Page 49 - Chow Life - 2016 Winter

trailer hitch. That took 39 seconds! Bronwyn is currently the only Chow competing in
What I gained from this experience is the confidence Nosework, the judges do not know how a Chow
in Bronwyn working very well in interiors, vehicles searches. Both of the trainers I have worked with and
and containers and the need for more varied outdoor many of my fellow trainees, have commented on how
training. The training we have been doing is working differently she searches. Most of the hunting dogs
very well. run into the search area and work very quickly, seemly
As with other dog competitions, nosework has an with no direction, but this is not correct. They work
very well at finding the “hide.” Brownyn and the other
element of luck. Are the judges hard nosed or are they Chows I have worked in nosework enter the search
more reasonable (this is from the competitor’s point of area, stop and look around and then begin a very
view)? Is the course easy, moderate or difficult. deliberate and methodical search.
On August 6, 2016, we got up early and drove to After the nosework trial is complete, the trainers
Citrus Heights, CA. This test site was located at a meet and the “Harry” Award is given to the best team
private school. There was some shade and I was lucky which includes a “rescue” dog. Then the awards for
enough to be parked between two competitors who had speed are given to the three fastest teams in each
shade canopies, which shaded my car also. After we search: interiors (10.95 sec), exteriors 4.91 sec) , vehicle
checked in, there was a “walk through.”
I thought these search areas might be
doable, based on past tests and training.
We were number 24 out of 41 teams.
The first search was the vehicles. There
were two vans and a truck. Bronwyn
walked over to the truck and quickly
“ruled it out.” She proceeded to the
second vehicle, sniffed around it and
indicated on the license plate. I waited a
few seconds to make sure she was giving
me her signal and said “alert” at 1 min, 07
sec and she had passed the vehicle part of
the test.
Second, we were directed to an outdoor
area which was a sidewalk next to a
building with a retaining wall on the
other side. There was a bench next to the
building. Bronwyn sniffed down the wall
and then made a sharp turn to the bench
at 38.82 sec and she had passed part two of the test. (16.89 sec) and containers (8.33 sec). Then an award is
After lunch, we were directed to the container search. given to the three teams with the fastest overall times.
Bronwyn sniffed a couple of the boxes and then walked Fastest competed the four searches in 1 min, 2.76 sec.
After these are competed the teams that passed get
directly to the correct one and gave me her indication a rosette. Everyone who competed gets their score
at 28.9 sec. In this case, she sniffed really hard on sheets for each search. There are usually comments
the box, sometimes she turns around and looks at me. on these sheets. Bronwyn’s mostly said “good job,” but
Getting to know when you dog is indicating they have the one for the vehicle search stated that I had waited
found the scent item is the point of the training. to long to say alert and that my dog might have lost
Then we were directed to the interior search. It was interest. This is where the judge having no experience
in a classroom with most of the furniture up against a with Chows comes in. I have learned that I need to be
wall. There was a chair sitting near a desk. I thought patient with her and let her indicate she has located the
that might be the location and Bronwyn alerted on it at “hide.” She does not lose interest, but some breeds do
18.07 sec and we had earned the Nosework One title! lose interest. Learning how your Chow works is very
She had taken a total of 2 min 33.10 sec! interesting and necessary for success.
One of the things I have learned, is that since

This page is sponsored by
Dan & Mary Ellen Shook

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