Sniffing Around Scent Work

I took Yeti to our traditional New Year’s scent work a few weeks ago, a three day event that is always filled with fun and drama. I usually am busy judging, but this year I took off to run Yeti and help out as a volunteer. This year was also special because I ran Yeti in his first Detective searches. We didn’t pass any, but we got close: in two out of three, we got all but one hide, and the third, I called a fringe alert (that I knew wasn’t correct) because of trial nerves.

However, my students really rocked it! Several passed more than one Detective search. I am thrilled for them, and like to think that my classes helped.

We also ran in the master level element classes. We completed our overall Master’s title last September, so we are starting on elite titles.

The good news was that we got some Qualifying run (Qs!), and even some placements, in what were large, experienced classes. The bad news was that I made some seriously stupid handler errors, more than once. For those beginners in this sport who think that you will reach a point in which your handling becomes flawless and effortless….well, you are in for a big disappointment. After a number of years with the same dog, you do get comfortable and have a certain understanding. But the errors continue to happen, even for the very experienced. I often say that the handling in this sport is the trickiest thing I have ever done—the balance and communication that you have to find and maintain is devilishly delicate.

 Probably the best news is that I was able to get some really good information from the runs that we did, in particular, the Detective runs. There is nothing worse than stumbling away from a failed search wondering where the whole thing went wrong. I always feel better when I can see the mistakes and know what I need to work on.

In general, I am a little behind on Yeti’s development curve. Last year, in order to get through the unknown number of hides scenarios in the Master level searches, I had to really push Yeti. I let him drive the search and find hides initially, but then I would walk around and ask him to double and triple check things, because he wasn’t thorough, and would consistently tell me that he was done when we had left easy hides unfound.

Mind you, I wasn’t happy about having to manage so much of the search. When Yeti was younger, he searched more like Astra does—very proactive, and finding the vast majority of hides without any prompting, and then letting me know she is finished. Yeti and I did an NW3 as an For Exhibition Only (FEO) competitor when he was just over a year old, and he did beautifully, finding the hides and being very clear in his communication.

And then I made one or two training errors, and then, even worse, adolescence set in, for over two years. Lagottos are very slow maturing dogs. And his beautiful, flowing searches became slow and halting. He would stop and look at me constantly. He would give me a long questioning look instead of his sit alert. I would have to talk and urge and  badger a bit to get a whole room searched.

So I did this last weekend. But what I saw was that Yeti was being much more proactive in finding all the hides, and that my overhandling was mostly causing us an unnecessary time delay. It seems that he has finally matured, and his mojo is returning.

But now I have to pull my handling style back from the nagging end of the spectrum. I don’t want to push it all the way into “hands off.” I need to find the sweet middle ground which will give Yeti more freedom, and cut down on the search time, but still be vigilant enough to provide accountability.

This is going to be harder than it sounds. Right now I can see the problem, but the over-handling has become a habit which is proving difficult to unlearn. I have often observed that we humans do not learn as quickly as our canine partners.

The other important thing that I figured out was that I need to buy a timing device. As many of you know, one of the challenges in the Master level searches is that you get no thirty-second warning from the timer, as you do in the lower-level classes. I have always used my phone and just stuck it in my pocket, but this weekend proved that I just can’t manage that reliably anymore: I lost two qualifying runs because I messed up timing. So I will have to invest in something. And then I will have to practice with it, so I get comfortable with the process of setting it and then hearing the beeps or whatever, and Yeti gets used to hearing it. The key to using a timer is to practice, practice, practice—if you don’t, mistakes at trial WILL happen!

Onward and upward in 2025…and learn, unlearn, relearn!

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