This past weekend I was in an element specialty trial, Level 1. Mickey has already gotten his first Nose Work level 3 (NW3) title, so this should have been an easy test. All one hide, quick and easy.
I did two elements, the first was interiors and the second was containers. In interiors, we did 4 rooms. One hide each. I was a little concerned since it had been a month since Mickey and I had any decent practice. As I walked into the first room, the change in light concerned me and I a bit tense wondering if I was going to see well enough to call the alert. I let Mickey search the room off leash. The first two rooms we had option of on or off leash. The first search was in a larger room, I let Mickey go and he searched the area, then fixated on a chair. He dawdled and I didn't call it, because it just didn't seem right. But when he dawdled, I started to look at him more intensely to see if he was going to call it. He stuck his head a certain way and I figured that was it, called it and it was a "NO!".
First of the day and a "NO!" Mickey and I haven't practice for a month and we were certainly out of sync. When I have been practicing with him consistently, I usually can tell if he is dawdling. He also didn't give the gush of air I hear in his nose when he found it. Whew, was I out of practice in reading my dog!
The biggest issue for me is, getting the very first odor wrong, it has in the past broken my spirit. I was crushed and had to work on my psyche to not let it get to me to ruin the rest of the element. You could tell my body slumped slightly and I spun around to figure out where to leave the area, since I know once we get that "NO!" it is all over. Fortunately, the judge, Chris Busch told me which chair it was on and wanted me to leave on a good note for both Mickey and I. This did a world of good. I was so crushed that finding the odor changed my spirit, and it enabled me to be happy with Mickey he found the odor. it worked. The following three we got the odor correctly.
Of course after this element I was thinking, how on earth can an NW3 dog blow it? Others who have gotten their NW3 title have also "blown it." But it was so hard to shake. I do believe learning how to deal with the disappointment and work through it is what makes a strong team. But, what is even excellent is I was able to come back the last three searches and get a leg towards the title. And even better, when I did the element for the containers, we got them all and succeeded. In my two NW3 trials I didn't title, when I "lost my title" I went down hill. But this time I didn't. This tells me all the sport psychology training I have been working on is helping. This also means I will be psychologically stronger during difficult times. I am learning well how to focus.
Between the two elements I went back to my chair and slumped. I had to mentally work through not getting the title on an EASY element. A fellow practice partner just happened to arrived and gave me a cute little NW3 clip. It really brought my spirits up, reminding me that we have achieved that level and Mickey and I are a good team. That I'm not letting all the chaos and crap in my life getting me and I am over coming incredible challenges that I really am rising above. This friend really reminded me that we are ok, and we had a silly little opps. We were out of sync, not practicing for about a month. but nailed the rest of the day. Yee ha what a come back, and how many people can say they did that? Not many.
Monday, February 16, 2015
Tuesday, December 16, 2014
Getting back running again....
Since my last trail, it was such an emotional blow to me that it took awhile to get my head back right to move forward. Last Sunday I did a Sniff 'n Go. I was glad some of the hides were known. This stepping back to some known and unknowing helped build Mickey's and my confidence. Mickey was doing a little bit of a "drive-by" but that enabled me to work him through it. I saw an inkling of returning to the way we use to dance well together. Doing this session helped our confidence.
Tonight it was raining when i came home from work. I took this opportunity to do a rain, early evening, almost dark practice. Mickey did exceptionally well. I realize this is in our own backyard that he knows very well, but these practices really are helping restore the confidence so Mickey and I can do well at our next trial in 10 days.
I also will be thinking appropriate material. Although some advice says to think all positive, that did add a little pressure on me. Trying to get a few titles in this time zone, and thus far getting none. That can work on your psyche and be damaging if you don't guide yourself in the correct manner.
I am breaking it down more to task, not envision myself winning the title. The latter seems to mess with my head. The more I can think of Mickey, the task at hand, the less information in my head is all the better. In my sessions with my Sport Psychologist, reading books and articles, focus is one of the most important skills to have in competition.
I wrote a continuous plan that is helping me keep on track. I think this time we are going to nail it!
Tonight it was raining when i came home from work. I took this opportunity to do a rain, early evening, almost dark practice. Mickey did exceptionally well. I realize this is in our own backyard that he knows very well, but these practices really are helping restore the confidence so Mickey and I can do well at our next trial in 10 days.
I also will be thinking appropriate material. Although some advice says to think all positive, that did add a little pressure on me. Trying to get a few titles in this time zone, and thus far getting none. That can work on your psyche and be damaging if you don't guide yourself in the correct manner.
I am breaking it down more to task, not envision myself winning the title. The latter seems to mess with my head. The more I can think of Mickey, the task at hand, the less information in my head is all the better. In my sessions with my Sport Psychologist, reading books and articles, focus is one of the most important skills to have in competition.
I wrote a continuous plan that is helping me keep on track. I think this time we are going to nail it!
Saturday, December 13, 2014
Being humbled takes guts
My second NW3 trial was a full day of learning. My desire to title over rode my decision making process right in the middle of pressure. Here I am headed towards dialysis and being put on a kidney transplant list, I wanted to show the world I was a woman than could conquer all. I could be that person that everyone admires for having such difficult challenges, over coming them and succeeding. I also wanted to prove to myself that this End Stage Kidney Disease was not going to take me down. The past several months I've been fighting fatigue seeing my life slip away and be buried by being overwhelmed. I wanted to feel like I still had it in life.
Many of those Olympian stores are so heartwarming. The surmountable challenges they h ave over come, not letting anything get in their way. I wanted to be that. But that desire for that title is what destroyed me at the first get go, not that I have kidney disease, having only 35% left of my vision or having a 90% hearing loss in the speech range. It was my ego and head that got me into trouble.
The trial was in Boulder Creek, CA tucked in the southern range of the red wood forest. The tallest trees in the world that make it slightly darker than any other forest. The moisture allowing the red wood trees and the beautiful green ferns to thrive. It was a perfect setting, a YMCA camp with the only access is a winding road. It housed many creative ideas for the various elements in our trial. It was raining through most of the morning creating a damp enviornment.
For all NW3 trials, you do not know how many odors that will be hidden. You will have up to three odors in each search. In interior there is an exception, there could be zero to three odors. At this level we search three different rooms. Interiors is the only place you will have a blank search area. Not knowing how many odors are hidden is a huge challenge from NW2 to NW3. NW2 you know how many hides; NW3 you do not.
I was # 3 in the running order. My first element was containers.The containers were in the center of a cabin, with the perimeter with bunk beds. The theme Christmas. Mickey and I stepped into the cabin and off we went. Mickey went around the various containers and he alerted on a container. I said, "alert" and I heard the voice of the judge, but I couldn't tell the difference between "Yes" and "no". So I asked the judge to repeat. This took a little flow out of the search, but Mickey is experienced and we went again. But after that, I started to have panic set in just a little bit. One trial I did well in containers that if I didn't drop food, I would have gotten first place, ok, we have this. Then the thought of my last trial where Mickey brushed over a bag and didn't even show much interest and we missed it. Then the thought of my last practice with Mickey having a difficult time with a small leather backpack. Over thinking in the middle of an element, I started pushing Mickey on the containers. If there was a second odor, I didn't want him to miss it, but under the stress I pushed him too much. My brain was in a repetitive record mode. Spinning around in circles checking each container. He went back to the first odor and alerted a few times, but at this point, I couldn't remember which container Mickey has checked and if he did, did he check it well? At this time during this element, I was not in the zone, but complete zoned out.
