash) did a great job dealing with the maniac dog who rushes his electric fence barking like he's going to kill us if we get close enough. (This alone is enough reason for me to hate underground electric fences. But wait, there's more. Keep reading.) She started to go into her frenzy but then turned and looked at me when I called her name and very quickly was back under conrol. Nice work, Lil!

We continued our walk, loving this beautiful morning. Around the next bend was a 90-pound dog, safely (so I thought) contained by his invisible electric fence. Thing is, he looked WAY too close to the road. Generally, he stays about 30 feet away from the road.

Uh oh.

He took a step closer. By this time, my dogs (Lily, especially) noticed this big guy who is very stiffly staring at us. Stiff is never something you want to see in an unfamilar dog - it usually means trouble. I yelled at him (I can sound pretty tough) to get away, but he's laser-locked on my dogs, taking very deliberate and slow steps toward them.

By this time, my guys are pretty fired up. I was unable to get Lily's attention, so she's in full-blown bark mode and now, with Tango (my yellow Lab) and Nemo (the hound/Dane mix) as back-up, she's in rare form. When Tango and Lily are together, even Tango (who ususally uses his brain and is reasonable) gets a little haywire.

The neighbor dog wasn't stopping. I had some decisions to make. And quickly. I wasn't going to get in the way of him. I hoped he'd notice that it was going to be three against one and would reconsider. Unfortunately, that didn't happen, he kept taking those slow, deliberate paces straight toward us.

I decided against trying to pull the dogs away: (a) I'm not strong enough (I was outweighed) and (b) tension on leashes, especially in a situation like this, is never a good idea. My next thought: give my dogs as good a chance as possible if this big dog decided to have a go at them. So I dropped Nemo's leash -- he's the least likely to fight and would try to escape if possible.

By this time, the big dog is squarely in the middle of my dogs. I'm still yelling (like an idiot) and thankfully Lily begins to calm down. (I don't think it was because of my yelling - more about that in a minute.) Things are still awfully stiff among the dogs, there's a lot of posturing and I'm still not sure how this whole thing is going to turn out.

I decided to drop Lily's leash as well - she's the smallest and if there was going to be a disagreement, I wanted her to be able to get out of there, too. Finally, I walked between Tango and the big dog, calling my dogs as I did it.

They looked up (!) and I began to walk away. The big guy decided he'd like to follow, so I turned, made myself as large as I could (hard to do for a 5' 1" person) and bellowed "GO HOME." He didn't necessarily listen, but I think the bass of my voice took him by surprise. He looked up at me and at least stopped moving forward.

My dogs got lots, and lots, and lots of food (I always carry food with me) and we extricated ourselves from the situation.

Remember the yelling I was doing as the dog was approaching? If I could do it all over again, I'd try to get myself under control first - yelling was ineffective at best. It could have helped encourage a fight. I was panicked, however, at the thought of a fight, blood, and the fact that I had neither my phone or any way to get an injured dog back to my house.

Things I will never leave behind again: Cell phone and DirectStop.

If you have an underground electric fence: PLEASE LEAVE YOUR COLLARS ON YOUR DOGS ALL THE TIME. The dogs really DO know when the collar isn't on. DON'T leave your dog unattended. And when they start to bark like maniacs at the boundary, call them back! All that frustration is not a good thing for your dog. And having them cross that barrier to get to my dogs isn't good for me. Or my dogs.

Teddy's Goof-Off Day

Don't let this silly face fool you. Teddy's a grass-churnin', rip-roarin', goof off fool! The dogs were home alone for a few hours today and were more than a little ready for some R + R in the backyard when I returned home.

I still had a lot of work to do when I got home, but I decided to take advantage of the beautiful day and multi-task. I took my work outside with me and sat in the Adirondack chair under the shade tree.

Lily's idea of goofing off is to lay flat on her back and have her belly rubbed. Continuously.

Tango's idea of goofing off is retrieving the tennis ball. Continuously.

Nemo goofs off in a few different ways: he lopes around the yard blowing off some steam, he then rolls in the grass, kicking his feet to the sky, and then heads for the kiddie pool for a cool-down.

Teddy goofs off in a million ways, but his favorite goofing-off activities involve annoying Nemo.

It's been a long, tough week here at Smart Dog U - we're having a kitchen re-do. The past few days have found me and the four dogs sequestered in my office as the kitchen cabinets were installed. Lots of banging, noise, and dust.

So at the end of a very long week, the dogs had to blow off a little steam. Here's a quick look at that fun. (If you have a hard time seeing the entire width of the video, double click it and you can watch it direct from YouTube.)

