Feeling very British - Conker and Olive
Paula and I compete in the National Nosework Association trials in the UK. Containers appear in the odour recognition tests that precede each stage and as part of the selection section in trials. The selection section starts at 1 find in 6 boxes and gets progressively harder with more finds, more containers and more difficult distractions as you move up the stages. Our rules are that the containers need to be laid out in a pattern such that the judge can clearly see both dog and handler and spaced no less than 30cm apart. Handlers are not permitted to task each item or stand still but can re-task if the dog is searching in a systematic way. Handlers must move forward at a steady pace and are not permitted to backtrack. The dog may move back if they have winded odour but must not be influenced by the handler. The search ends once the dog has passed the last item in the search. Searches must be on a lead of no more than 5m. I hope that explains why our searches look so stilted compared to yours! Never the less we wanted to contribute some footage of our evening practicing using some of what we learnt from you Aleks. The first 3 runs are straight odour or blank boxes. We switched it up to try low high in the 3rd. There is then a picture of the distractions we used in the circle of boxes which included blank carriers, dog toys, gloves and food. The odour boxes also contained different strengths of odour to mix it up a bit. We were pleased with how they did and hope you enjoy the background of English countryside that has very unusually not seen any rain for over 6 weeks!
Alette and Paula
"Handlers must move forward at a steady pace and are not permitted to backtrack. The dog may move back if they have winded odour but must not be influenced by the handler." This is fascinating! The part before this is similar to our standards, but this requirement for handling is different. It actually is one of the methods I use for proofing the dog off handler influence, as a game to play instead of how you "need" to play.
Thank you so much for contributing! Looking forward to doing your feedback :)