Mickey was getting really frustrated and started biting a few containers. Me being in "trail brain", I called alert. Judge said "No". At that split second, I came back in zone and realized the biting wasn't an alert, it was frustration. I know better than that. I worked on this in practice so we wouldn't get here. I know how quickly he can get frustrated. I pushed to long, but being worried there was another odor because he has missed odors, I pushed. Mickey did his best in this element and as I walked away from this element, an overwhelming feeling of guilt came over me. I let my dog down. I was more worried about a title than connecting with my dog. We lost our dance.
The next element was interiors. Three rooms we needed to search. The first room we went in, Mickey started sourcing, but doing his brush by alert. This is really hard for me to read as sometimes his brush by is how he fringes. Fringing when he's dawdling, checking things out and not right at the source of the odor. Mickey was also burned out from our last element. which was apparent by his brush by alerts. His heart wasn't in it. Mickey knew I was feeling a bit disheartened from letting him down. He's so sensitive, he knows my moods before I'm aware. As Mickey jumped up on the lower bunk bed, he sourced. It was like he was chasing odor to one end to the other. Undetermined and didn't clearly pinpoint it. I called alert on an area of the bed, and it was a "no" from the judge. This was hard to hear the second "No" so soon. It was beginning to break my spirit and hope.
Second room. Went in and rather soon, I called finished as Mickey showed no indication of sourcing. One of the rare moments of that day I felt confident and I didn't over push Mickey. I found out at the debriefing we were right! So I can pat myself on the back that every blank room at a trial, I called right! The last room, Mickey found the odor under the bed, but he had to go under twice. At this time with two "No"s and my spirit down, I was too gun shy to call it the first time he went under. I didn't know at the time, but there was a second odor and I called finished before we found it.
Four searches and only one success. That was a blow. But good coaching and good sport psychology always tells you focus on what you did right. You learned. Although it was major, in reality because Mickey and I have been practicing a lot, it is just small tweaking. However, my logic knows this, my emotions were feeling a lot of defeat.
At lunch time I tried to get my head back in order. I tried to tell myself that we had two more elements that we can get points for our NW3 element title in Vehicles and Exteriors. We have a chance to bounce back. I told myself that this is a very good experience to train myself to dust the dirt off and get going like nothing happened. I have another chance. Good experience people have to fall many times and remember, we are here to have fun with our dogs! I started to think about the next two elements and think of a strategic way to approach the searches. It is tricky because I always let the dog lead first, then when they get stuck, or I see we haven't covered an area, I need to start thinking strategically how do I cover the area. This brought some calmness and hope to my mind. That we can do it.
The next element was vehicles. There were four vehicles all parked in a row, bumper to bumper in a straight line. At lunch time I took a little time to get into deep thought how I was going to process this search area. At first I thought serpentine, then I thought no, run down one side, up the other side to let Mickey catch the odor to lead. If we didn't catch anything, then we would go in-between. This served me well. We started our search and went down one side, but Mickey was still a little burned from the morning. He wanted to play sticks and he knew there were many around. I had to nag him to stay on the vehicle. Once in a while he would go about 3-4 feet from the vehicles to search for sticks. I brought him back to the vehicle and he started sourcing, I sighed with relief! Then he found one odor on a bumper. We went to search the other side and there are more sticks and fun stuff. Again had to really push Mickey back on the vehicles. I hated to do this because we were having a bad day already, and didn't want to be in a constant nag, but he wanted to play sticks. We found the other odor, I searched the area well and called finished. Later at the debriefing I found we got this element. Yes, another success!
Our last element, exteriors. Another big area. You had a lot of ground to cover. We had four minutes. Mickey and I set out, Mickey shows interest in the benches but doesn't do a strong alert, he does a brush by. We went to the other side of the long string of benches, and he still did a brush by. I didn't call it, as he really didn't do a strong alert, but I knew something was there.
We went to the grill area and Mickey showed interest around the counter, again he did a brushed by. Then he went to the coiled up hose on a pole, and did a better alert. I called Alert, the judge said "@x$" I had to ask him to repeat because I couldn't hear what he said. He said "@x$" again. I had to ask him again. Thirty seconds goes by and we are completely out of flow. I finally hear the judge yell "YES!" Ok, on we go, and then I heard a "thank you" which means I didn't hear the 30 seconds warning. When everyone came up to me and standing around, I said, Oh and I guess I missed the 30 second warning? They said, "yes" then I said, "oh, even though I timed out, I guess I should say finished and I said, 'Finished!'" and everyone laughed. As I walked away, again felt disheartened feeling so bummed I messed up three elements. The overwhelming feeling of, this is the worst I've ever done. I worked so hard to get here, I worked on my dog, conditioning my dog, worked on my frame of mind, worked on being positive, and it felt like this test didn't show the efforts I have put in. The feeling was overwhelming.
Going back to the parking lot, no statement or positive thought made me feel better. I had to be alone. I let others talked about how they didn't make it, and I didn't say much, just letting them tell their stories. I heard from many people when they didn't title, "I'm here to have fun with my dog." I heard it so many times it is becoming a cliche'. It seems mechanical in a way that when someone didn't succeed, they tell themselves that to make them feel better.That you really shouldn't be down because you didn't title. The social atmosphere is you must be happy and positive when you do not title. We all know that disappointment goes down the leash. That we need to be happy for our dogs. But even thinking of that didn't help. Burying how I felt and pretend I was happy wasn't going to do it. Believe me, I tried. My whole life is about trying to direct my brain to a positive outlook. But this time, I needed a break. I needed to mentally work through this so I could come out clean in the end. Otherwise suppressing my disappointment only leads to more disappointment in the future. This is grieving. When you lose a beloved pet, stuffing the feelings aside doesn't help you. I learned this when my father died. When I allowed the pain to come in, felt it, process it, no matter how painful, I felt more healed and stronger at the end. I was ready to move on. This is what I had to do with this trial. Really feel my pain, give my emotions some care. My logic, as usual, had it down pat, my emotions need for tending.
I had thought about if I didn't make this trial, should I go to Vancouver, WA for my trial? Talking with a friend, she just came out and said, "Maybe you shouldn't go to Vancouver, WA." She knew my kidney situation and that confirmed that I should cancel. My health has been deteriorating and the travel to Eugene, OR and Boulder Creek, CA had taken a toll on me. It takes me a lot longer to bounce back. I can barely keep up the energy for my regular life. The 2 1/2 days drive up and back to Vancouver, WA, I knew was not going to work. Feeling defeated at this one, I didn't have the drive to overcome this huge obstacle. I also knew I needed my dialysis surgery and should set up that appointment as soon as possible. I need to take care of myself instead of chasing titles. No title will ever hide the fact that I am in End State Kidney Disease (ESKD).
When I backed out of Vancouver, WA and a lot of stress lifted and disspated in the air. I'm human, not super woman. And not winning at this trial which resulted in not going to Vancouver, WA probably saved my life. I also gained back leave from work, which is now being used for surgery. I will be trialing at the end of the month, so all is not lost.
