By Chase & Jan Tomlinson
Since I have been diagnosed with a heart murmur and am now on two heart meds, I had to find a new activity to do. As you know, agility is my all time favorite, but my vet said no more running courses or doing shows. My mom does let me do at least three obstacles when we go to the field. I can do a 6” jump, the low dog walk, and a tunnel. We aren’t telling my vet that, but I do have to keep my heart muscle strong!
So, I got on my iPad and looked up what other events I could enter without running. I can still do obedience, but after my Easter egg hunt at the doggie fun day, I decided that scent work was a lot of fun. So, I told my mom that’s what I would like to do.
We started to practice in our Arizona room, and I was so good at finding the things she hid that she enrolled me in a class at our training field. Stacy was really a good teacher, and we learned to find the scent in places outdoors, inside the little red shed, and hidden in one of ten boxes. So, I got my nose working and practiced finding the hide in all of those places.
I guess I should explain what a hide is: There is a little metal container with holes in it, and you put several Q-tips in it. My mom told me that the Q-tips smelled like Birch, so I should look for Birch. It’s a good thing I don’t live in Flagstaff with all of those Birch trees! That would be very confusing. My mom tells me to search and then my job is to find the Birch tree! (Just joshing you!) Once I find it, I have to tell my mom so she can say “alert”. I’m already alert, so I don’t know what that is all about. But, I just play along.
I was so good at playing this game that Stacy said I should enter a scent work trial in Sedona. I hoped that I was ready for the big leagues, but it was close to home, so way not try it? I got the entry off of my computer and told my mom to fill it out since I don’t have any thumbs to hold a pen.
My entry arrived, and I was entered in Interior and Exterior both Saturday and Sunday. That means that I have to search in a room and then in an area outdoors. My classes were scheduled early, so we had to get up at dark-thirty to get there. It was hot when we arrived, but we got to set up my crate in the air-conditioned school building. Now, that’s my kind of show!
We got everything set up, and I was ready to start sniffing. But, they were still getting organized and got off to a late start. Finally, I got to go to the room and start my search. I hope my mom can tell when I have found it and gives the alert signal. It so happened that there was a big full length mirror on one wall, so I had to stop and admire myself first before going to work.
She told me to search, so I got busy sniffing, but I did swing by the mirror a couple of more times! Then I found it, and she said the magic word, so we passed. Now I had to go out in that heat and find another one. I think I like air-conditioned searches the best. So, we wound our way through a maze of rooms and outdoor areas until we finally found where I was supposed to search. Since it was so hot and no mirror, I got right to work. Bingo! I found it under a stool seat. We passed again, so it was now time to get back inside. We started walking, and walking, and walking. I now realized that we were lost! My mom’s eyesight isn’t the greatest, and I am a scent dog, not a seeing eye dog! I was getting hotter and hotter, and we yelled and looked and yelled and looked until we finally found someone to lead us back to my crate. When we got back, my mom poured water all over me and you know how much I hate getting wet! Was she crazy or what?!
The next day was much better, and I found the hides super quick. I found them so fast that I passed two more times and earned two third place ribbons. Now I am on the way to fame! We are getting to be a good team (as long as I know what I am doing). I do have the biggest job of finding the hide and all my mom has to do is follow me around and say alert. If I could talk, then we could trade places. But, I think she lost her sense of smell when she had CoVid!
I hope some of you get to try scent work because it is a lot of fun. Since we are always using our noses, we might as well have some fun with it. Happy Sniffing….
~Sir Chase~
