Our First NACSW NW1 Nosework Trial

[GBK]

We had such an awesome time this weekend at our first K9 nosework trial!!!  Kona trialed the first day and Buddy trialed the second day.  Neither one got their title this weekend but boy, they did such a great job :)  I was so proud of them!  They both missed the same element, the interior search.  They both found the scent, but didn't tell me they found it....  We are going to train extra hard for this element in the next few months and do it all again. 

I really thought that Kona would be my quick on the spot searcher, but funny how we forget when we have a shy dog that doesn't act shy anymore where she is comfortable.  It was a great learning experience for me.  And I learned a lot about my little girl in this new environment.

Buddy was a Rockstar!  He is my confident rush right into fun.  As long as he's with his Mom, there's no stopping him. He and I took home first place out of 38 dogs on the Exterior hide element, he found it in 19 seconds, and really he found it faster because I asked him to show me a second time.  We took home 2nd place in the Container search, he found the scent in 8 seconds.  I was pleasantly surprised at how well he worked for me on location.  We are hooked and plan to continue to train and compete. 

Nancy and Skip came out to root us on, and we really enjoyed their company and encouragement.  Thanks guys!  The pictures above are of the actual searches.  As they look at me, that is their alert.  Buddy also uses his paws.

[GBK]

Thank you Cheryl, Stella, BG and Jennifer!

Stella, glad your back to the scent, I don't think they will ever forget :)  We are testing for Anise dec. 20th, and one of them will also try to pass Clove since they are offering one round of it.  Have fun, that's what it's all about!  We have speaker/trainer coming for a weekend also, we will try to get a spot with a dog for both.  She's supposed to be one of the organizer's of the sport.  Very excited....

[Jennifer,Chloe & Myla]

Congrats! You must be so proud. That sounds like a fun thing to teach them to do. Good luck on the next round!!

[BG and Gavin]

Congrats Gina!  Sounds like the doggies did great.  It is wonderful that they enjoy it so much and it has brought out their confidence.  Great pics too!

[Stella]

Congratulations!!! I just started back at scent classes with my two tonight after a the summer off to compete at agility. They did so well and remembered exactly what to do. Both got straight back into it and were able to go to scent only searches after just one practice run. I love how driven they are to complete the search. By the way, my Chase also really looks like a Lagotto (although at 50lb he would be oversized!!).

[Cheryl and Finnegan]

Thanks for sharing GIna!  Looks like fun and you must be so proud!  Wow!

[GBK]

Thanks girls, it was truly a learning experience while also being so much fun.  I met a man competing with a Lagotto Romagnolo, and he was so shocked at how similar his boy and Kona looked.  She does get mistaken for them, even by Lagotto owners.  I printed the results and it was amazing how many different breeds compete.  I don't think there were any more than two of the same breed there that weekend, and a Chihuahua mix took third place overall on Saturday.  Looking forward to practice on Sunday :)

[Leslie and Halas]

Way to go!  

[F, Calla & Luca]

Yay Buddy. You will get titles in no time. Loved the montage.

[Pam Sadberry]

Thank you for sharing Gina!  You must be so very very proud!  Congrats.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Congratulations! We're very proud of you, Buddy, & Kona! Great job!