I pondered Mickey's health, how me being sick affects Mickey, and several other ideas. Is him being more concerned about me as a service dog interfering? Reflecting back on my best handling, I say no. When I'm doing well, Mickey does great.
As heart wrenching this event was, and it being my worst trial to date, a week later, I can reflect on it and see the beauty of it. I learned and being humbled is always a good thing. I have to realize that the sight limitations, the hearing limitations and having complications with End State Kidney disease, for me to get out there is an amazing thing. That people without those issues still do not title. That I should be proud I am competing at one of the higest levels. For me to keep trying is what makes me beat this disease, not that I win a title.
I learned that, I don't hear the judge sometimes.
I learned that, I don't hear the 30 second warning sometimes.
I learned that, my head needs to be right, no matter how much I worked on this, it is still something that is managed, not cured. You write a new mindset plan for every trial.
I learned that, Mickey and I need to trust each other. He lost trust in me, I lost trust in him.
I learned that I know a lot more than I give myself credit. I can read Mickey well. I did some good reading in my first two elements at my first NW3 trial, I learned all my weaknesses in my second NW3.
All of the above I have solutions and have recouped and tweaked. I should do significantly better the next trial.
Many of those Olympian stores are so heartwarming. The surmountable challenges they h ave over come, not letting anything get in their way. I wanted to be that. But that desire for that title is what destroyed me at the first get go, not that I have kidney disease, having only 35% left of my vision or having a 90% hearing loss in the speech range. It was my ego and head that got me into trouble.
The trial was in Boulder Creek, CA tucked in the southern range of the red wood forest. The tallest trees in the world that make it slightly darker than any other forest. The moisture allowing the red wood trees and the beautiful green ferns to thrive. It was a perfect setting, a YMCA camp with the only access is a winding road. It housed many creative ideas for the various elements in our trial. It was raining through most of the morning creating a damp enviornment.
For all NW3 trials, you do not know how many odors that will be hidden. You will have up to three odors in each search. In interior there is an exception, there could be zero to three odors. At this level we search three different rooms. Interiors is the only place you will have a blank search area. Not knowing how many odors are hidden is a huge challenge from NW2 to NW3. NW2 you know how many hides; NW3 you do not.
I was # 3 in the running order. My first element was containers.The containers were in the center of a cabin, with the perimeter with bunk beds. The theme Christmas. Mickey and I stepped into the cabin and off we went. Mickey went around the various containers and he alerted on a container. I said, "alert" and I heard the voice of the judge, but I couldn't tell the difference between "Yes" and "no". So I asked the judge to repeat. This took a little flow out of the search, but Mickey is experienced and we went again. But after that, I started to have panic set in just a little bit. One trial I did well in containers that if I didn't drop food, I would have gotten first place, ok, we have this. Then the thought of my last trial where Mickey brushed over a bag and didn't even show much interest and we missed it. Then the thought of my last practice with Mickey having a difficult time with a small leather backpack. Over thinking in the middle of an element, I started pushing Mickey on the containers. If there was a second odor, I didn't want him to miss it, but under the stress I pushed him too much. My brain was in a repetitive record mode. Spinning around in circles checking each container. He went back to the first odor and alerted a few times, but at this point, I couldn't remember which container Mickey has checked and if he did, did he check it well? At this time during this element, I was not in the zone, but complete zoned out.
Mickey was getting really frustrated and started biting a few containers. Me being in "trail brain", I called alert. Judge said "No". At that split second, I came back in zone and realized the biting wasn't an alert, it was frustration. I know better than that. I worked on this in practice so we wouldn't get here. I know how quickly he can get frustrated. I pushed to long, but being worried there was another odor because he has missed odors, I pushed. Mickey did his best in this element and as I walked away from this element, an overwhelming feeling of guilt came over me. I let my dog down. I was more worried about a title than connecting with my dog. We lost our dance.
The next element was interiors. Three rooms we needed to search. The first room we went in, Mickey started sourcing, but doing his brush by alert. This is really hard for me to read as sometimes his brush by is how he fringes. Fringing when he's dawdling, checking things out and not right at the source of the odor. Mickey was also burned out from our last element. which was apparent by his brush by alerts. His heart wasn't in it. Mickey knew I was feeling a bit disheartened from letting him down. He's so sensitive, he knows my moods before I'm aware. As Mickey jumped up on the lower bunk bed, he sourced. It was like he was chasing odor to one end to the other. Undetermined and didn't clearly pinpoint it. I called alert on an area of the bed, and it was a "no" from the judge. This was hard to hear the second "No" so soon. It was beginning to break my spirit and hope.
Second room. Went in and rather soon, I called finished as Mickey showed no indication of sourcing. One of the rare moments of that day I felt confident and I didn't over push Mickey. I found out at the debriefing we were right! So I can pat myself on the back that every blank room at a trial, I called right! The last room, Mickey found the odor under the bed, but he had to go under twice. At this time with two "No"s and my spirit down, I was too gun shy to call it the first time he went under. I didn't know at the time, but there was a second odor and I called finished before we found it.
Four searches and only one success. That was a blow. But good coaching and good sport psychology always tells you focus on what you did right. You learned. Although it was major, in reality because Mickey and I have been practicing a lot, it is just small tweaking. However, my logic knows this, my emotions were feeling a lot of defeat.
At lunch time I tried to get my head back in order. I tried to tell myself that we had two more elements that we can get points for our NW3 element title in Vehicles and Exteriors. We have a chance to bounce back. I told myself that this is a very good experience to train myself to dust the dirt off and get going like nothing happened. I have another chance. Good experience people have to fall many times and remember, we are here to have fun with our dogs! I started to think about the next two elements and think of a strategic way to approach the searches. It is tricky because I always let the dog lead first, then when they get stuck, or I see we haven't covered an area, I need to start thinking strategically how do I cover the area. This brought some calmness and hope to my mind. That we can do it.
The next element was vehicles. There were four vehicles all parked in a row, bumper to bumper in a straight line. At lunch time I took a little time to get into deep thought how I was going to process this search area. At first I thought serpentine, then I thought no, run down one side, up the other side to let Mickey catch the odor to lead. If we didn't catch anything, then we would go in-between. This served me well. We started our search and went down one side, but Mickey was still a little burned from the morning. He wanted to play sticks and he knew there were many around. I had to nag him to stay on the vehicle. Once in a while he would go about 3-4 feet from the vehicles to search for sticks. I brought him back to the vehicle and he started sourcing, I sighed with relief! Then he found one odor on a bumper. We went to search the other side and there are more sticks and fun stuff. Again had to really push Mickey back on the vehicles. I hated to do this because we were having a bad day already, and didn't want to be in a constant nag, but he wanted to play sticks. We found the other odor, I searched the area well and called finished. Later at the debriefing I found we got this element. Yes, another success!
Our last element, exteriors. Another big area. You had a lot of ground to cover. We had four minutes. Mickey and I set out, Mickey shows interest in the benches but doesn't do a strong alert, he does a brush by. We went to the other side of the long string of benches, and he still did a brush by. I didn't call it, as he really didn't do a strong alert, but I knew something was there.
