Jackie Exterior Nosework

Jackie did her first exterior finds, first on a vehicle and then from a group of objects. The vehicle search came easily for Jackie, quickly alerting all three hides on the truck. 

In the group of outdoor objects Jackie found the first of two hides easily, then struggled to pinpoint the alert on the second hide. She eventually found it and did a great job overall for her first exterior searches. 

Pearls:

• For outdoor searches, follow the format: 1) potty, 2) wind, 3) plan.

• Potty = be sure your dog potties before starting an exterior search.  Sniffing outdoors, especially in grass, can make them want to go so be sure they eliminate before starting your exterior search.

• Wind = carefully assess how the wind is behaving in the search area. Wind behaves differently between buildings and around vehicles. Watching your dog's fur or tossing a few strands of grass up and watching how it falls are simple ways to assess wind movement. 

• Plan = base your search on how the wind is behaving and what environment you're searching. For vehicles, it's best to search with the wind, due to the way wind behaves around vehicles, getting stopped, moved, or caught in wheel wells or underneath vehicles for example. For out-in-the-open groups of item searches, it is best to search against the wind so your dog can evaluate the odor as they approach the objects. 

• Once your dog has found a hide in a multiple-hide search, after paying at source say "Find more!" to cue the dog to continue searching for more hides. 

• When searching multiple hides, only ever pay once for each hide. While training, if your dog struggles by returning to an already found hide, remove that hide from the search area and then continue by cueing "Find more!"

My dog has a nose job