 

The Dog Days of Summer

It's gonna be a hot one here in the Mid-Atlantic this weekend. I'm a lover of summer time, and so are the dogs.

That's Tango and Nemo having fun at Lake Anna retrieving the bumper. 

Lily's enjoying the boat on Lake Anna.

Lucky enjoying a ride on the raft at Lake Anna.

Tango cooling off with the hose.

The sprinkler is a dog-entertainment toy!

Talos didn't like the water then, and he STILL doesn't like it!

Nemo and Dana enjoying an afternoon at Lake Anna.

Horses and Hounds

I should have been born into the horse world. I was one of those girls who wished for a horse for every birthday and wound up crying every birthday because I never got one. I honestly think that's why I'm so in love with big dogs, especially the giant breeds like the Danes and the Mastiffs. They're almost like horses. When Talos gallops past me in the backyard, the ground vibrates. If I close my eyes, I can convince myself that I'm sharing the backyard with a horse.

A couple weeks ago, I found my calling in life. I should be a recklessly wealthy woman living on several hundred acres with both a stable full of horses and a kennel full of dogs. Well, not really a kennel - all my dogs would be house dogs. But that's just a minor detail. Back to my newfound calling...

I went to the Howard County Iron Bridge Hound Race a couple weeks ago. It wasn't a race for hounds, it was a horse race over rolling meadows, through the woods, and over some pretty impressive jumps. It was dog-friendly so Nemo accompanied us. 

Unfortunately, Nemo didn't share my love of horses. He was quite suspicious of the large, snorting, smelly things if we're being honest.

At the conclusion of the race, this really nice man (the keeper of the hounds) let us come out and get our picture taken with him and his horse. As you can see from the top picture, Nemo really didn't want a whole lot to do with the situation. The rider was patient and spoke softly and calmly to Nemo, who obliged us, but would not untuck his tail. He has his limit, I suppose, and we were just a tad over it.

The day was great fun for all of us. I am asking for a horse for my birthday. And a 300-acre farm. And 30 hounds.

Spring Fever Hits the Big Dogs (Video)

The weather in the Mid-Atlantic is looking very much like Spring! The sun is shining, the grass is green, the birds are singing, and the big dogs are a little silly! Every time I let them out (I should wise-up and just leave the door open), they throw their heads up and take in big gulps of air. Just once I wish I could know what that feels like - they look positively mesmerized by what's floating on the breeze. 

Anyway, after those first few minutes of tranquility, it's off to the races! They run here, they run there. They jump. They stalk (ok, only Talos and Nemo stalk - the Labradors are not stalkers, thankyouverymuch). I put together some footage today of the dogs enjoying the day. 

Take note of how physical Nemo (black dog) and Talos (cow lookalike) play. They're well-matched play partners: they both like the same kind of play. An Australian Shepherd or a German Shepherd would not find this kind of play at all enjoyable, however. They're more chase and be chased dogs, not wrestle and body-slam. 

Notice that Lily's nowhere to be seen. She's a wallflower when it comes to playtime. The two big dogs are too rough for her and playing with them is just not fun for her. She was curled up under my feet, tucked safely out of harms way.

Note: In the second video, you'll hear Talos yelp at the end of the tape. Talos (or Nemo) came down on Talos' leg funny and Talos limped for a few minutes. Talos is completely fine. In fact, the first video was taken after that fall. 

Spring Fever courtesy of the Big Dogs:

Noseworks - The Cool New Canine Sport

Nemo and I went to an all-day  Noseworks seminar on Saturday. Noseworks is a new canine sport that incorporate's your dog's natural ability to use it's nose. 

I took Nemo because he's got an really good sniffer. Not only is his sniffer good, but Nemo really likes to use his nose! Here's the basic premise behind Noseworks:

Dogs have an amazing sense of smell and a natural desire to hunt.  The sport of K9 Nose Work is designed to develop your dog’s natural scenting abilities by using their desire to hunt and their love of toys, food and exercise.  It’s a great way for your dog to have fun, build confidence, and burn lots of mental and physical energy (from the Noseworks website). 

Noseworks is good for every type of dog: big ones, little ones; tall ones, short ones; fast ones, slow ones; mellow ones, hyped ones. It's really a sport for any dog that can walk and sniff. 

There is (of course) a competition set up for dogs who excel at Noseworks. The National Association of Canine Scent Work (NACSW) sets the standards governing the sport of canine nose work. NACSW is the only official sanctioning and organizing body for nose work titles and certification in nose work.

I'll be posting some video in the next few days of Nemo and the others trying their hand - um, nose - at this cool new sport. If there's enough interest, I'd be happy to offer some Noseworks classes for my clients. Interested? Leave me a comment!