We went to the grill area and Mickey showed interest around the counter, again he did a brushed by. Then he went to the coiled up hose on a pole, and did a better alert. I called Alert, the judge said "@x$" I had to ask him to repeat because I couldn't hear what he said. He said "@x$" again. I had to ask him again. Thirty seconds goes by and we are completely out of flow. I finally hear the judge yell "YES!" Ok, on we go, and then I heard a "thank you" which means I didn't hear the 30 seconds warning. When everyone came up to me and standing around, I said, Oh and I guess I missed the 30 second warning? They said, "yes" then I said, "oh, even though I timed out, I guess I should say finished and I said, 'Finished!'" and everyone laughed. As I walked away, again felt disheartened feeling so bummed I messed up three elements. The overwhelming feeling of, this is the worst I've ever done. I worked so hard to get here, I worked on my dog, conditioning my dog, worked on my frame of mind, worked on being positive, and it felt like this test didn't show the efforts I have put in. The feeling was overwhelming.
Going back to the parking lot, no statement or positive thought made me feel better. I had to be alone. I let others talked about how they didn't make it, and I didn't say much, just letting them tell their stories. I heard from many people when they didn't title, "I'm here to have fun with my dog." I heard it so many times it is becoming a cliche'. It seems mechanical in a way that when someone didn't succeed, they tell themselves that to make them feel better.That you really shouldn't be down because you didn't title. The social atmosphere is you must be happy and positive when you do not title. We all know that disappointment goes down the leash. That we need to be happy for our dogs. But even thinking of that didn't help. Burying how I felt and pretend I was happy wasn't going to do it. Believe me, I tried. My whole life is about trying to direct my brain to a positive outlook. But this time, I needed a break. I needed to mentally work through this so I could come out clean in the end. Otherwise suppressing my disappointment only leads to more disappointment in the future. This is grieving. When you lose a beloved pet, stuffing the feelings aside doesn't help you. I learned this when my father died. When I allowed the pain to come in, felt it, process it, no matter how painful, I felt more healed and stronger at the end. I was ready to move on. This is what I had to do with this trial. Really feel my pain, give my emotions some care. My logic, as usual, had it down pat, my emotions need for tending.
I had thought about if I didn't make this trial, should I go to Vancouver, WA for my trial? Talking with a friend, she just came out and said, "Maybe you shouldn't go to Vancouver, WA." She knew my kidney situation and that confirmed that I should cancel. My health has been deteriorating and the travel to Eugene, OR and Boulder Creek, CA had taken a toll on me. It takes me a lot longer to bounce back. I can barely keep up the energy for my regular life. The 2 1/2 days drive up and back to Vancouver, WA, I knew was not going to work. Feeling defeated at this one, I didn't have the drive to overcome this huge obstacle. I also knew I needed my dialysis surgery and should set up that appointment as soon as possible. I need to take care of myself instead of chasing titles. No title will ever hide the fact that I am in End State Kidney Disease (ESKD).
When I backed out of Vancouver, WA and a lot of stress lifted and disspated in the air. I'm human, not super woman. And not winning at this trial which resulted in not going to Vancouver, WA probably saved my life. I also gained back leave from work, which is now being used for surgery. I will be trialing at the end of the month, so all is not lost.
I pondered Mickey's health, how me being sick affects Mickey, and several other ideas. Is him being more concerned about me as a service dog interfering? Reflecting back on my best handling, I say no. When I'm doing well, Mickey does great.
As heart wrenching this event was, and it being my worst trial to date, a week later, I can reflect on it and see the beauty of it. I learned and being humbled is always a good thing. I have to realize that the sight limitations, the hearing limitations and having complications with End State Kidney disease, for me to get out there is an amazing thing. That people without those issues still do not title. That I should be proud I am competing at one of the higest levels. For me to keep trying is what makes me beat this disease, not that I win a title.
I learned that, I don't hear the judge sometimes.
I learned that, I don't hear the 30 second warning sometimes.
I learned that, my head needs to be right, no matter how much I worked on this, it is still something that is managed, not cured. You write a new mindset plan for every trial.
I learned that, Mickey and I need to trust each other. He lost trust in me, I lost trust in him.
I learned that I know a lot more than I give myself credit. I can read Mickey well. I did some good reading in my first two elements at my first NW3 trial, I learned all my weaknesses in my second NW3.
All of the above I have solutions and have recouped and tweaked. I should do significantly better the next trial.
Monday, November 10, 2014
First NW3 trial
Competing at the Nose Work 3 (NW3) level is such an honor. I competed with several who have been to many trials, one has competed in 70 NW3 trials. The people were really friendly at the Eugene, OR trial November 9th, 2014. As I pulled up in my parking spot and crawled out of my truck, people were walking around asking if anyone needed help with their canapy. I shouted, "I DO!" So nice not having to go around and recruit people. This trial had several competitors from Southern California that they were joking and calling it the southern California Pacific north West trial.
That day was overcast with rain that was going to come soon. A light chilly cold, grey sky, you knew rain was coming. I had four layers of cloths on and a jacket. That was two long sleeve t-shirts, a sweater type cover, a sweat shirt and a fleece jacket. I never felt hot.
I put two pads and a blanket in Mickey's crate and covered it with my shade cover to keep him warm. I don't think he was ever cold.
I was number 7 in the running order, group A. this means i was running exterior and vehicles first. Exterior was a huge patio lined with a low brick wall. Five fold up tables in the center, a trash can, a cart with about 3 mop buckets put in strange formation, a small shelf and a 2 or 3 things around the wall. Two punkins marked the start line. Mickey went for the pumpkin when I told him to search, had to pull him off it and restart his search command, he then got into scenting. Mickey first worked the parameter. It was a huge area so I was running behind him. I probably took 1 1/2 minutes to do the parameter (we had 3:00 minutes total). Once I secured the parameter, we went for the center and bang, he got the odor on one of the tables. I heard the 30 seconds, went a little more and called finish with 0.63 seconds left. Yikes that is too close for comfort! I better start working on my 30 second finish call and make it sooner!
When I got my score sheet for the exterior, I got all the hides! YAY! Jude made some great comments and gave me a Pronounced.
The next element was the vehicles. 5 vehicles in a not so pattern configuration. A small pick-up, three cars, SUV and a tractor on a trailer. I was proud of myself for working the area well. I got both hides, then my inner voice said, you better call "finish" and my brain said, "you didn't hear the 30 second warning." My inner voice said again, you better call "finish" and then thought again, I didn't hear the 30 minute warning. Then all of a sudden the judge said "thank you!". WHAT? I didn't hear the 30 second warning! I was shocked and knew I lost my title right then. I told the judge but I put my hearing aids up so I could hear it. He said, I have hearing aids too and I heard it." His face was really sincere and because i was in such trial fright mode, I probably came off frantic when i found out I didn't call "Finished" in time. Bless his heart for the wonderful comments he gave.My score sheet showed I got the two hides. So Mickey got them! And I knew we were finished, but too scared to call finish. Ok, something to work on!
I heard the 30 second warning in exteriors, but changed my hearing aids to the program that is a more open configuration. What I found, my regular setting heard the 30 second warning better than my "open" setting. What I mean by open is it doesn't block sound behind me. Blocking is designed so you can hear people in front of you without background interference. My hearing aids will need to be tweaked more to address these issues.This was the very first trial my hearing had interfered. I've been lucky in the past 3 trials I had no issues, but these are very new hearing aids. Going to the hearing aid person in 1 1/2 weeks and we can tweak them again so i can hear the person call the 30 second warning and I can hear Mickey's breathing.
My score sheet showed a lot of good comments and I did work the area very well. I had one lady come up to me after and said your exterior and vehicles were so good. You read your dog well! She was incredibly impressed.
Lunch time has passed..........
Next up was the interior. Three rooms. These rooms were cabins that were either identical or a superimposition of another. The steps were rather high and although they reminded us that the step was high and be careful, I tripped going in after I let Mickey go off leash. Got my footing and started watching Mickey. Mickey trotted around checking out everything. He had to go between bunk beds, went into the bathroom area and searched around. He found two odors and I called finish. The next room, I let Mickey go, went in the room and was proud I didn't trip in the threshold of the door. Mickey snorted at many points, but I called finished, I never called alert. I was hoping i called it right because of his snorting it was hard if he was doing a "drive by" alert, or there was nothing there. Ok, time for the next one....The third room, Mickey ran in, I was stepping in, with my attention slightly paying attention in stepping in the room, Mickey nosed the corner of the bunk bed made of metal pipe, snorted and looked at me in an excited look and I called it too soon. It was not an alert. He might of looked at me not because he found the hide, but that I finally made it in the room. Mickey tends to look at me often for connection. What i learned here is if my attention is not completely on the dog, have him come back later or search the area. he will go there again if there is odor. Allow him to source it. The judge mentioned on the score sheet it was a memory thing. the first room had hides in the similar area on the bunk bed. It turns out that I got the first two rooms correct. I called the blank room correct and the two hides in the first room. That made me feel so good because i was SO unsure! Again, I did better than I thought. That mantra of all my teachers "Trust your dog" was something that was appropriate there.
A long wait. I changed my headlight on my truck during this time. Nothing like having a project to do while waiting. Then it was my turn for containers. This was in a gym, on strange square pieces of about 8 inch by 8 inch. Gave it more of a cushion feel for the floor. Walking on it was a bit different. I sent Mickey and he got the first odor, but was goofing on the other containers. It was in a blue duffel bag, size of a day bag. He missed it three times. looking back, I should have pulled him away and walk him slower. I heard the 30 second warning. What I learned, work more containers with bags. Slow him down. I had some decent comments.
I did better than I thought. I thought I have worked well with not psyching myself out, but losing the vehicles (the second miss) kind of dampened me. I know logically this doesn't help since i have more practices and possible element NW3 titles to get. The more on your game you can be, the better practice.
Looking back, this was another great learning experience. When I let two days of the sting pass, I then can think better and analyze for the next plan of action.
Looking back at the trial, if they would have taken the blank room out of the equation, and replaced clove with Birch or Anise, this trial essentially was a NW2 trial. No element had more than 2 hides in each search area. Purely a mind game on the handler. Amazing going through two NW2 and then now NW3. I'm more stressed and pressured in NW3 for the pure fact that I don't know how many hides are in the search. Amazing.
What I did really well:
1. Covered my area well.
2. Leash handling had significantly improved.
3. Read Mickey much better.
What I learned:
1. Get a vibrating timer, and work better with time.
2. If distracted, don't call it, come back and if there is odor, he will go back again.
3. Work more on containers, specifically flat bags and bags.
Less than three weeks for the next trial.
That day was overcast with rain that was going to come soon. A light chilly cold, grey sky, you knew rain was coming. I had four layers of cloths on and a jacket. That was two long sleeve t-shirts, a sweater type cover, a sweat shirt and a fleece jacket. I never felt hot.
I put two pads and a blanket in Mickey's crate and covered it with my shade cover to keep him warm. I don't think he was ever cold.
I was number 7 in the running order, group A. this means i was running exterior and vehicles first. Exterior was a huge patio lined with a low brick wall. Five fold up tables in the center, a trash can, a cart with about 3 mop buckets put in strange formation, a small shelf and a 2 or 3 things around the wall. Two punkins marked the start line. Mickey went for the pumpkin when I told him to search, had to pull him off it and restart his search command, he then got into scenting. Mickey first worked the parameter. It was a huge area so I was running behind him. I probably took 1 1/2 minutes to do the parameter (we had 3:00 minutes total). Once I secured the parameter, we went for the center and bang, he got the odor on one of the tables. I heard the 30 seconds, went a little more and called finish with 0.63 seconds left. Yikes that is too close for comfort! I better start working on my 30 second finish call and make it sooner!
When I got my score sheet for the exterior, I got all the hides! YAY! Jude made some great comments and gave me a Pronounced.
The next element was the vehicles. 5 vehicles in a not so pattern configuration. A small pick-up, three cars, SUV and a tractor on a trailer. I was proud of myself for working the area well. I got both hides, then my inner voice said, you better call "finish" and my brain said, "you didn't hear the 30 second warning." My inner voice said again, you better call "finish" and then thought again, I didn't hear the 30 minute warning. Then all of a sudden the judge said "thank you!". WHAT? I didn't hear the 30 second warning! I was shocked and knew I lost my title right then. I told the judge but I put my hearing aids up so I could hear it. He said, I have hearing aids too and I heard it." His face was really sincere and because i was in such trial fright mode, I probably came off frantic when i found out I didn't call "Finished" in time. Bless his heart for the wonderful comments he gave.My score sheet showed I got the two hides. So Mickey got them! And I knew we were finished, but too scared to call finish. Ok, something to work on!
I heard the 30 second warning in exteriors, but changed my hearing aids to the program that is a more open configuration. What I found, my regular setting heard the 30 second warning better than my "open" setting. What I mean by open is it doesn't block sound behind me. Blocking is designed so you can hear people in front of you without background interference. My hearing aids will need to be tweaked more to address these issues.This was the very first trial my hearing had interfered. I've been lucky in the past 3 trials I had no issues, but these are very new hearing aids. Going to the hearing aid person in 1 1/2 weeks and we can tweak them again so i can hear the person call the 30 second warning and I can hear Mickey's breathing.
My score sheet showed a lot of good comments and I did work the area very well. I had one lady come up to me after and said your exterior and vehicles were so good. You read your dog well! She was incredibly impressed.
Lunch time has passed..........
Next up was the interior. Three rooms. These rooms were cabins that were either identical or a superimposition of another. The steps were rather high and although they reminded us that the step was high and be careful, I tripped going in after I let Mickey go off leash. Got my footing and started watching Mickey. Mickey trotted around checking out everything. He had to go between bunk beds, went into the bathroom area and searched around. He found two odors and I called finish. The next room, I let Mickey go, went in the room and was proud I didn't trip in the threshold of the door. Mickey snorted at many points, but I called finished, I never called alert. I was hoping i called it right because of his snorting it was hard if he was doing a "drive by" alert, or there was nothing there. Ok, time for the next one....The third room, Mickey ran in, I was stepping in, with my attention slightly paying attention in stepping in the room, Mickey nosed the corner of the bunk bed made of metal pipe, snorted and looked at me in an excited look and I called it too soon. It was not an alert. He might of looked at me not because he found the hide, but that I finally made it in the room. Mickey tends to look at me often for connection. What i learned here is if my attention is not completely on the dog, have him come back later or search the area. he will go there again if there is odor. Allow him to source it. The judge mentioned on the score sheet it was a memory thing. the first room had hides in the similar area on the bunk bed. It turns out that I got the first two rooms correct. I called the blank room correct and the two hides in the first room. That made me feel so good because i was SO unsure! Again, I did better than I thought. That mantra of all my teachers "Trust your dog" was something that was appropriate there.
A long wait. I changed my headlight on my truck during this time. Nothing like having a project to do while waiting. Then it was my turn for containers. This was in a gym, on strange square pieces of about 8 inch by 8 inch. Gave it more of a cushion feel for the floor. Walking on it was a bit different. I sent Mickey and he got the first odor, but was goofing on the other containers. It was in a blue duffel bag, size of a day bag. He missed it three times. looking back, I should have pulled him away and walk him slower. I heard the 30 second warning. What I learned, work more containers with bags. Slow him down. I had some decent comments.
I did better than I thought. I thought I have worked well with not psyching myself out, but losing the vehicles (the second miss) kind of dampened me. I know logically this doesn't help since i have more practices and possible element NW3 titles to get. The more on your game you can be, the better practice.
Looking back, this was another great learning experience. When I let two days of the sting pass, I then can think better and analyze for the next plan of action.
Looking back at the trial, if they would have taken the blank room out of the equation, and replaced clove with Birch or Anise, this trial essentially was a NW2 trial. No element had more than 2 hides in each search area. Purely a mind game on the handler. Amazing going through two NW2 and then now NW3. I'm more stressed and pressured in NW3 for the pure fact that I don't know how many hides are in the search. Amazing.
What I did really well:
1. Covered my area well.
2. Leash handling had significantly improved.
3. Read Mickey much better.
What I learned:
1. Get a vibrating timer, and work better with time.
2. If distracted, don't call it, come back and if there is odor, he will go back again.
3. Work more on containers, specifically flat bags and bags.
Less than three weeks for the next trial.
9/28/2014 practice
Serpentine
Back off
Don't shuffle
When I get frazzled, Mickey gets frazzled
Threat the benches like they are vechiles to cover your area.
When I tightened the leash is when I didn't allow him to do his search. I even stepped on the search and he couldn't come back, I was in the way.
Today felt like I could handle the leash better. Less tangles.
Back off
Don't shuffle
When I get frazzled, Mickey gets frazzled
Threat the benches like they are vechiles to cover your area.
When I tightened the leash is when I didn't allow him to do his search. I even stepped on the search and he couldn't come back, I was in the way.
Today felt like I could handle the leash better. Less tangles.
Wednesday, September 3, 2014
Performance Anxiety: How I worked with a sport psychologist to decrease my anxiety
Remember, when we are upset, with anxiety or stressed, it does affect our dogs. Some show it outwardly more than others. We get wrapped up in our succeeding, wrapped up in our desires and trying to impress for our egos, but instead we defeat ourselves and stress our dogs. Several people are unaware how much they stress their dogs when it comes to performance. Even if you are a positive trainer, your anguish, disappointment and stress is very punishing to a dog that is very in-tuned to you. I lived this and know this. Throughout the years I put a lot of stress on my dogs. In the later years I have gotten better, and finally fine tuning myself so any time I get to play with my dog is a joyous and fun bond building event. We are human and our dogs are canine.
The setting, a canine nose work trial.
It is my turn to go up to the starting line. I take a deep breath and let it out slowly. I scan the around the element to collect my thoughts how I will work the area. The moment is still. Eyes all on me and my dog waiting for our first move. I cue my dog to "Search" and off he darts. I follow my dog as he leads the way. I let him work since he can smell the odor and I do not know where it is located. As he works, if I feel he is stuck, this is where my performance anxiety kicks in. If my dog didn't find the odor within the first 30-50 seconds, then I know this will be a bit of a challenge.Tthat challenge is what sends my brain into freeze mode. As my anxiety increases, my sensitive dog worries and starts fringing. Fringing is when the dog is indicating on odor, but is not at the odor source. Nose Work dogs are taught to go to source. There are many reasons why a dog will fringe, one of the times my dog Mickey fringes is when I'm frozen, my brain is not working and I'm lost what to do. When my dog alerts at the wrong place for odor, it increases my stress and performance anxiety. This in turns stresses my dog and we get into these fringing cycles. The tension and stress in me is also amplified when people are watching me, and just on the tip of trying to tell me what I did wrong. You see them slightly leaning forward with their eyes a little bit wider. When you have anxiety, criticism is difficult to process. You are in a heightened state and learning is very little. I shut down.
To make matters worse, I have a vision impairment. Completely blind with no light perception in the right eye, while the left eye I see only 20/70 with an excess amount of floaters that can get in the way of my field of vision at the wrong time. I also have a constant white film in my view. My retina has been overly stretched to cover a large eye ball that distorts what I see, thus clarity is lost. I also periodically get flashes of light. When I change light, like coming from outside and going in or vise versa, it takes about 5 or more minutes for my eye to adjust and I get grey or white outs. My ability to see contrast is low and many times I do not see objects because of this. I have only about 35% of my vision to work.
With my vision limitation, I could miss that ever so subtle indication my dog found source if he's in a fringing mode. However, when my Mickey is not fringing, his alerts are clear. That is when I can look like a great handler. But spectators when they know where the odor is, they are able to know if the dog is alerting much more than the handler when they know their dog fringes. People judge. This is a huge stress while others see it and I can't. Their advise usually doesn't help because they do not understand my limitations. My situation needs to be approached in a little bit different way. One way of teaching something is not a one size fits all.
Every person has their particular "fear" thing that causes their performance to be altered. They were able to perform well in their backyard, in their own studio or some other familiar place. Some people have an intense fear talking in front of an audience, dancing at parties, singing in front of friends, or even competitions.
While I am zoning out with anxiety, my brain is flooded with chemicals of my body which changes my thinking process. My vision and hearing perception changes; It won't be the same as in practice. But on the flip side sometimes the brain in flight or fight mode can work for you. If I am not completely zonedout and I can focus, the nerves help me perform better. That's the balance I seek. Use my nervousness to succeed and not let the nervousness turn into anxiety.
The challenge I have seen with Nose Work is, you have to think on your feet in helping your dog, when they haven't found the odors. What area have I covered? Where did my dog alert to odor? Let the dog lead the way, but when a dog is missing the hide, you do need to step in. Stepping in takes a quick thinking process of assessing many factors and trying it out with your dog to see if that helps them locate the hide. This will be places like pockets where odor hangs or where odor pushes to a corner, and the dog can't source where the source is located. The dog's behavior usually gives the indication. However, when you have performance anxiety, trying to think through a process can be hard. It is unlike a rehearsed routine where you build motion memory. I have been in situations I had stage fright, but having practice the routine over 100 times, my body subconsciously knew what to do next. After a few thousand various searches in different environments, I hope to get close to my body subconsciously knowing what to do next.
As I have moved up in Nose Work, I noticed that my anxiety of people watching me was getting worse. I thought as I moved up in the ranks, I wouldn't have this anxiety. This is different from being nervous. Nervous is something where you are excited, but able to perform. Being nervous says you still care. But, my performance anxiety was different. It was crippling and getting worse as I moved up the ranks. Nose Work was starting not to be fun and I was stressing my dog.
I remember from the late 80's how I would shut down when I did sheep herding. When my dog would get too excitable around the sheep, my instructor would take over so my dog wouldn't get in the habit of dive bombing the sheep. But what she was doing is taking over and not teaching me how to teach my dog not to dive bomb. When I was in my very first sheep herding trial, I froze, and the sheep ran right past me with my dog driving behind. I was so use to my instructor taking over, that under stress, I just did the same behaviors as when I was in practice, freeze and let the instructor take over. But, this doesn't work in a trial.
Having grown up a disabled child, I was so use to people taking over what I did. They didn't have patience to walk me through the situation, they just took over. This happens often with disabled children who are not fast enough, don't see something or hear something to take the quick action that an average person does. It kind of takes out the confidence of the person.
What this has done is when someone watches me, I freeze because I think they are going to take over, or make a judgement. People are so quick to tell someone what they are doing wrong, that they don't see where the person is coming from first. They want to tell, not coach or mentor. With so many situations of tell, it created a life long pattern of freezing when ever I did something when people watched me. Even with computers, because it takes me a few seconds longer to find something on the computer screen, I'm constantly having people point it out to me where it is, rather than them allowing me just a few more seconds to do it on my own.
On top of that, just like everyone, we have an ego. We want to do and succeed well. We all want to be regarded as a great handler and people look up to us. This is imbedded in who we are as a person. If we have enough successes in our lives, we have built the confidence, but when you have people demeaning or making judgements on you, like those who have a disability because you don't function as fast, or take a little longer, it takes a toll. You need to really dig down and focus on what you want a lot more.
I have dabbled in dog sports for 25 years. I never had been able to stick to a dog competition until Nose Work. I'm working through my anxiety issues which are allowing me to move forward. Sometimes getting older doesn't solve a problem, but working through it does.
In the book "The Science and psychology of Music Performance: Creative Strategies for Teaching and Learning" edited by Richard Parncutt and Gary McPherson, I find comfort that I am not alone. Even though the book is for musicians, I see the same patterns for an athlete. I guess performing in dog sports would put me as an athlete? What ever, I see the same issues. Paraphrasing the book, it talks about the flight or fight response, but in a performance, we can't run away or punch out the judge! We need skills of cognitive therapy to help our mind set.
Public humiliation is a big fear of people and even the most skilled persons can choke up. The book talks about the fear of negative evaluations by others. Perfectionism, having too high expectations can be a big interference in performance and an over concern about small mistakes and flaws. Too much focus on what is wrong, than what is going well. Performance anxiety is also closely related to other social phobias and characteristic traits of certain personalities. Perfectionists tend to be very self-critical and as a consequence, suffer from low self-esteem. We can't forget self personal control, which can also really cause issues in performance. High personal and social standard together with low personal control showed in a study by Mor, Day Flett (1995) to be debilitating.
High unrealistic expectations tied to a social aspect was more debilitating than high expectation from self. So this means we really are affected by how others perceive us and what they expect from us. This explains why I tend to focus too much on what others think.
An interesting research article, "Effects of a Motivational Climate Intervention for Coaches on Young Athletes’ Sport Performance Anxiety" by Ronald E. Smith, Frank L. Smoll, and Sean P. Cumming from University of Washington, that explains very similar concepts on performance anxiety as the last article. It states:
"Children who are high in sport performance anxiety appear to be especially
sensitive to fears of failure and resulting negative social- and self-evaluation. Passer
(1983) found that high anxiety children worried more frequently about making
mistakes, not playing well, and losing than did their low-anxiety counterparts.
They also were more concerned than low anxiety children about how they would
be evaluated by their coaches, peers, and parents, and they had stronger expectancies
that failure would elicit criticism from these significant others. Other studies
have yielded similar findings (Gould, Horn, & Spreeman, 1983; Rainey, Conklin,
& Rainey, 1987; Smith et al., 2002)."
Focus on mistakes and worrying about failure was also talked about in the other resources on this topic. Further, these children are worried about criticism and how peers, coaches and parents would perceive them. Interesting pattern.
The research article further states that coaches of today focus on not doing well in a particular situation or not winning is feedback. Goals, attitudes and values are extremely important in how a child perceives a game and their performance. Extensive evaluated feedback about their ability reminds me so much of my positive reinforcement training with animals. You see where your child is, you see the final behavior, and set a plan unique to the individual player. Shape them to become better. This article does talk about focus is on improvement and supporting team mates. Support is important in the young ages. I often wonder, were the criticism of kids is what still plays in my head today? I remember so clearly in middle school when playing soft ball, the boys who were smirking at me ran right up to me when I was going to hit a ball. They figured I couldn't hit it well because I was a "retard" who couldn't do it. I did hit the ball over their heads and did see the shocked look on their faces. But this was the attitude I got from many kids when I was younger. They all thought I was a "retard."
Perhaps since kids ridiculed me, teased me and acted towards me I couldn't really do anything, it stuck with me all these years. Even some adults see me as different and patronize me as if I could never succeed as them. I could never rise to "their" level. I got a lot of this in my life. And now I'm working on a plan to change this thinking.
I had a few sessions with a sport psychologist. What a world of difference it made in my performance. I learned to focus what I need and not to clutter my brain with other thoughts that are not productive at that moment. We worked out a plan what to focus on in a trial, step-by-step. When this happens, what are you going to do? I also have a methodical approach now when I come up to the start line. It is all about focus.
Another reason why focus training is so crucial to me is having stage 4 kidney disease, the toxins my kidneys cannot filter out, affect my concentration. It is very difficult to keep focus on thought. The sport psychologist had also helped me to keep focus in other areas of my life which my kidney disease was causing problems.
We have to remember that dogs are sensitive and when we get upset we messed up, they feel this and become stressed. Mickey now fringes less because I am more focused. I reduced my expectations to task, rather than ego dream. For example, focus on how my dog is searching and help them and not think about getting a great score. That comes later and is useless information during your run. Your brain over loads when you think of too many things, so only think of tasks to do well and nothing else.
Tuesday, September 2, 2014
NW3 observation
Mickey and I are now training to enter NW3 trial. My training sessions have been a bit overwhelming. I wanted to observe an NW3 trial so i could learn and study. Watching an NW3 trial in Santa Paula, CA on Sept. 1st, 2014 made things much clearer about certain techniques. I'm ready to train!!
This is only one trial. Another trial I will see different things. Some of the things i listed that worked for a team and many dogs, doesn't mean it will work for your dog. It is something to try, but it may not work for your dog. Nose Work is an ever evolving skill building sport.
Some things I've learned by observation:
1. Practicing patterns is very important. Know where you have been, know where you haven't, and know if your dog has already alerted on an odor.
2. In containers, the containers were laptop carrying cases/book bags, Suitcases and small bags. All containers were black. There were only 12 containers. I saw many people get caught in a circle. They kept circling on the outside a few times. The handler was walking in the center, body blocking the container that had odor. One dog darted across the handler to get to the odor, which was in the center. Good little dog, but many of the other dogs did not. The handler actually had to get out of the way and present the middle for the dog to find the odor. One container had a distraction of balls, one dog did a beautiful strong alert, handler called it, but it was wrong.
3. It is interesting seeing people not know if they have all the odors and found 2. With containers, it was only 2, so they go and check all the containers. With only having 12, that allowed the handler to carefully have their dog check each one in time. You can tell the uncertainty of the handler when they are looking for that third odor that isn't out there. The vehicles had 3 odors and the relief their dog got all the odors and you now can say finish is the best. I now see how having 3 odors is a lot less stressful than 1 or 2.
4. Every dog spent more time on odor than anything else, with the exception of one dog that alerted on a distraction. I did know where the odors were located, but I saw a significant change in behavior when the dog was at odor. Very distinctive. They hardly spent time on areas that didn't have odor. Obviously these dogs are NW3 dogs and they are obedient to their odor. Some handlers were waiting for a more distinct alert. The ones that called it early didn't wait for the alert, but knew the behavior of their dog that they knew they were at odor. If you want to be a fast dog, you need to learn that behavior the dogs show they found it and not wait for an alert. Time is precious in an NW3 because you have to spend a lot of time making sure you covered your area. In the exteriors, I felt the dog covered the area pretty well and got the odor, but the handler wasn't sure and took about minute to search the area. This is a catch 22 because sometimes a dog can miss an odor and going over again does pay off. Key learn your dog's behavior more than their super super clear alerts.
5. Many handlers waited while their dog was at odor before they called it. They were not convinced yet and wanted a little more time to make sure. Many handlers would walk around the dog at the end of their leash and then called it. A very small number worked very fast and called it it immediately.This is most likely what i will do when I do my first NW3 trail, being cautious.
6. Some handlers methodically had their dogs search, others just let their dog go. Letting the dog go makes it harder to know where you have been. Some let their dog lead the way and go all over the place, then if they were not sure they used the rest of their time methodically going through their patterns. I thnk the dogs that were a little pattern got their odors quicker. But it all depends on the level of the dog.
7. A technique that has been good for me, that I saw worked for some competitors really well in this trial, if you are not sure, take your dog away and bring them back. The second time a few dogs gave a more distinct alert. This can be tricky because a few other dogs once their handler didn't reward them and were not sure, walked away, the dog did not alert when coming back. This is a matter of practice some sourcing drills and that if I don't treat you the first time around, I will the second time.
8. The exterior had part grass and part asphalt. Many of the dogs loved that grass, but no hide was there. I was impressed how the dogs would be interested, but all handlers knew it wasn't odor. Good JOB!! They read their dogs well. The hides were relatively easy, but what was hard was there were only 2. Most dogs searched their area well. With some dogs, they kept going back to the odors they alerted, that was when the handlers said finished. They were correct. It seems when a dog keeps going back to the other odors, not because it is easy, but that there is nothing else out there and they are trying!!!
9. When the dogs had found the 2 odors and they were looking for a possible third odor, I could see that the dogs really couldn't find anything. they were searching and sniffing, but not "in odor". It was interesting how you can tell the difference between "in odor" and when they are sniffing and searching.
I saw some vehicles, most of containers and all exteriors. I did not see any interiors. Due to the trial ending late and not enough sunlight for me to drive to where I was staying, I didn't get to hear the debriefing.
This is only one trial. Another trial I will see different things. Some of the things i listed that worked for a team and many dogs, doesn't mean it will work for your dog. It is something to try, but it may not work for your dog. Nose Work is an ever evolving skill building sport.
Some things I've learned by observation:
1. Practicing patterns is very important. Know where you have been, know where you haven't, and know if your dog has already alerted on an odor.
2. In containers, the containers were laptop carrying cases/book bags, Suitcases and small bags. All containers were black. There were only 12 containers. I saw many people get caught in a circle. They kept circling on the outside a few times. The handler was walking in the center, body blocking the container that had odor. One dog darted across the handler to get to the odor, which was in the center. Good little dog, but many of the other dogs did not. The handler actually had to get out of the way and present the middle for the dog to find the odor. One container had a distraction of balls, one dog did a beautiful strong alert, handler called it, but it was wrong.
3. It is interesting seeing people not know if they have all the odors and found 2. With containers, it was only 2, so they go and check all the containers. With only having 12, that allowed the handler to carefully have their dog check each one in time. You can tell the uncertainty of the handler when they are looking for that third odor that isn't out there. The vehicles had 3 odors and the relief their dog got all the odors and you now can say finish is the best. I now see how having 3 odors is a lot less stressful than 1 or 2.
4. Every dog spent more time on odor than anything else, with the exception of one dog that alerted on a distraction. I did know where the odors were located, but I saw a significant change in behavior when the dog was at odor. Very distinctive. They hardly spent time on areas that didn't have odor. Obviously these dogs are NW3 dogs and they are obedient to their odor. Some handlers were waiting for a more distinct alert. The ones that called it early didn't wait for the alert, but knew the behavior of their dog that they knew they were at odor. If you want to be a fast dog, you need to learn that behavior the dogs show they found it and not wait for an alert. Time is precious in an NW3 because you have to spend a lot of time making sure you covered your area. In the exteriors, I felt the dog covered the area pretty well and got the odor, but the handler wasn't sure and took about minute to search the area. This is a catch 22 because sometimes a dog can miss an odor and going over again does pay off. Key learn your dog's behavior more than their super super clear alerts.
5. Many handlers waited while their dog was at odor before they called it. They were not convinced yet and wanted a little more time to make sure. Many handlers would walk around the dog at the end of their leash and then called it. A very small number worked very fast and called it it immediately.This is most likely what i will do when I do my first NW3 trail, being cautious.
6. Some handlers methodically had their dogs search, others just let their dog go. Letting the dog go makes it harder to know where you have been. Some let their dog lead the way and go all over the place, then if they were not sure they used the rest of their time methodically going through their patterns. I thnk the dogs that were a little pattern got their odors quicker. But it all depends on the level of the dog.
7. A technique that has been good for me, that I saw worked for some competitors really well in this trial, if you are not sure, take your dog away and bring them back. The second time a few dogs gave a more distinct alert. This can be tricky because a few other dogs once their handler didn't reward them and were not sure, walked away, the dog did not alert when coming back. This is a matter of practice some sourcing drills and that if I don't treat you the first time around, I will the second time.
8. The exterior had part grass and part asphalt. Many of the dogs loved that grass, but no hide was there. I was impressed how the dogs would be interested, but all handlers knew it wasn't odor. Good JOB!! They read their dogs well. The hides were relatively easy, but what was hard was there were only 2. Most dogs searched their area well. With some dogs, they kept going back to the odors they alerted, that was when the handlers said finished. They were correct. It seems when a dog keeps going back to the other odors, not because it is easy, but that there is nothing else out there and they are trying!!!
9. When the dogs had found the 2 odors and they were looking for a possible third odor, I could see that the dogs really couldn't find anything. they were searching and sniffing, but not "in odor". It was interesting how you can tell the difference between "in odor" and when they are sniffing and searching.
I saw some vehicles, most of containers and all exteriors. I did not see any interiors. Due to the trial ending late and not enough sunlight for me to drive to where I was staying, I didn't get to hear the debriefing.
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